Erb Institute Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy and Actions

Erb Institute Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy and Actions I.

Diversity Equity and Inclusion Strategic Plan: Overview

At the University of Michigan, our dedication to academic excellence for the public good is inseparable from our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). It is central to our mission as an educational institution to ensure that each member of our community has the full opportunity to thrive in our environment, for we believe that diversity, equity and inclusion – together – are key to individual flourishing, educational excellence and the advancement of knowledge.

University of Michigan DEI: Our Goals Diversity: We commit to increasing diversity, which is expressed in myriad forms, including race and ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, language, culture, national origin, religious commitments, age, (dis)ability status, and political perspective.

Equity: We commit to working actively to challenge and respond to bias, harassment, and discrimination. We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, height, weight, or veteran status.

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Inclusion: We commit to pursuing deliberate efforts to ensure that our campus is a place where differences are welcomed, different perspectives are respectfully heard and where every individual feels a sense of belonging and inclusion. We know that by building a critical mass of diverse groups on campus and creating a vibrant climate of inclusiveness, we can more effectively leverage the resources of diversity to advance our collective capabilities.

Erb Institute Purpose The Erb Institute is a partnership between the Ross School of Business and the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) at the University of Michigan. The institute’s mission is to create a socially and environmentally sustainable world through the power of business. We do that through research, teaching and business engagement—all focused on preparing and supporting bold business leaders who can adeptly transform companies, industries and entire economies for systemic sustainability.

II. Strategic Objective-Related Metrics Students Demographic Composition • Headcount • Race/ethnicity • Sex Graduation Rates and Time to Completion Enrollment • Entry status (new, continuing) • Student class level (Undergraduate, Graduate) Climate Indicators: End of year, Erb Seminar course evaluations and exit surveys

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Faculty and Staff Demographic Composition • Headcount • Race/ethnicity • Sex • Age (Generation cohort) Climate Indicators: Exit surveys and interviews

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Action Planning Tables with Details and Accountabilities

Strategic Imperatives

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Through research, teaching and business engagement, the Erb Institute is focused on preparing and supporting bold business leaders who can adeptly transform companies, industries and entire economies for just systemic social and environmental sustainability. We can’t do that without an inclusive community where students, faculty, staff and business partners understand their identities, values and perspectives and those of others and how these shape their leadership.

During the AY 2021 - 2023, these strategic imperatives are supported by the following strategic objectives and actions.

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A. Recruitment, Retention and Development Strategic Objective

Action Items

Measures of Success

Constituents Served

Group/Persons DE&I Accountable Goal

Increase diversity of students, faculty, and staff year over year

Create inclusive recruiting strategies for our undergraduate and graduate programs.

Student demographics year over year

Undergraduate students, Graduate students

Student Affairs

DE

Student Affairs

D

Managing Director, Administrative Operations Specialist

D

We will conduct desktop research, peer benchmarking and expert interviews to craft a strategy and multi-year work plan to increase the diversity of our undergraduate and graduate programs.

Engage outside partners in inclusive recruiting strategies.

Applicant demographics year over year Annual # of URM recruiting events / total annual recruiting events year over year Student demographics Undergraduate students, Graduate year over year students

We will leverage relationships with companies, nonprofits, academic affinity organizations and peer universities (Michigan and national HBCUs, HSIs, indigenous education) to design and deliver our undergraduate and graduate inclusive recruiting strategies and revised scholarship opportunities.

3+ relationships with identified organizations

Expand our recruiting networks for faculty, postdoc, and staff hiring.

Candidate pool demographics

We will develop and document inclusive hiring procedures that align with Ross, SEAS, and U-M to reflect the Erb Institute’s commitment to DEI.

Faculty, postdoctoral fellows and staff demographics year over year

Erb faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and staff

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B. Education and Scholarship Strategic Objective Develop the capacity of faculty, staff, and students to contribute to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community at the Erb Institute; within their communities outside of Erb; and in business broadly

Action Items Develop opportunities for the Erb Institute community to deepen their knowledge and understanding of DEI topics.

Measures of Success

Constituents Served

Group/Persons DE&I Accountable Goal

Participation of and evaluation by students, faculty, and staff in training / programming

Faculty, staff, Undergraduate students, Graduate students, and alumni

Student Affairs Manager, Student Affairs Coordinator

DEI

Program design year over year

Graduate students

Student Affairs Manager

DEI

Undergraduate students, Graduate students, business partners

Student Affairs Manager

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We will first audit DEI related training and requirements for Ross, SEAS, and Erb Institute students, staff, and faculty to inform a cohesive training and programming strategy.

Leverage in-classroom learning opportunities to build student capacity around anti-racism work.

Ratio of diverse content We will create meaningful racial justice integrations (syllabus, readings, sessions, speakers) into Erb Seminar (Erb on the Road).

Reimagine Impact and Partnership projects to advance anti-racism work and promote DEI.

Course evaluations

# of Impact and Partnership projects that relate to racial justice and DEI year over year

We will restructure the Impact and Partnership project application process to eliminate unintended racial biases and incorporate a racial justice and diversity lens into the project scope.

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Support and advance research and thought leadership around DEI in the context of business sustainability.

We will identify opportunities to encourage and promote DEI focused research and develop new tools and resources that build our students’ and partners’ capacity to integrate DEI in their sustainability work. We will also amplify research and thought leadership from underrepresented voices.

DEI focused scholarly and Erb faculty, translational research postdoctoral products year over year fellows, Undergraduate students, Graduate students, and business partners

Research and Thought Leadership Manager, Marketing and Communications Manager

Measures of Success Constituents Served

Group/Persons DE&I Accountable Goal

DEI

C. Promoting an Equitable and Inclusive Community Strategic Objective Create a positive and inclusive climate in which all faculty, staff, and students can thrive

Action Items Create and implement inclusive and diverse programming guidelines.

We will document best practices for planning and hosting events to ensure inclusive and diverse programming.

Develop inclusive and diverse event partnerships stipulations.

As we engage with business partners to produce business sustainability events and conferences, we will establish contract language to ensure diversity of speakers and content.

Demographics of speakers Erb Institute Administrative broader community Operations at Erb Institute events Specialist, Marketing and DEI content offered at Erb Communications Institute events Manager

DEI

Demographics of speakers Erb Institute Administrative at Erb Institute partnership broader community Operations Specialist, events Marketing and Communications DEI content offered at Manager partnership events

DEI

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Create opportunities for Erb Institute alumni to engage in DEI programming.

As part of the Erb Institute’s alumni engagement strategy, we will reconnect with Erb alumni to foster an inclusive community. We will create additional programming, professional development opportunities, and alumni networking integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion content.

Support student-led initiatives to foster a more inclusive climate.

We will work with students to provide staff guidance, support, and clear access to funding for activities that promote inclusive climates.

Create formats for communicating the Erb Institute’s commitment to and progress on DEI initiatives.

Number of new DEIfocused events or engagement opportunities

Diversify the Erb Institute’s vendor portfolio.

We will create internal documentation of existing and new vendors, with the goal of highlighting women and minority owned vendors and business

Student Affairs Coordinator, Managing Director

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Student Affairs Manager, Student Affairs Coordinator

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Attendee survey feedback Number of alumni participants who attend DEI-focused programming

Meetings with SAB Undergraduate students and leaders and Fellows Council to approve budget Graduate students and activities scheduled Checklist for student planning Regular communications outputs with DEI reporting

Erb Institute Marketing and I broader community Communications Manager, Research and Thought Leadership Manager

Increase number of women and minority owned businesses on an internal suppliers list

Business community

We will hold ourselves accountable and communicate transparently about our DEI initiatives and metrics through newsletters, social media and our website.

Increase gender and URM representation of businesses in our actionbased learning portfolio and among businesses designated as preferred suppliers and vendors year over year

Erb alumni

Administrative Operations Specialist

DE

% of spend, spend patterns

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owners for consideration in future projects and events.

Develop relationships with URM faculty to advance diversity within the Sustainability Academy speakers.

We will work with new and existing faculty partners to increase diversity in the room and in content, evaluating programs with an environmental justice perspective.

Continue to increase diversity on the Erb Institute Strategic Advisory Council (SAC).

Demographics of Sustainability Academy speakers

Business partners

Faculty Director and Managing Director

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Business partners and the wider business community

Faculty Director and Managing Director

DE

% of clients pitched DEI, environmental justice and/or anti-racism content % of clients incorporating DEI, environmental justice and/or anti-racism sessions Demographics of SAC members year over year

As new members are added, we will work to increase the diversity of our members, with an eye toward racial, ethnic and gender diversity.

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IV. Plans for Supporting, Tracking and Updating the Strategic Plan Process for Progress Review The Erb Institute DEI Leads, Carmen Quiñonez and Brooke Sweeney are stewards of the plan. The Leads collaborate with Erb Institute leadership and staff members to assess, refine, implement, and evaluate the plan.

Throughout the year, the Leads will review the plan and gather feedback and additional ideas for continued refinement.

Additionally, the DEI Leads will be working with Erb Institute student leaders to determine the frequency and mode for updates to the Erb community.

Assessment As this plan is implemented, success will be evaluated by the indicators for each of the three dimensions (Recruitment, Retention and Development, Education and Scholarship, Promoting an Equitable and Inclusive Community) in the detailed action plans; demographic data; community feedback; and climate indicators of faculty, staff, and students.

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