The Union EDI Initiatives
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The A. Ray Olpin Union, often known as “The Union,” tries to encompass an inclusive environment where students can feel safe and welcome, therefore inspiring aspirations in students to reach their full potential. We also acknowledge that, at times, we have failed in those objectives. We also understand that there will be marginalized individuals who may not feel represented in this plan and that no EDI plan will be able to adequately represent all people; however, as the A. Ray Olpin Union, we are committed to standing against racism and continuously working on ways to be more inclusive. We will be proactive in our approaches and not just implement policies reactively as we believe the A. Ray Olpin Union should always strive for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Found in the document below, you can find our Anti-Racism Plan.
A. Ray Olpin Union Anti-Racism Plan
The Union values diversity and promotes a safe and welcoming atmosphere where all students are inspired to realize their potential. The Union is continually working on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) initiatives, and this web page is where we will share in-progress, future, and completed initiatives
IN PROGRESS:
Braille Business Cards & Preferred Pronouns in Email Signature
- The Union has added braille to its business cards to be more inclusive for our visually impaired guests: Name, Number, and Email.
- Link to Pronoun Information: Pronouns are one of the ways we portray our identities. To be more inclusive, our staff will share our preferred pronouns in our email signatures
Fellowship Program
- To provide co-curricular opportunities for professional and leadership development, the Union will offer semester-long fellowships with intentional learning outcomes. Fellows will engage closely with Union Area Departments to develop and incorporate their learning outcomes to accomplish the mission of the Union.
- The Union Fellowships offers a fellowship that collaborates closely with the Union Administration to offer various opportunities for professional development, experiential learning, leadership skills, and introduction to student affairs.
- The Union offers semester-long fellowships. Fellows receive various opportunities for professional development, experiential learning, leadership skills, and introduction to the student affairs division.
- Fellowships do NOT require a Social Security Number in order to offer these opportunities to more students on campus.
- Union Fellows receive a scholarship for their participation in the program.
- Union Fellowships are renewable.
Art Committee
An art committee has been formed that, among other responsibilities, will review current art in the building and select new art representing a diverse range of backgrounds and identities. This art committee is to add at least two new pieces every year.
- The art committee will be made up mostly of students.
- The art committee will decide where any art is put in the Union
If any student leaders would like to get involved, please reach out to AJanovak@union.utah.edu
Advertising
- EDI Advertising for departments housed in the Union and Student Affairs Departments
State of the Unions
- Recurring events to offer the opportunity for students to learn about EDI initiatives from each Union department.
- Union departments will each have the opportunity to give a 3-7 minute speech to inform students about their current EDI initiatives.
- Students will be able to give live feedback to each department after each presentation. Students will also have the opportunity to submit feedback via Qualtrics. All feedback will be sent to the departments.
- We have also created a tab on our website to be able to see the progress, completion, and implementation of feedback.
Staff Trainings
The A. Ray Olpin Union full-time staff will attend at least one training or educational session monthly with an emphasis on EDI.
- Upon attending training, employees will have an open conversation on the session they attended at the next staff meeting.
- This conversation is to be the first agenda item of that meeting.
The A. Ray Olpin Union also wants to emphasize the importance of language and communication in creating an inclusive environment that does not perpetuate racism. So, a big focus on educational components will be learning about stereotypes, microaggression, microinvalidations, microinsults, and the importance of why we need to be cognitive of them.
Anonymous Survey
- Student employees and/or staff can voice their concerns or if they experience any racism or incidents of bias in the Union through an anonymous Qualtrics form that is located in all the teams chat.
- Any incidents of bias or racism submitted to the Qualtrics form will be acknowledged, and a plan to deliberately address them will be made.
- The Union will also host one focus group a semester to gauge the culture of the Union and the perception that student employees and fellows hold toward it.
Scholarship Program
The A. Ray Olpin is committed to awarding money to underrepresented students to help combat the systematic racism and barriers that have been in place in higher education in the attainment of a college degree to historically marginalized students.
- Union Development will track demographic information about scholarship recipients to assess the portion of scholarships awarded to historically underrepresented populations.
Programming Tailored to Racial Diverse Students
The Union Programming Council will host events throughout the semester that are tailored* to racially diverse students to cultivate the inclusive enviroment we aspire for the Union to be.
- The Union Programming Council will review its marketing strategies to ensure individuals from all over campus hear about their events.
- *All Union Programming Council events are open to all students
Dress Code Policies
- The A. Ray Olpin Union will re-evaluate its dress policies by area and get input from all its student and staff employees to create a dress code that is agreed upon by all. By doing this, we are removing institutional stigmas of what is considered “professional.”
- The dress policies are to be reviewed every summer and agreed upon by full-time and part-time employees before or during staff day (Friday before the semester starts).