As you may be aware, 糖心vlog has been working with SOVA, a higher education consulting firm, since October 2022 to evaluate our campus climate and culture with respect to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. The campus assessment committee led listening sessions, and a survey of students and employees was conducted with responses inclusive of many from our campus community.

Next, a set of focus groups will support deeper conversations around our collective experiences and hopes for the future at 糖心vlog. The focus groups with students, faculty, and staff will be facilitated by SOVA throughout February and March 2023. SOVA is working diligently to define an inclusive sampling strategy and participation criteria based on a stratified randomized sampling method. We encourage your participation if invited.

Please view this brief video from President Koppell.

We will provide additional updates during the semester.

For more information, please contact campusclimate@montclair.edu.

Thank you.

Dr. Ashante S. Connor
Campus Climate Assessment Committee Chairperson

I am excited that we have launched an important project to gather information about our campus climate around diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

Everyone who works for or attends 糖心vlog should feel that they are valued, respected and have full access to all the opportunities that the University provides. While this institution has made considerable strides towards this important goal over many years, there鈥檚 always more we can and should do.

That鈥檚 why I am inviting every member of our campus community to share your perspectives about what鈥檚 working and where we have opportunities to improve. What we learn from each other will help all of us advance in the shared work of building our community. I look forward to sharing the findings with you next spring.

The project is called 鈥淪oaring Together: Deepening Diversity, Enhancing Equity, Increasing Inclusion and Building Belonging in the University community.鈥� There will be quantitative and qualitative components to this assessment. Watch for a link to the survey and other engagement opportunities. I hope that you will respond to the survey. In addition, you may be invited to participate in a focus group, and I encourage you to do so.

Everyone鈥檚 voice matters, and we want to hear from as many people as possible, so this project will take several months. However, that doesn鈥檛 mean that everything鈥檚 on pause for a year and we鈥檙e not going to take action when opportunities arise to further enhance our policies, procedures and climate in ways that build belonging for all of us.

I want to thank Dr. Ashante Connor, Director of Equity and Title IX Coordinator in Human Resources, for taking on the leadership of this project at my request. I also want to thank the students, faculty, staff and administrators who have agreed to serve on the advisory committee for the project, as well as the student consultants from the University’s Eagle Industrial/ Organizational (I/O) Psychology program. Finally, I would like to welcome our partners in this process, SOVA Solutions. They are former higher education people who specialize in helping colleges and universities with projects like this one.

Check your email in the next few days for a link to the survey. For more information, please contact campusclimate@montclair.edu.

Carpe Diem!
President Koppell