Back to Exempt Staff Council

Racial Equity Action Plan

The Racial Equity Action Plan is a living document which establishes a framework of how we as exempt staff ensure our actions do not perpetuate a system of advantages based on race.

Approved by council vote October 9, 2020     PDF version here

If you would like to provide feedback or join us and be involved in this effort please contact us at [email protected].

Special thanks to the following Exempt Staff Council members who prepared this document:

Kyle Smith, Senior Associate Director of Admissions
Thalia Giraldo, Assistant Director, Applied Learning Initiative and Innovation Projects
Winnie Maloney, Admissions Counselor
Jess German, Director, Advancement Analytics
Dave Tatem, Instructional Technologist

How can we as exempt staff and members of the Exempt Staff Council help ensure that our actions (the actions of individual staff/ departments/ groups) do not perpetuate a system of advantages based on race?

The purpose and mission of the Exempt Staff Council (ESC) is, in part, to:

  • Build bridges between the exempt staff and other constituencies on campus including non-exempt staff, faculty, and upper administration.
  • Enhance communications between exempt staff and other constituencies of Trinity College, including senior administration, NESC membership, faculty, students and their families, and alumni.
  • Offer, when deemed appropriate and necessary, advice to senior administration.
  • Ensure that staff members serve on committees that help determine college policies, particularly but not exclusively those policies which directly affect the exempt staff.
  • Provide a forum for discussing/resolving issues and concerns of the exempt staff, and advocate on behalf of the rights and needs of the exempt staff.

These directives are especially important as we consider our role in developing short (ST)-, medium (MT)-, and long-term (LT) action plans to dismantle systemic racism and promote racial equity at Trinity. What is presented below is a living document that will change and grow as the council does and as the work demands it.

We commit to developing a diverse ESC whose membership includes better representation from across the spectrum of staff community at Trinity. To do this we must bring greater awareness of the council and its work to the larger community so that more staff are encouraged to participate, leading to greater representation on the council:

  • Share current elected council member contact information, biography, current projects (ST)
  • Consistently encourage attendance at ESC meetings and events. Work with department heads to encourage and allow staff the time to attend during the workday.(MT)
  • Actively seek feedback and input from exempt staff on how we can be supportive. (MT)
  • Develop a communications plan to regularly share updates on the work ESC is doing and to remind staff that we are here as a resource. (ST)

We (re)commit to serving as a resource and unified voice for staff at Trinity:

  • Making issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion core to our mission. (ST)
  • Reevaluating Employee Handbook and policies to make sure that theyserve our staff and our commitment to dismantling systemic racism in our community. Specifically, ensure that employee policies do not adversely impact people of color, and with the Office of Human Resources and campus leadership, work to change policies that perpetuate racial inequality. (MT)
  • Working in partnership with The Office of Human Resources and the Chief Financial Officer to evaluate the college’s compensation and promotion structure, paying particular attention to inequalities that might exist for employees of color. In collaboration with The Office of Human Resources, continue to develop
    • the college’s hiring practices to help ensure that the employee population is a racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse population
    • the college’s new employee on-boarding practices to help develop a strong sense of community and improve employee retention. (LT)
  • Working in partnership with The Office of DEI to continue to hold divisions and departments accountable to
    • make sure the work of dismantling systemic racism continues
    • to offer the support of the council in the continued work. (MT)
  • Working in partnership with The Office of DEI to develop/continue the work of the DEI committee that was developed over the summer of 2020, and ensuring that a member of ESC is involved. (ST)
  • Working to create more transparency and clarity on the racial equity work that is being done across campus. (MT)
  • Training, in partnership with The Office of DEI, each member of ESC to become a leader/facilitator in social justice conflict mediation. (MT)

We commit to allocating resources:

  • Allocating ESC budget to purchasing books for staff members interested in furthering their education around issues of race, equity, and inclusion. (ST)
  • Allocating greater professional development funding for trainings related to issues of DEI. (MT)
  • Sponsoring on and off-campus events and discussions. (MT)

We commit to developing and collaborating on programming:

  • Develop, with the Center for Hartford Engagement and Research, more opportunities for staff to regularly engage with the greater Hartford community. (MT)
  • Develop, with The Office of Human Resources, a staff mentoring program that pairs newer staff with longer serving staff. (MT)
  • Develop and facilitate focus groups to engage members of staff in conversations surrounding DEI. (ST)
  • Support and develop educational and training opportunities:
  • Propose mandatory trainings for staff on implicit bias. (MT)
  • Mandatory training for managers and supervisors on how to lead diverse teams, mediate conflict, and address complaints. (MT)
  • Create/share a glossary of terms and concepts so that we are starting conversations with a common vocabulary. (Complete)