Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

Message from the Dean

The Albers School is committed to sustaining a culture of inclusive excellence that values diversity and works for equity in opportunity and outcomes. These long standing commitments start with our Shared Values, one of which speaks to Inclusiveness and Collegiality – fostering a welcoming and open environment, treating others with respect, and collaborating toward a shared vision.  

We want the culture in our school to be one in which all students, faculty, staff, and supporters are welcomed, respected, and valued. We believe that diversity strengthens the educational environment we can provide for our students. We do not limit diversity to the categories of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual preference, but also include socio-economic status, geographic origin, political philosophy, religion, immigration status, and physical abilities. We are training our students to be leaders in society. To be successful, they must understand and appreciate the values, potential, and perspectives of people of all walks of life.

The Albers School is forming students to be just and humane leaders within the business sector. This means that we must actively model best practices with regard to inclusion, diversity, and equity. This also means that our curricula and programs must educate our students about what inclusion, diversity, and equity mean for business organizations and economic policy. Successful business organizations must navigate these issues and our alumni should be prepared to take the lead with these important tasks.

This website is designed to be a place where our community of students, faculty, and staff can learn about the work Albers is undergoing to become a community where diverse voices are valued, respected, and supported. We see this space as an important part of our commitment to living our shared values.

Albers DEI Taskforce

The purpose of the Albers Taskforce on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is to make the Albers School more fully a place where diversity, inclusion, and equity are pursued with an ethic of care.

We envision that Albers will educate students who recognize, challenge, and make change in areas where diversity, equity, and inclusion are not realized, both within and beyond the school. Providing this education requires faculty and staff who are effective advocates of diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Albers can more fully reflect its stated values of diversity by:

• Making changes in its curriculum in order to promote learning about diversity, equity, and inclusion (readings, learning objectives, etc.)
• Ensuring that faculty, staff, student, and stakeholder (e.g. speakers, mentors, advisory board members) populations reflect diversity
• Providing co-curricular activities to support diversity, inclusion, and equity (professional development – faculty and staff, forums – students, faculty, and staff, etc.)

Because of the number of people on the task force, we believe there is an opportunity to break into subgroups tasked with each of the three areas discussed above. The responsibility of subgroups is to:

1. Understand best practices in their area. For example, the subgroup on curriculum will investigate what is being done within other colleges and universities.
2. Engage students, faculty and staff in understanding the organizational or personal issues that may impede progress in each area. For example, the subgroup on faculty, staff, and student populations would learn about recruitment and selection processes.
3. Make recommendations to create change within Albers. For example, the subgroup on co-curricular activities could suggest ways that our co-curricular activities could incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion.
4. Develop objectives and qualitative or quantitative metrics to measure progress toward those objectives in their area.
    

DEI Resources

For more information on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the following resources are available:

Seattle University Office of Diversity & Inclusion

AACSB

PhD Project