Respond to Divisive Current Events in an Inclusive Way

Last updated August 24, 2020

Respond to Divisive Current Events in an Inclusive Way

Last updated August 24, 2020

How are you creating safe spaces for your students, faculty, and staff to organize in response to current events?

Overview

There are a variety of divisive current events that we’re all experiencing and can no longer ignore—national events such as the U.S. presidential election or the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as local issues that are important to your campus community. Your students will likely exercise their first amendment rights to stand up for or against the issues they feel passionate about.

How confident are you that your policies include all student groups with various social identities and that students understand the required procedures should they decide to organize? When students request support from the larger community, how do you set clear expectations for the appropriate level of faculty and staff involvement? You may feel like you have more questions than answers when preparing your campus community to respond to these hot button issues.

Join us online to get answers to these burning questions. You will learn how to take a proactive approach to align your campus community’s first amendment rights and ensure all perspectives are equitably supported. Our expert instructor will provide tips and strategies for:

  • Creating policies and procedures that are clear and equitable for all members of your community
  • Defining and communicating faculty/staff roles in cases where students request partnership for their events so that they can balance their personal and professional responsibilities
  • Identifying training needs for your campus community, including students, faculty, and staff

Who should attend?

This webcast is ideal for campus leaders, such as Vice Presidents of Student or Academic Affairs, Senior Diversity Officers, and Human Resource Directors. Anyone looking for direction and guidance on how to establish policies and procedures to help campus staff proactively respond to community members who feel their first amendment rights need to be expressed will benefit from this training.

You will benefit from this webcast if you’re just beginning work in this area or if you’ve already started but are looking for fresh ideas.

Agenda

To help you create a plan for how to respond to current events, our expert instructor will present you with three real-life scenarios that you may confront. You’ll use these scenarios to review the following topics:

  1. Policies and Procedures – Learn how to evaluate and update your policies and procedures including your student code of conduct so that they are inclusive and resonate with all student groups.
  2. Clarifying Roles – Identify how you can set and communicate expectations with your faculty and staff regarding their support and involvement in student protests.
  3. Training – Get tips for how to train your students, student leaders, and faculty/staff about the possible consequences of their decisions and the impact they may have on the campus community.

As a group, you’ll brainstorm best practices for responding to the scenarios, so you can walk away with collective knowledge of how varying institutions respond to current events in an equitable and responsible way.