Western Structural Equity Team Charge & Members 2021-22

In support of its institutional commitment to advance inclusive success and pursue justice and equity in programming, policies, and practices, Western created a two-fold structure in the fall of 2020, building on the Recommendation to Create a Structural Equity and Bias Response Team (SEBRT) that was advanced by the President’s Council on Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice during the 2019 – 2020 academic year.

The first component is a Bias Response Team that coordinates prompt responses to bias incidents at the University and in the community. The second is a Structural Equity Team (SET) that uses information about bias incidents, and deeper examinations of the conditions leading to specific incidents, to inform longer-term actions and recommendations that build and sustain a more equitable and just environment. In addition, the SET will create an annual public report providing information about reported incidents of bias, responsive actions undertaken by the Bias Response Team, and independent work undertaken by the SET, all of which will inform future work of the Teams and Western more broadly.

Charge to the Structural Equity Team (SET) for AY 2021-2022

The Structural Equity Team (SET) focuses on deeper examinations of the conditions and long-term actions and recommendations that build and sustain a more equitable, inclusive, and just environment. The SET work this year, and continuing into the next year, is driven by the vision for the recently created Office of Equity.

The Office of Equity, created in 2021, brings together two complementary functions: a compliance function and a much broader and robust education and community development function leading to proactive equity and diversity work. While there has been relevant and valuable work delivered by various entities on campus, creating a holistic education and community development function under the auspices of one office is a new effort with the potential to influence every area of the university. We will be recruiting for a Chief Diversity Officer and Executive Director (CDO/ED) of the Office of Equity during the 2021-22 academic year.

To assist the CDO/ED in the development of the ADEI education and community development function of the Office, the Structural Equity Team (SET) is charged during the 2021-2022 academic year to gather information and create and inventory of current educational and development efforts at Western with respect to ADEI. This would include departments, committees, and educational programs, and their scope, goals, and impact.

Specific tasks for this assessment effort include the following:

1. The SET should familiarize itself with the ADEI goals and vision of the university, reports generated by the 2020-21 Structural Equity and Bias Response Team and previous reports of the Council on Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice, the Commission on Gender Equity, and the Social Justice and Equity Committee.
2. Gather all relevant reports of ADEI programs across campus, and organize them so that their goals and objectives, and achievements relative to those goals can be examined.
3. Analyze and develop a 2021-2022 report that includes an inventory of existing departments’ and committees’ educational programs

We anticipate that the work of the SET this year will form the basis of identifying educational and development gaps, including priority areas to pursue that would most impactfully enable Western to advance its work of building a university community that values diversity and equity and integrates them in its policies and practices.

2021 - 2022 Structural Equity Team Membership

As described in the Recommendation to Create a Structural Equity and Bias Response Team, the Structural Equity Team includes some staff positions that also serve on the Bias Response Team, facilitating efforts to make connections between individual acts of bias and institutional change aimed at decreasing bias incidents and structural inequities. After the 2020-21 academic year the composition of the SET will be evaluated in relation to the team’s annual and recurring goals.

Structural Equity Team 2021-22

The Structural Equity Team will include the following people. As described in the Recommendation to Create a Structural Equity and Bias Response Team, the Structural Equity Team includes some staff positions that also serve on the Bias Response Team, facilitating SEBRT in making connections between individual acts of bias and institutional change aimed at decreasing bias incidents and structural inequities.

Benny Musonda, Custodian, Facilities Department, IT Support Technician 2  

Blanca Aranda, Associate Professor, Modern and Classical Languages, UFWW Representative

Bradley Kimbrell, IT Support Tech, Human Resources, PSE Classified Staff Representative

Brandon Joseph, Men's Resiliency Specialist, Prevention & Wellness Services

Courtney Yoshiyama, At-large Student Representative           

Daniel Records-Galbraith, Director, Office of Civil Rights & Title IX Compliance      

Faye Gallant, Executive Director, University Budget and Financial Planning

John Krieg, Director of Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Jyoti Bajwa, Contracts Specialist, Procurement, At-large Staff Representative

Keith Kelley, Manager, Conference Services, Faculty and Staff of Color Council Representative

L.C. Osadchuk, At-large Student Representative

Litav Langley, LGBTQ+ Director, SEBRT Chair (2020-21)

Lucas Senger, Instructor, MBA Program and Arts Enterprise & Cultural Innovation, At-large Faculty Representative

Marshawna Williams, Regional Admissions Representative, Admissions, Professional Staff Organization Representative   

Melynda Huskey, Vice Pres. of Enrollment & Student Services

Michael Sledge, Assistant Dean of Students, Student Life   

Naira Gonzales Aranda, Associate Students Vice President for Diversity

Peter Pihos, Assistant Professor, History Department, At-large Faculty Representative 

Ranulfo Molina, Associated Students Vice President for Diversity

Rae Lynn Schwartz-DuPre, Professor, Communication Studies, Faculty Senate Appointee   

Sargun Handa, Associated Students Pro-Tempore

Shevell Thibou, Director, Teaching & Learning, Western Libraries