Leveraging Change Management: Innovating Infrastructures for Collective Impact

In 2020, we saw an increase in efforts around anti-racist and inclusive excellence after the unjust killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. While this change may have been reactive, we are now moving into strategic implementation. This became a pivotal moment in higher education that began a watershed moment across DEI offices nationally. In higher education, our institution enlisted the inclusive excellence framework. Mason’s Inclusive Excellence Framework is comprised of five dimensions (access and success, campus climate, education and scholarship, infrastructure and accountability, community engagement) and goals to aid us in creating collective impact, sustainable change, innovation, and productivity across the institutions’ academic and administrative units. For the purpose of this presentation, we will explore two initiatives, inclusive excellence plans and inclusive education (training and development). The impetus for these two initiatives is to see the implementation of DEI across all units. Our ultimate goal is to see DEI as a cross-cutting force that supports systemic and transformational change. Data is the driving and evidentiary support necessary for furthering this work and the lens to mitigate issues, champion change, and advance inclusive excellence. This presentation will conclude sharing metrics and milestone to sustain our efforts.