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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Information Resources & Technology

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Technology Supporting Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Your Information Resources & Technology (IRT) team supports Sacramento State's commitment to anti-racism and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Inclusivity and anti-racism aren’t only part of our core values, they make us a better team and a better advocate for you when it comes to the technology, tools, and support that powers your success.  

Inclusiveness isn’t just nice to have on teams. Our research shows that it (inclusivity) directly enhances performance. Teams with inclusive leaders are 17% more likely to report that they are high performing, 20% more likely to say they make high-quality decisions, and 29% more likely to report behaving collaboratively. — Harvard Business Review

Inclusive Organizational Excellence

We celebrate and place diversity, equity and inclusion at the core of who we are and who we serve. Our ongoing commitment supports Sacramento State's Diversity and Inclusion Campus Imperative, as well as  our IRT Strategic Goal #5:

Adopt, operationalize, and advance DEI and anti-racism initiatives as individuals and as stewards serving our University community.

Plans include:  

  1. Examine the existing IT climate to identify and implement engagement strategies
  2. Broaden the current professional development program
  3. Establish workplace transparency across the IRT Division
  4. Advance ubiquitous communication within IT and across the University

Educause DEI Pledge

Interim VP & CIO Mark Hendricks committed to the Educause DEI pledge:

“As a CIO, I resolve to take the following actions to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for the benefit of the technology profession in my institution and in the profession generally:

  1. Raise my personal awareness about challenges and opportunities related to DEI in the technology field, and work to raise awareness departmentally and institutionally.

  2. Work to increase opportunities for women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and individuals with disabilities to be information technology professionals and leaders.

  3. Work with EDUCAUSE and other professional organizations to encourage efforts to make transparent and publish technology workforce demographic data.

  4. Become aware of institutional and/or regional demographic trends and work toward creating an institutional and/or regional technology workforce that keeps up with demographic trends.

  5. Partner with institutional colleagues to create/advance programs that aim to expand opportunities and eliminate the barriers for students from underrepresented populations interested in computer science, data sciences, other technology-related fields, both in undergraduate education and post-graduation programs.

  6. Advocate for DEI practices, help develop appropriate DEI practices, resources, and tools, and mentor colleagues seeking to contribute to DEI efforts.”

EDUCAUSE - Uncommon Thinking for the Common Good

DEI Practices

IRT advocates DEI practices by:

  • Top-down and industry leadership to advance DEI efforts both at Sacramento State and nationwide
  • Establishing diverse and inclusive hiring search committees representing a variety of demographic and technical expertise characteristics; advertising on diverse and inclusive job boards, and in publications geared toward female audiences 
  • Building in DEI evaluation criteria into IT Procurement and IT Procurement Governance - to ensure software, hardware, and technology tools meet federal and state requirements, and reflect the diversity of our campus community (such as preferred name, pronoun options, etc.)
  • Supporting industry standards to rename systems or processes containing exclusionary language (such as whitelist, blacklist, master)
  • Monitoring and evaluating diversity goals and achievement to improve DEI practices

IT DEI Council

Made up of voluntary members of the IRT division and campus IT professionals, the IT DEI Council collaborates, idea shares, and develops recommendations to promote technology-specific strategies and action plans to enhance divisional and campus-wide DEI and antiracism strategies.

Council Charter

Anchored by the University’s Antiracism and Inclusive Campus Plan (AICP) and IRT Strategic Goal #5, the IT DEI Council formalizes our commitment to inclusive organizational excellence and allyship to produce real and relatable actions that champion positive change.

The IRT Leadership Team is committed to the success of this group and how we support our campus community. Working together, we will:

  • Provide a safe space for everyone to share concerns and other aspects that may create a workplace that is not inclusive, and identify opportunities to promote belonging
  • Raise awareness of specific issues and challenges that may affect specific subsets of the IRT division or campus technology support in general
  • Facilitate ideas and recommendations relating to technology-specific action planning to support the Sac State AICP
  • Make budget and/or resource recommendations supporting IRT/technology-focused DEI strategy
  • Support the governance processes relating to the accessibility and inclusiveness of IT tools and services
  • Encourage and facilitate professional development and learning through campus activities and LinkedIn Learning courses
  • Advance topics/issues beyond the scope of the council to the appropriate campus entities

Membership

  • Service is voluntary and open to anyone in the IRT division or serving in a campus IT role who desires to make a difference, influence, and lead efforts to improve diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism.  
  • Council service term is one (1) year and is renewable.
  • Meeting schedule is bi-weekly and/or as needed. Participants will be provided time allowances by their supervising manager(s) to attend council meetings and activities.

To join, please contact anyone on the IRT Leadership Team. 

Diversity in IRT