Where Are You Now?
Before you jump into making changes for the future you need to know what’s going on in the present. Ask yourself: How do people feel about our unit in terms of diversity, inclusion, and equity? What needs aren’t being met? How do we engage those affected in the conversation?
Not sure why this step is necessary?
Learn about the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion
In order to get a full picture of what’s going on you’ll want to seek out the feedback of people who may not otherwise be forthcoming about their opinions. This information-gathering is sometimes called formative assessment--it takes time, but it’s crucial.
You can gather data in a number of ways--surveys, open forums or listening sessions, focus groups, interviews, etc.--and you’ll need to be thoughtful about not only the method but also the wording and ordering of your questions.
Here is a Unit Self-Assessment TOOL borrowed from UC Berkeley’s Strategic Planning Toolkit for Academic Units. We encourage you to use it as a guide as you get a full understanding of where your unit is at. Feel free to add questions specific to your unit.
Looking for more information on gathering and making sense of data?