An Update From The Implementation Team for Racial Justice
November 17, 2020
Dear Brooklyn College colleagues,
We are pleased to share with you more progress from the Implementation Team for Racial Justice. Following up from our last email, Brooklyn College has launched “BC Cares,” a survey about our students’ experiences. Among other things, the survey asks students about their perceptions of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. The Implementation Team looks forward to reviewing these results once available. The College will conduct a similar survey in the spring for faculty and staff.
The Implementation Team has reviewed the efforts of the Academic Affairs Anti-Racism Working Group. They include plans to address service inequities in faculty workload, develop best practices in faculty mentoring, decolonize the curriculum at the departmental and program level, prioritize faculty lines, and address equity gaps in student course outcomes through pedagogical development, culturally responsive teaching, and school-based communities of practice. The Implementation Team encourages and supports these ongoing efforts.
This set of recommendations furthers our goal of improving student success. We recommend the following action items:
- New Student Success. The College should explore credit-bearing courses and leadership development programs for new first-time, transfer, and graduate students to ease their transition into Brooklyn College and promote their academic success.
- EAB Implementation. The College should fully implement the Education Advisory Board (EAB) management system, Navigate, this spring. This comprehensive technology links administrators, faculty, staff, and advisors in a coordinated care network to support students from enrollment to graduation.
- Summer Bridge. The Implementation Team will develop a self-guided, online summer bridge program to assist new students in understanding the College and preparing for college-level work.
- Website Redesign. The College’s website redesign should be student-friendly, with crucial student resources and services in one easy-to-access location.
- Staff Support for Faculty Council Committees. Faculty Council Committees should consider recommended staff liaisons to improve the accuracy, transparency, and seamless implementation of academic and college policies that impact the academic progress of students.
We are excited to continue the work. Please keep the feedback coming. You can email us at ITRJ@brooklyn.cuny.edu or use our anonymous Community Feedback Form.
Sincerely,
Anthony Brown, Ron Jackson, and James Lynch, on behalf of the Implementation Team for Racial Justice
