Goal 3: Objective 3.5 | Penn State College of Health and Human Development

Goal 3: Expand, Diversify, and Support Our Community

Objective 3.5: Increase the diversity of our faculty and staff and build a culture of inclusivity and mutual respect.

Action Items here will be part of a coordinated college-wide effort to develop standard organizational processes, practices and habits that promote diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging.

Action Item 3.5.1

Establish requirements for advertising and marketing of all positions to promote and advance the development of diverse hiring pools.

Implementation Tasks

Capitalize on acceptance of virtual events during pandemics to continue post-pandemic and continue to explore the integration of new platforms, such as Remo, to enhance and strengthen the overall virtual experience for participants.
Extend access to other College programming (e.g., Dean’s Lecture Series) to alumni, friends and parents.

Responsible party: HHD Alumni Relations

Metrics: Virtual alumni events incorporated into regular alumni event calendar; access to college programming routinely extended to alumni.

Start and end dates: Fall 2021 – Fall 2022 then ongoing

Action Item 3.5.2

Develop a multipronged approach to address hiring manager and search committee training, assessment of pools for diversity, and bias awareness.

Implementation tasks

Develop a three-part virtual alumni-institute series focusing on one specific theme within the college (nominal charge for this type of programming)
Partner with other colleges, campuses, or alumni chapters to broaden the reach of alumni-focused programming.

Responsible party: HHD Alumni Relations and HHD Communications

Metrics: Institute offered; partnerships cultivated.

Start and end dates: Fall 2021 – ongoing (planning); first alumni-institute by end of AY2023

Action Item 3.5.3

Train and reinforce diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging values among college leadership and require all college units (academic, research, and central) to establish annual unit-level diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging goals.

Implementation Tasks

Identify someone in each academic unit (liaison network) to assist with Alumni in the Classroom and other alumni visitation initiatives.
Develop processes/mechanisms for sharing information about alumni with ongoing interest in student engagement between Alumni Relations and academic units.
Develop other resources that support broader alumni engagement with students across our academic units
Develop a processes/mechanisms for tracking. activities that feature alumni in student engagement at the college level.

Responsible Party: HHD Alumni Relations Team; Undergraduate Education Mentoring Group; academic unit designated mentoring liaison

Metrics: Liaisons identified, processes/mechanisms developed.

Start and end dates: Fall 2021 (liaisons) Fall 2022 (processes/mechanisms)

Action item 3.5.4

Develop a full repertoire of agreed-upon content and robust routines around implementing training that reinforces diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging values for all college constituencies (staff, faculty, leadership) under a growth mindset and in a manner that is optimally coordinated with University training.

Implementation Tasks

Hold a meeting each semester for Affiliate Program Group (APG) faculty liaisons and academic unit heads
Help better align APG goals with academic unit priorities (e.g., securing internship sites, mentors, being responsive to Dept. priorities) through the development of an annual APG engagement plan that includes goals related to these special populations.

Responsible Party: HHD Alumni Relations; APG faculty liaisons; Academic Unit Heads.

Metric: Meetings with APG faculty liaisons/dept. heads held; APG engagement plans developed.

Start and end dates: Fall 2022 and ongoing

Key Performance Indicators

Increased diversity among faculty and staff and increased perception of inclusivity among these communities.