Implementation and Progress
Strategic Framework Stages
The strategic framework is positioned at the center of three stages of strategic academic planning
Stage One
Stage one was a broad and inclusive input phase that involved institution-wide engagement through the Transition Working Groups, academic-unit assessments, and the ASTF, as well as discussions facilitated by the Implementation Committee on Race, Diversity, and Belonging.
Stage Two
Stage two is the strategic framework presented here through an updated vision, mission and principles statement and an academic strategy that recommends goals, priorities, and initiatives for NYU Abu Dhabi, as well as an assessment framework for evaluating our progress.
Stage Three
Stage three will unfold in the months and years ahead as this strategic framework will be discussed, amended if needed, and formalized by the NYUAD Executive Committee, and then used on an ongoing basis to inform academic planning and implementation.
Strategic Framework
Workstream Liaison Working Groups & Goals
Workstream Liaison Working Group
Workstream Goals
Actions and Progress
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Build a Renewed Office of Inclusion and Equity 1
- Measure
- Status
Measure — How do we know we succeeded?
- Senior Director of Office of Inclusion and Equity to be hired and office to be restructured to better support the NYUAD community.
Status — Where are we? | COMPLETED
- January 2021: Office restructured to ensure OIE can focus on leading and advancing NYUAD's implementation of practices and programs that foster inclusion, diversity, belonging, and equity (IDBE) in the workplace.
- OIE leads an institutional approach to IDBE which includes strengthening the relationship with Student Life and InterCultural Education (SLICE) and the Office of the Provost.
- OIE leads an institutional approach to IDBE which includes strengthening the relationship with Student Life and InterCultural Education (SLICE) and the Office of the Provost.
- January 2021: Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) Officer position created and hired. This critical reporting and work is separate from OIE.
- February 2021: The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) was restructured and incorporated within the OIE.
- September 2021: Inclusion, Equity, and Action Committee was formed, with expanded representation particularly from students. Their work builds on the work undertaken by the former Implementation Committee on Race, Diversity, and Belonging and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.
- January 2021: Office restructured to ensure OIE can focus on leading and advancing NYUAD's implementation of practices and programs that foster inclusion, diversity, belonging, and equity (IDBE) in the workplace.
1 Accountability frameworks are a common paradigm from big consulting firms. In terms of inclusion, diversity, belonging, and equity (IDBE), several frameworks were considered, but the concepts here came from work found at the City of Portland, Oregon in the United States.
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Provide Mandatory Training on Diversity, Race, Inclusion, and Equity to All Members of the University’s Academic and Operational Leadership Teams 2
- Measure
- Status
Measure — How do we know we succeeded?
- Provide the training.
- Provide additional training from the OIE with pre- and post-assessments to measure progress.
Status — Where are we? | COMPLETED*
- August-September 2020: Training from the University of Maryland (UMD) provided over two days to University Leadership.
- December 2020: Specialized training delivered from UMD to academic leadership.
- Spring/Fall 2021: The OIE continues to offer follow up training.
* While this specific action item is completed, the work is ongoing and training will continue to be developed and provided
2 Worthington, R. L., Stanley, C. A., & Smith, D. G. (2020). “Advancing the professionalization of diversity officers in higher education: Report of the Presidential Task Force on the Revision of the NADOHE standards of professional practice.” Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 13(1), pp. 1-22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000175
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Offer Community-wide Training on Equity and Inclusion
- Measure
- Status
Measure — How do we know we succeeded?
- Seventy-five percent of staff, faculty, and students to engage in at least one internal/external IDBE workshop/training.
- OIE will conduct pre- and post-training assessments to measure progress.
Status — Where are we? | IN PROGRESS
- Spring 2021: Trainings were developed by the OIE, L&OD, and SLICE, including but not limited to:
- The IDBE Learning Journey
- Understanding Implicit Bias
- Inclusive Marketing and Communications
- Managing the Macro Impact of Microaggressions Towards Faculty
- Accessibility Zone
- Inclusive Leadership
- Cultural Intelligence
- Creating Belonging
- Psychological Safety in Teams
- Social Intelligence
- Embodying Anti-Racism in Education Abroad Programming
- Inclusive Language Training for Global Education
- Intercultural Development Inventory training for 43 Student Affairs staff to become qualified administrators
- Safe Zone and Disability Zone training for all Student Affairs staff
- Fall 2021: Trainings continue to be offered, including but not limited to:
- Inclusive Language Training for Admissions
- Sustained Dialogue
- Inclusive Teaching Training for Teaching Assistants
- Training for leaders of the student newspaper, focused on leaning into difference and understanding their intercultural development and conflict styles
- Student Interest Group (SIG) leadership training module on inclusion, equity, and anti-racism mandatory for all SIG leaders
- Spring 2021: Trainings were developed by the OIE, L&OD, and SLICE, including but not limited to:
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Participate in the Development of Required Learning Modules on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for NYU Students, and Require Them for Our Students at NYUAD
- Measure
- Status
Measure — How do we know we succeeded?
- Offerings made available for the NYUAD community through the OIE.
- One-hundred percent of undergraduate and graduate students engage with materials.
Status — Where are we? | IN PROGRESS
OIE partnering with OGI to ensure trainings such as Safe Zone, Justice Zone, and Disability Zone are customized for the NYUAD audience — videos and training materials are currently in development in New York.
- December 2020: Safe Zone trainings by OGI for NYUAD
- Spring 2021: Disability Zone trainings
Offered learning modules for all incoming students on inclusion, diversity, belonging, and equity as part of pre-orientation. - Fall 2022: Student Affairs introduced conversations on social identities, home, and belonging in First Year Dialogue, which is mandatory for all first-year students. All first-year students will also be provided a personal Intercultural Development Inventory assessment and will receive a 1:1 coaching session with trained staff to debrief their results.
- Spring 2022: The Office of Global Inclusion plans to roll out the learning modules across the global network.
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Develop Better, Properly Nuanced Ways to Describe Our Campus Population in Terms of Diversity and Inclusion, So That Measures of Progress Can Be Developed 3
- Measure
- Status
Measure — How do we know we succeeded?
- Develop integrated HR systems that capture demographic information of NYUAD employees properly.
- Develop a similar system for student data collection.
Status — Where are we? | COMPLETED
- October 2020: Data Subcommittee formed to establish required key data points and level of granularity, with regular attendance from Assistant Director, IR (Vice Provost, FDD, and Deputy Director of HR part of subgroup).
- December 2020: Assistant Director of Institutional Research (IR) presented to the committee on existing known data and gaps.
- Fall 2020-Spring 2021: Vice Provost, FDD in conversation with HR and Academic Affairs to establish baseline diversity data.
- January 2021: OIE and Assistant Director of IR partnered to create a data guideline for the NYUAD community.3
- Spring 2021: The release of NYUAD's first campus climate survey included the creation of a new demographic data model that better represents our global population.
- Fall 2021: The new demographic data model is being integrated into our systems.
3 In order to begin the process of how we measure our campus populations, here are some tools: Be Equal - IBM, United Nations Statistics, NYUAD Diversity Data Overview Summer 2020.
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Provide Resources to Support the Faculty’s Interest in Creating More Equitable and Inclusive Learning Environments, Including Reviews of Curricula, Syllabi, and Pedagogical Methods to Ensure a Rich Diversity of Perspectives Across Our Educational Offerings
- Measure
- Status
Measure — How do we know we succeeded?
- Offerings made available to the NYUAD community on a regular basis.
Status — Where are we? | COMPLETED*
- Spring/Fall 2021: The OIE and Hilary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning have offered sessions on topics including but not limited to:
- Inclusive Pedagogy (discipline specific)
- Anti-Blackness
- Rubrics: Tools for Fairness and Consistency in Grading and Assessment
- Diversifying your Syllabus Content
- Faith and Spirituality in the Classroom
- Inclusive Teaching for NYUAD Student Belonging
Divisions are in the process of implementing diversity statements as a part of the portfolio for new hires and tenure review of faculty.
* While this specific action item is completed, the work is ongoing and training will continue to be developed and provided
- Spring/Fall 2021: The OIE and Hilary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning have offered sessions on topics including but not limited to:
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Provide Resources and Venues for Faculty, Students, and Staff to Engage with Research Focused on Globally Dismantling Racism in Relation to Disciplines and Social Practices, Including a New Series of Talks, Panels, and Workshops Involving NYUAD and NYU New York Scholars of Race in Relation to STEM Fields, Social Sciences, and the Arts and Humanities
- Measure
- Status
Measure — How do we know we succeeded?
- OIE and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee can be resources across the institution for all divisions and units to help them ensure their programming is inclusive.
Status — Where are we? | COMPLETED*
- Academic Year 2020-2021: Created Vice Chancellor Speaker Series on Race, Diversity, and the Learning Community.
- Spring 2021: Created Blackness Without Borders Series for spring.
- Expanded speaker series to include scholars from various disciplines in relation to topics involving race, diversity, and inclusion.
- Fall 2021: Divisions and offices across campus continue to offer talks on a number of IDBE related topics, including the newly launched Climate Conversations focused on sustainability, and the Engineering IDBE Seminar Series. In addition, the OIE and the Office of the Provost offers a Fund for Inclusion and Innovation, designed to provide grants and resources to faculty and academic divisions to fund research toward addressing histories, legacies, and present-day realities of colonialism and the oppression of historically marginalized communities.
* While this specific action item is completed, the work is ongoing and training will continue to be developed and provided
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Support the Interests of Our Black Students in Creating a Black Students Association that Would Build on the Important and Continuing Work of Africa Global, AZIZA, and the Caribbean Students Association
- Measure
- Status
Measure — How do we know we succeeded?
- Supporting students in the creation of the Black Student Association (BSA) and the future development of AZIZA.
- Continuing to provide support and advisement to the Caribbean Students Association and Africa Global.
- Affinity-based outreach and support to first-year students.
- Providing financial support and advisement for skillbuilding opportunities and student-led projects.
Status — Where are we? | IN PROGRESS
- Fall 2020: Engaged in listening Sessions including named SIGs and Black Community Members; seeking feedback as to how best to achieve the creation of the BSA.
- Academic Year 2020-2021: Ongoing conversations in 2020-2021 between Student Affairs and student leaders around the establishment of a SIG. Pending student consensus around establishing a Black student association.
- Spring 2021: Outreach between existing student groups for Black students and the staff affinity group Black and African Diaspora Community of Action (BADCOA).
- Summer 2020: Affinity-based outreach by Student Affairs through affinity-based SIGs as part of summer onboarding and Marhaba.
- Fall 2021: Creation of a Black Professional Network by students, with the support of SLICE and the Career Development Center (CDC), creating space for Black-identifying students to be supported in the professional sphere through workshops, panel discussions, and mentorship.
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Review Hiring, Performance Evaluation, Promotion, and Vendor Selection Policies to Ensure Equitable and Inclusive Practices Are Maintained, and a Culture of Belonging is Fostered Across the Institution
- Measure
- Status
Measure — How do we know we succeeded?
- A comprehensive review of all CABO processes conducted with an external vendor and/or OIE Director.
Status — Where are we? | IN PROGRESS
- Spring 2021: In partnership with HR and OIE, developed a strategy that includes measuring all processes with an inclusive framework including talent acquisition, evaluation, promotion, and bonus structures. 4 The OIE led an equitable hiring training with Student Affairs for student leaders and staff involved in various recruitment processes.
- Fall 2021: The OIE continue to meet with offices within the Chief Administrative and Business Office to ensure completion. HR work directly with OIE to implement strategy for equitable practices across all units.
4 Human Resources and OIE — Inclusive Frameworks
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Expand Programs to Amplify Diversity and Mobility Among Staff at All Levels of Our Administration Through Mentoring and Training Programs, Several of Which Have Already Been Designed to be Launched This Coming Academic Year
- Measure
- Status
Measure — How do we know we succeeded?
- Twenty percent staff engagement in mentoring program as well as involvement from all TAG (The Vice Chancellor’s Advisory Group) members.
Status — Where are we? | COMPLETED*
- Spring 2021: A pilot mentoring program was launched, with all mentees that registered matched with a mentor.
- August 2021: Sixteen graduate fellows joined the Tomoh Graduates Program, providing competency based professional development supported by a comprehensive training schedule.
- Fall 2021: L&OD are facilitating group mentoring sessions, collaborating with the OIE on inclusive engagement and outreach.
* While this specific action item is completed, the work is ongoing and training will continue to be developed and provided
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Ensure Faculty and Staff Have Comprehensive Training on the University's Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy and Complaint Procedures for Employees
- Measure
- Status
Measure — How do we know we succeeded?
- Create a training module that is accessible through i-Learn and at least 70 percent of the community should attend. This will be included in orientations for new joiners as well.
Status — Where are we? | COMPLETED*
- Fall 2020: 87% of administrative, researchers, and academic staff completed the OEO101 training on preventing discrimination and harassment on campus.
- Spring 2021: OEO Policies/Procedures presentation given to all new faculty as part of orientation, as well as to the Arts and Humanities division All Faculty Meeting. OEO policies and procedures presentation given as part of Accessibility Zone training, concerning Workplace Modifications focused on empowering NYUAD persons of determination.
- Spring/Fall 2021: All new NYUAD employees received a presentation on OEO Policies/Procedures during new starter orientations. OEO 101 training continues to be offered throughout the semester(s).
- Fall 2021: Launched OEO 102 Supervisors Workshop on Preventing Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation, focusing on NYUAD supervisors' specific responsibilities as it concerns preventing discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in the workplace, as well as providing strategies on handling workplace modifications/accessibility, and other critical workplace matters involving OEO policies.
- Spring 2022: The OEO, in collaboration with whe Office of Compliance, HR, Employee Relations, and the OIE, will launch NYUAD's second K(no)w Retaliation initiative, which will aim to spread greater awareness of about the rights of employees and available procedures/resources with regards to protecting employees against retaliation in the workplace as it concerns those who engage in protected activity under OEO policies.
* While this specific action item is completed, the work is ongoing and training will continue to be developed and provided.