Strategic Plan 2019 & Beyond: Build an Inclusive Community

Summary: Build an Inclusive Community

As a core focus of the 2019 & Beyond Strategic Plan, we sought to create a school community where people experience respect, belonging, opportunity and support. 

Over the planning cycle, our progress in this area became a way of working: how students are supported, how faculty and staff collaborate, and how relationships are built across communities.

Progress

• Established a more comprehensive student-support model, including in-house academic advising, a student support coordinator, writing support, undergraduate retention leadership, first-generation programming, and an embedded mental health clinician in partnership with CAPS and the School of Law.
• Created Community Care Days and other community-building and service opportunities for students, faculty, and staff.
• Developed shared community agreements to clarify how faculty and staff aspire to collaborate, especially during periods of change and constraint.
• Expanded mentoring and research opportunities through the Toni Johnson Center and the Toni Johnson Scholars Program.
• Deepened partnerships with Haskell Indian Nations University through public scholarship, classroom collaboration, student pathways, and a donor-supported scholarship for Native American MSW students, beginning in fall 2026.
• Strengthened pathways and recognition for faculty and staff, including progression for multi-term lecturers and professors of practice, staff recognition, and a more intentional approach to nominations and awards.