OUE Internal Commitments and Actions

The Office of Undergraduate Education is committed to upholding Duke’s values of racial justice, equity, and meaningful inclusion in our work.  To equitably achieve our mission of providing a transformative undergraduate experience to all students, we must necessarily foster racial equity among our teams and be knowledgeable about and fight against the reproduction of structural racism in our offices and activities. Furthermore, to fully experience the benefits of a diverse workforce, we must foster an environment that allows all staff to thrive in their roles, regardless of the identities they carry. The Office of Undergraduate Education therefore is committed to anti-racist learning and action within our organization.

OUE Anti-Racism Working group

The mission of the OUE Anti-Racism Working Group (ARWG) is to affirm, develop, and strengthen racial equity in OUE by continuously challenging our existing systems and implementing new policies and practices that provide our BIPOC community with the infrastructure to thrive at Duke. Special thanks to our colleagues, Kim Bethea (co-chair) and Sachelle Ford(co-chair), for leading this important work for OUE.

Recommendations and Progress

During the 20-21 academic year, the ARWG performed an examination of and developed recommendations for three main focus areas for OUE anti-racist efforts: Staff Development, Recruitment and Hiring, and Communications and Engagement. During the 21-22 academic year, OUE has continued work on implementation of these recommendations.

Staff Development Report & Recommendations

The Staff Development subcommittee was charged with examining the existing anti-racist education efforts within OUE and to make recommendations for policies and practices that will foster racial equity among teams, inform staff members’ interactions, and support managers in their efforts to develop anti-racism plans for their teams and units.

Recruitment and Hiring Report & Recommendations

The Recruitment and Hiring sub-committee was charged with examining OUE’s recruitment and hiring processes and making recommendations for how OUE can adopt anti-racist practices in these areas to uphold Duke’s values of racial justice, equity and meaningful inclusion. 

Colleagues from across OUE have been involved in carrying forward various recommendations included in the report.

Communications and Engagement Report and Recommendations

The goal of the Communications and Engagement Report is to provide OUE senior leaders and staff with communications and engagement expectations and best practices that support anti-racism efforts. 

To build on this report, a group of colleagues from across OUE divisions were tapped to implement the report’s recommendations.