Bay Path University

www.baypath.edu 17 DEI Through a Leadership Lens Interim Vice President of Academic Administration Stacy Sweeney has been leading the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts at the University for the past year. During that time, our country has been engaged in a social reckoning, beginning with the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. Bay Path, like other higher education institutions, has re-examined its DEI efforts to respond to the shifting social landscape and to make our University a more welcoming and inclusive community. Dr. Sweeney shares her thoughts on where we are—and where we are going. What would you say are the main three to four DEI goals for the University? "First, we are looking at ensuring there is diversity in our employee recruiting. We have a very diverse student population, particularly among the traditional and The American Women's College students. A diverse faculty and staff bring a whole range of experiences to the classroom. When students see themselves reflected in the makeup of their faculty and staff, they often feel seen and understood and perform better as learners. Second, we have to shift to a more equity-minded culture to support our students and ensure we are reviewing policies, procedures, and practices to identify where we may have equity issues and correct them. This translates into educating our community on where we are in DEI, and what are the action steps needed to make progress in our work. Important in this goal is accountability and ownership— we each need to look at ourselves to understand where we are personally in the work of DEI and identify where we can make a difference. Third, we have to embed the concepts of equity and inclusion in the curriculum and weave them into the classroom experience. Finally, based on student input, we are working on implementing an anti-racist training, knowing that we need to identify and eliminate racism in our practices so that power may be shared more equitably across the Institution. This training will be a formalized part of the on-boarding or annual review process. We are still working on the details. As with all of our efforts, the DEI work is a journey." Last summer, a DEI student sub-committee was created in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement. Why did this happen and what has been the result? "Our students are especially empowered through the Black Lives Matter movement. The University and President Doran felt it was critical to ensure students were at the table being full participants in the DEI conversation. A student subcommittee was formed that reports to the president and DEI Community Council. Its work has been outstanding. Committee members have developed a list of recommendations for fostering and enhancing a DEI culture at Bay Path, and shared their insights with the DEI Community Council, the Bay Path Advisory Council, and Bay Path Board of Trustees. They have helped us develop a roadmap—or as I like to say, they have given us our charge as DEI leaders here at Bay Path— of where we need to be in this work and have done so with a very collaborative mindset, which has been tremendously helpful." How are the University's recruiting efforts supporting a diverse culture? "Javier Padilla recently joined Bay Path as assistant vice president and director of human resources. He is a terrific addition to our recruitment efforts. Javier has a real depth and background in talent acquisition. For every faculty and staff position opening, he asks the key questions: What are we looking for in a candidate? Where should we be looking? Whom are we using for search firms— all from a DEI lens. As I mentioned before, the University recognizes that having a diverse workforce is one of our top priorities."

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