OUE Internal Commitments and Actions

The Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE) 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. OUE therefore is committed to anti-racist learning and action within our organization.

OUE Anti-Racism Working Group

The Anti-Racism Working Group (ARWG) is a standing committee within OUE dedicated to identifying systemic discriminatory practices and proposing anti-racist policies within the Office.

Mission

Recognizing that systemic and structural racism are embedded in American society, OUE’s Anti-Racism Working Group is committed to proposing anti-racist policies and to identifying and mitigating discriminatory practices. The group serves OUE staff members in equipping them with an understanding of intersectionality, the interconnectedness of different types of biases rooted in racism. The committee explores evidence-based research and best practices, engages in reflection for deeper understanding, and demonstrates humility—realizing this work is continually developing and evolving. The team works to ensure that all OUE team members are engaged in this learning process and aspires to be a living model of what this work can look like if it is done well. 

The committee coordinates trainings and educational opportunities for skill building and for identifying and addressing current events, policies, practices, and patterns that create and perpetuate systemic and structural racism. The programs are also responsive to the specific needs of the diverse student and staff populations served. ARWG members work directly with individual units on the development and status of their anti-racism plans, as well as provide support for OUE’s onboarding process. In addition, the committee proactively creates avenues through which OUE can support, guide, and challenge staff, faculty, and students to be more equitable and anti-racist. ARWG strives for transparency in messaging and interacting with colleagues, an openness to new ideas and suggestions from OUE and the Duke community, and a commitment to serving the specific needs of the OUE divisions. 

This mission statement came from work in the 2023-2024 academic year and describes the ARWG charge to examine address and redress anti-racist and discriminatory structures and policies in the Office of Undergraduate Education and ARWG activities and ethos. 

ARWG Structure 

The Anti-Racism Working Group generally consists of 6-8 committee members and up to three co-chairs, one of whom is an AVP. The term of service is two years, with roughly half the committee changing each summer. Members are eligible to serve multiple years in non-consecutive terms. 

The committee meets monthly as a full group and subcommittees meet separately as needed outside of monthly meetings. Outside of these meetings, members assume supplemental responsibilities  that include tasks such as supporting individual units’ self-analyses and procedures, evaluating OUE systems more broadly, and identifying training or educational or professional development opportunities suitable for OUE. 

Recruitment of new members begins each summer and those who wish to be considered should complete the Statement of Interest form. The existing committee will review applications and the co-chairs will make the final selection, pending the completion of the endorsement survey of the immediate supervisor. The onboarding process will begin in late summer and members are expected to commit 6-10 hours per month to the efforts of the group.  

If you have any questions or would like to know more, please contact one of the co-chairs. 

Past Work 

The Staff Development Report & Recommendations suggested that each OUE unit to develop stand-alone anti-racism plan, external consultants be hired to provide training to OUE staff, and that OUE invest in anti-racism training for OUE staff. Based on the Staff Development report, the ARWG and colleagues implemented the following recommendations during the 21-22 and 22-23 academic years:   

1. OUE units developed stand-alone anti-racism plans that included each unit’s mission and anti-racism statement and addressed staff development and retention; workplace climate and culture; staff recruitment and hiring; and assessment of representation in student engagement, speakers, and student employees. The ARWG provided multiple rounds of feedback and support as units iteratively developed anti-racism plans. The ARWG led review of unit plan implementation in March and September 2022.  

2. External consultants from the Racial Equity Institute (REI) provided training to OUE Senior Leaders in February 2021, and to all OUE members in January 2021 and December 2022. Adrienne Davis of AMBDavis Equity Coaching, LLC also provided training to all of OUE.  

3. The ARWG offered REI’s Groundwater training to all of OUE in January 2021, and facilitated affinity-group conversations following the training. The ARWG captured OUE staff interest and availability to participate in various training opportunities in Fall 2022. Ultimately, the ARWG organized trainings for OUE staff members led by the Duke Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity (Duke P.R.I.D.E. training, Foundational Training 1 – On Language and Identities), REI Phase 1, and equity coach Adrienne Davis (Bias Impact Response: Reorganizing and Responding to Microaggressions) during the 2022-2023 academic year.  
    

Recruitment and Hiring Report & Recommendations 

a. Examine OUE’s recruitment and hiring processes 

1. Explored each unit’s policies and practices in order to learn about how anti-racism is being incorporated in the recruitment and hiring phases. 

2. Conducted informational interviews with OUE Senior Leaders who lead the recruitment and hiring processes with a focus on: (1) Managers’ feelings and experiences around the recruitment and hiring processes; (2) Their knowledge and level of comfort in leading discussions on anti-racism; and (3) Identifying resources that would better equip them to develop an anti-racist framework and plan for recruitment and hiring that would benefit the unit and Duke. 

3. Identified the needs of Senior Leaders in order to integrate anti-racism into the recruitment and hiring processes: (1) Anti-racism training and education and its manifestations in the recruitment and hiring process; (2) Assistance in expanding advertising and outreach to diversify pools of applicants; (3) Explicit and clear communication on anti-racism in job descriptions and interview questions; and (4) Transparency and understanding of recruitment and hiring processes and communication with Human Resources. 

b. Offer recommendations for how OUE can adopt anti-racist recruitment and hiring practices 

Based on the Recruitment and Hiring Report, the OUE ARWG and staff from OUE divisions implemented the following recommendations during the 21-22 and 22-23 academic years: 

1. Developed anti-racism recruitment and hiring processes. 
2. Implemented and refined the pilot processes.  
3. Trained OUE staff on new hiring processes.  

These processes are now being implemented by all OUE units. 

Based on the Communications and Engagement Report, the ARWG and colleagues across OUE divisions implemented the following recommendations during the 21-22 and 22-23 academic years: 

1. Created a comprehensive Anti-Racist Communications Guide that provides robust advice for how all OUE staff, regardless of if they hold an official communicator role, can communicate with internal and external audiences in more inclusive and culturally-sensitive ways. Originally drafted in the 20-21 academic year, the guide was refined in the 21-22 academic year and digitized in the 22-23 academic year. It is now live on the OUE website under Staff Resources accessible through Duke Shibboleth login credentials. 

2. Created an OUE-wide Anti-Racism Teams Channel to promote internal staff engagement around anti-racist topics. The Teams group consists of a general channel to share campus or local events and trainings, a channel to discuss OUE unit anti-racism plans, and a channel to share supplemental anti-racism resources like books, articles, and other media. The goal of the channel is to encourage the sharing of knowledge and resources among OUE colleagues, and to foster open dialogue on anti-racist topics. 

3. Drafted a plan for sustainable engagement within the Anti-Racism Teams Channel that recommends each OUE division take turns leading discussions and promoting resources throughout the year. This plan was reviewed and approved, and is now awaiting implementation. 

Current Projects 

During the 22-23 academic year, the ARWG developed a committee sustainability plan, which formalized internal processes related to personnel and maintenance. The ARWG began implementing this plan over the course of the 23-24 academic year. During the same academic year, the ARWG defined committee roles and began carrying out the work associated with each role.   

ARWG sustainability: The ARWG sustainability plan specifies co-chair and member tasks related to membership recruitment, selection, and onboarding, as well as for ongoing committee maintenance.  

Educational development

The ARWG shares information that we find critical to promoting anti-racist policies and practices. They do this through identifying and coordinating trainings, lectures, and educational development opportunities that bolster the ARWG mission and help staff understand and deconstruct systemic racism. Through examining books and peer-reviewed articles and institutional research and data, the group makes informed decisions about how to best support students and colleagues. 

ONBOARDING

The group provides new employees with the ARWG mission, history, purpose, and initiatives. They ensure that new employees have access to mentors, materials, and resources. In addition, they provide new team members with information on how they can contribute to anti-racist efforts and participate in initiatives. 

Anti-Racist Plans and Practices

The committee members support individual units’ anti-racist and DEI plans and evaluate OUE systems more broadly. The working group also biannually evaluates OUE policies and procedures to ensure the processes are equitable and inclusive. 

The ARWG last engaged individual units in reviewing anti-racist and DEI plans in the 22-23 academic year. The ARWG will formally initiate a unit-support process in the 24-25 academic year. The ARWG will also undertake a broad evaluation of OUE-wide policies and procedures in the 24-25 academic year. 

Communication

The ARWG provides updates on its work to the broader OUE community via emails, features in the OUE staff newsletter, and unit staff meetings.