Belonging, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Initiatives
The BEDI Advisory Council created an initial set of Action Plans for FY 24, which President Hanbury approved and funded. The plans relate to their areas and the Council's mission and vision.
The BEDI initiatives below highlight the details and provide a progress report on the Council’s action plans. In addition, this page spotlights various activities around DEI that promote engagement and an inclusive atmosphere across NSU campuses and our community partnerships.
Explore these initiatives, including action items and updates below.
| 29 - Action Items | 7 - Completed | 5 - In Progress | 10 - On Going | 7 - Planned for the Future |
Community
Action Item: Awards/Grants: Create a BEDI Foundation to fund start-up efforts at the program or center level and provide grant awards to departments implementing a specific NSU Practice from the Inventory and Practices Resource Directory.
Target Group: Support for Staff
Status: Planned for the Future
Action Item: Awards: Expand on the current employee recognition gift card award program to recognize ongoing BEDI efforts of individual faculty and staff who are BEDI champions in their colleges/divisions during the academic year.
The BEDI Advisory Council will develop the process for selecting eligible candidates in each unit.
Target Group: Support for Faculty, Support for Staff
Status: Planned for the Future
Action Item: Awards: Recognize centers with existing and ongoing BEDI programs and initiatives with the "BEDI Award" for approximately 25 awards.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: In Progress
Action Item: Events: Annual Diversity Summits will be held for students, faculty, alumni, and staff across all NSU campuses to engage, discuss, and build skills on BEDI themes. The BEDI Advisory Council will continue to build upon the tradition of having annual Diversity Summits that include all stakeholders across NSU Campuses on relevant BEDI themes and issues.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: Ongoing
Action Item: Professional Development: Creating a Speakers Bureau consisting of internal and external subject matter experts and external speakers to support colleges/units with the delivery of BEDI programming, discussions at student and staff meetings and retreats, and instruction, information, and voluntary training on diversity-related topics for staff meetings, in-services, and strategic consultations.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: Planned for the Future
Action Item: Professional Development: Providing learning and development opportunities, diagnostic tools and inventories, and certifications for BEDI-related specialization for leadership, faculty, staff, and students. Additional services will include coaching to help stakeholders across NSU in their BEDI efforts, such as working with transgender individuals, cultural competence training, and anti-racism education.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: Planned for the Future
Action Item: Awareness: Develop a content calendar and coordinate a campus-wide diversity calendar for BEDI-related content, leveraging social media accounts (Sharkbytes, marquees, web banners) to promote key diversity messages.
We regularly update and monitor BEDI's social networking accounts and website and maintain a prominent DEI presence on campus, including BEDI activities and DEIB student groups, NSU colleges, NSU commemorative events, observances, and recognitions.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: Ongoing
Action Item: Awareness: The dashboard showcases the processes, initiatives, and concrete actions to promote and implement BEDI diversity initiatives across NSU.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: Ongoing
Action Item: Events: A BEDI Books+More is a new initiative promoting more diversity/culturally-focused social activities on regional campus and satellite campuses advancing BEDI themes and celebrating commemorative events through regular BEDI Networking luncheons or breakfast discussions (for example, Juneteenth, Hispanic Heritage Day, Indigenous Day).
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: Ongoing
Action Item: Awareness: Creating a communications strategy for 2025 to plan and capitalize on the momentum to move the needle on diversity initiatives to continue making NSU a great place to work and study as part of the President's Campaign for Preeminence.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: In Progress
Data and Assessment
Action Item: Indexes/Ranking: Explore university membership in Campus Pride Index, the premier LGBTQ national benchmarking tool for colleges and universities to create safer, more inclusive campus communities.
The first step is an internal self-assessment to identify NSU’s position and ongoing activities relative to best practices and compare if it meets the criteria for the index awards in the BEDI space.
Target Group: Support for Students
Status: Planned for the Future
Action Item: Assessment: Use MAPS project data to assess NSU’s faculty demographics compared to its student body and the faculty of other Florida private 4-year colleges and universities. The plan is to undertake a gap analysis to prompt exploration of best practices for successful recruitment of diverse faculty used by other Florida institutions and even nationwide.
The MAPS Project is an initiative to chart high-quality data with historically marginalized voices to higher education decision-makers to Model, Analyze, Prototype, and Share innovative solutions.
Target Group: Support for Faculty
Status: Planned for Future
Action Item: Assessment: Determine if there are meaningful differences in students experiencing academic challenges (academic dismissal/probation, GPA, withdrawal, etc.) according to demographic profile.
Review findings with Provost and discuss needed support and interventions.
Target Group: Support for Students
Status: Ongoing
Action Item: Assessment: Sourcing and curating a directory of current NSU best practices and internal activities supporting diversity, programming, and accreditation activities and identifying those adaptable to other colleges/units or scalable across the NSU enterprise.
Collect external best practices and diversity resources in higher-ed, for-profit, and non-profit enterprises for possible university-wide applications.
Target Group: Support for Deans, VP, Academic and Non-Academic Admin
Status: Ongoing
Action Item: Assessment: Compiling and gathering metrics and analytics on the demographic profile of student retention and graduation rates, pay equity among faculty and staff, recruitment strategies for underrepresented groups, etc.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: Ongoing
Action Item: Assessment: Assessing criteria for awards in the BEDI space to identify NSU’s position relative to diversity and inclusion best practices. This may include gauging NSU’s readiness to apply for the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: Planned for the Future
Policies, Practices and Procedures
Action Item: General: BEDI Advisory submitted for the review and approval of President Hanbury and his senior executives for inclusion of a statement prohibiting sexual misconduct in all course syllabuses.
Target Group: Support for Students
Status: Completed
Action Item: General: BEDI Advisory Council submitted for the review and approval of President Hanbury and his senior executives to include a statement for diversity in all course syllabuses.
Target Group: Support for Students
Status: Completed
Action Item: General: Create a Diversity Statement for senior executives and PC members.
Target Group: Support for Deans, VP, Academic and Non-Academic Admin
Status: In Progress
Action Item: Policies: Support the efforts of EMSA and OIIT of adding preferred names and pronouns to increase the feeling of inclusion by allowing students and employees to share preferred names and pronouns across various technological mediums such as class rosters, SharkID cards, Canvas, Teams, Zoom, Banner, etc. Craft inclusive language for website and general communications as the project is officially rolled out and implemented in various phases starting in Fall 2023. Provide stakeholder input for creating university policy about faculty's use of student-preferred names and pronouns being developed by the Provost's Office.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community, Support for Faculty
Status: Completed
Action Item: General: Take the initiative of building a process of establishing a land acknowledgment dialogue with the various indigenous communities in the locations of each NSU campus that could lead to a land acknowledgment statement to be featured on the NSU website and in various communications channels.
A land acknowledgment statement would need to show what NSU Campuses reside on the ancestral lands of Indigenous peoples who still occupy these territories. The aim is to acknowledge the stewardship of these lands by these communities, their elders, and future generations.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: In Progress
Action Item: Website and Technology: An official BEDI home page was created in 2022 to update the NSU broader community on the progress in achieving BEDI strategic priorities, promoting engagement activities, providing links to supporting materials, annual summits, learning and development services, a diversity initiatives dashboard, etc.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: Ongoing
Action Item: General: Create a branding style guide for the BEDI Council to serve as a resource that comprises all the visual and textual assets that are part of the BEDI brand’s visual identity. This document will showcase the portfolio of products and their correct use, along with how to adhere to the main guidelines from the NSU Style Guide.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: Completed
Campus Culture, Climate, and Safety
Action Item: Training: Partner with Public Safety to create a training program for public safety officers, dispatchers, and supervision regarding communication, interactions, and interventions with people of different races, backgrounds, religions, disabilities, and related intervention techniques.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: Completed
Action Item: Feedback Instruments: Supplementing current student and employee evaluation/feedback instruments and employee exit interview process to include BEDI components to obtain meaningful feedback on NSU diversity efforts.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: Completed
Action Item: Feedback Instruments: Questions about inclusive classroom environments were added to final student course evaluations in a pilot project for all Halmos undergrads in Fall 2021 and Winter 2022 semesters. The results are under review with the Academic Provost's Office for possible consideration for a potential university-wide application.
Target Group: Support for Faculty
Status: In Progress
Action Item: Inclusive Spaces: Working closely with Facilities Management Design and Construction to update a list of single-occupant and gender-Neutral restrooms available and installed at NSU campuses. The next step is to create an interactive campus map to identify locations that can easily be found online.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: Completed
Academics
Action Item: Library: Created a guide containing information, a global calendar of recognition, programs, and resources to support the NSU community that recognizes, celebrates, and embraces belonging, equity, diversity, and inclusion. The Guide includes a working glossary of key terms frequently used in discussions about BEDI and key literature on inclusive language for classroom settings in higher education and better communication and transformational leadership. The Guide will be continuously updated with new research. The resources collected come from the print and electronic collections of the Alvin Sherman Library, the NSU Ft. Lauderdale/Davie campus, our local community, and beyond.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: Ongoing
Action Item: Library: Creating intentional space and time to discuss topics related to belonging, equity, diversity, and inclusion and organizing regular and free BEDI educational events (Book Readings, Film viewings, byte-size luncheon learning, deep dive talks) not yet promoted at NSU to showcase talent, leadership, and expertise at NSU. These events are aimed at promoting awareness, learning, and exchange outside of the NSU community across all NSU campuses. Events and commemorations chosen reflect the various cultures at NSU, as we are a very diverse organization.
Target Group: Support for NSU Community
Status: Ongoing