Over the next three years, the President’s Council, under leadership of the Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer (CEIO), will build a framework through which the University will define, take action toward, and be able to assess its goals for equitable and inclusive excellence. By pursuing the four initiatives listed above, the CEIO and President’s Council will create a framework that provides the University shared principles for matters of equity and inclusion, contributes to the capacity for colleagues to engage their daily operations with an ever-present lens of equity and inclusion, and provides the University with a plan for assessing its progress toward goals of equity and inclusion. Goal I of the Strategic Plan seeks to unite the University community as it works toward a more collaborative, data-informed future that yields increased equity and inclusion.

As a first step in achieving Goal I, the University needs to determine its guiding principles for DEI at Loyola. A set of principles, shared across the University, can inform the policies we make, the protocols we follow, and the language we use. Principles create a framework for our university community to approach decisions and operations with consistent focus on equity and inclusion, allow us to define what equitable and inclusive excellence could mean at Loyola University Maryland, and increase our effectiveness in promoting change, both in our shared intentions and in our shared accountability to one another. To this end, the CEIO and the Council will draft, and refine with contributions from the Loyola community, principles for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Loyola University Maryland.

Concurrently, the President’s Council and its working groups will engage in targeted equity audits that identify specific inequities in programs, departments, and divisions, and then identify and act upon methods to address the inequities we discover. While equity audits take a look at the “nuts and bolts” of a specific area and allow us to evaluate whether systems in place promote equity and inclusivity, assessment plans evaluate the larger question of impact. How will we know that the University’s actions and investments have the intended effect? What does “equitable and inclusive excellence” mean, and how will we know when we are achieving our goals toward equitable, inclusive excellence? We will scan the University for measures we use currently for DEI work, gather and review these measures, and determine what additional measures we need. Ultimately, we will create a cohesive assessment plan that measures DEI growth, relative to the goals of this strategic plan. Pursuing improved assessment and targeted equity audits will allow us to identify the professional development needs for the promotion of equitable, inclusive excellence at Loyola. Ideally, the opportunities for professional development will meet individual faculty, staff, and administrators where they are in their own journeys of DEI development.

At the conclusion of three years, Loyola will have

• begun to use shared DEI principles that promote a clear understanding of the University’s goals for equitable, inclusive excellence among all student leaders, staff leaders, faculty leaders, and administrators, as evidenced by policies, practices, and accountability across the University;
• provided one training and professional development experience on equity and inclusion process and language implications for members of the President’s Cabinet;
• provided one beginning, one intermediate, and one advanced professional development opportunity for staff, administrators, and faculty that explores individual identity development, gives shape to systematic change throughout the organizational structure of the University, and results in increased equity and inclusion on campus;
• conducted targeted equity audits, through a partnership with the vice presidents, in every division and will have begun to use the findings to address patterns of inequity; and
• created a comprehensive assessment plan that defines equitable and inclusive excellence goals of the institution, identifies how those goals will be measured with available data, and identifies additional data/evidence needs for assessing the achievement of the goals.

Goal II of strategic plan centers the work of the Office of Equity and Inclusion led by the Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, President’s Advisory Council on Equity and Inclusion, and student boards to partner with appropriate personnel and offices to ensure the development of inclusive spaces that align with the University mission and support the full participation, growth, and well-being of diverse community members. These spaces are important for the actualization of all individuals. The initiatives in this goal area support the healthy development, exploration, and affirmation of our individual and collective social and cultural identities and the fulfillment of who we are called to be as espoused by the Jesuit educational tradition. Moreover, this goal advocates for the expansion and enhanced communication among programmatic areas that have documented success serving underrepresented students and therefore may contribute more fully to their academic, social, and cultural development.

Goal II begins with the facilitation of communication between the offices that support co-curricular programming for inclusive cultures. This will involve developing an efficient, yet effective process for thorough identification of the vast number of programs, services, and initiatives aimed at supporting inclusive cultures and strengthening communication avenues among them. With this process in place, appropriate support for existing or new virtual and physical space like an interfaith worship center or expanded disability resource center and additional affinity spaces like White faculty/staff/administrator accountability groups will emerge. This goal will also bring together university data on program outcomes to highlight and advocate for program expansion in key, student-facing areas like Disability Support Services, the Pride Resource Room, and ALANA Services.

At the conclusion of the three-year strategic plan period, Loyola will have:

• Developed an annual process that supports communication between campus affinity group leaders and inclusive space directors, and expanded the Council to include a member with expertise in matters impacting individuals with disabilities
• Collaborated for the development of affinity groups including white affinity groups for faculty, staff, and administrators (WAG), and students. Supported the re-invigoration of BFASA
• Monitored and advocated for physical space for an interfaith worship, meditation, and prayer
• Advocated for additional resource support for web accessibility and DSS Services (including funding to assist student assessment), the Pride Resource Room, and ALANA Services.

Over the next three years, the President’s Advisory Council, student diversity boards, and the Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer will work with University partners to support the University’s strategic goal of Ignatian Citizenship. Specific to the intersection of Ignatian Citizenship and diversity, equity, and inclusion, the five initiatives listed above deepen our individual and collective intellectual and civic engagement with justice issues on Loyola’s campuses, our local Baltimore City community, and beyond. These initiatives are practical action steps that suggest the interconnectedness of local and global matters and allow for the real-world application of Jesuit education values to make a positive difference in the city of Baltimore and the world beyond.

Ignatian Citizenship is operationalized in the initiatives of Goal III. Local and global connections, within the context of diversity, equity, and inclusion, chart a clear pathway for intellectual and civic engagement that lives in aim of fulfillment of a higher purpose that results in transformational change for ourselves, our communities, and our planet. Goal III embraces the work of the GAEL (Global Awareness, Engagement, and Learning) strategic plan for internationalization by emphasizing reflection in the development and commitment to academic excellence. The goal area develops a University-wide record and strengthens through advocacy partnerships for undergraduate student enrollment and minority business collaboration. Finally, the goal area uses celebration through the development of a virtual International Week to build bridges and increase dialogue that makes clear the connections between Loyola, the city of Baltimore, and global communities more broadly.

At the conclusion of three years, Loyola will have:

• supported implementation of student reflection presentations on study abroad and study tours as part of Academic Excellence Weekend;
• collaborated to strengthen Baltimore partnerships, collaborations, and pipelines with Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Western High School, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, and local non-profit organizations;
• logged and advocated for Baltimore city business partnerships and service contracts with local businesses owned by persons of color;
• developed and implemented a virtual International Week to become part of an annual celebration of local and global communities; and
• showcased community members’ partnerships with and service to Baltimore City and the state of Maryland that deepen Loyola’s position as an anchor institution.