In February 2007, Colleges President Mark D. Gearan convened a group of students, staff and faculty to consider ways to advance a more inclusive community at Hobart and William Smith.
The group, known as the Commission on Inclusive Excellence, works to create a strategic plan that will help Hobart and William Smith build and strengthen a campus community of inclusive excellence.
In order to realize a community of inclusive excellence, the Commission works toward several goals, which are linked to one another as structural building blocks and are realized through a set of initiatives.
Alejandra Molina, Director of Intercultural Affairs
Reverend Lesley Adams, Chaplain
Teresa Amott, Provost and Dean of the Faculty
Eugen Baer, Dean of Hobart College
Cerri Banks, Assistant Professor of Education
Sandy Bissell, Director of Human Resources
Debra DeMeis, Dean of William Smith College
Don Emmons, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid
Felipe Estefan, Hobart Student
Robb Flowers, Associate Dean of Students
President Mark Gearan
Mike Hanna, Director of Hobart Athletics
Susan Henking, Professor of Religious Studies
Jon Iuzzini, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Susan Pliner, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning
Deb Steward, Director of William Smith Athletics
Shavonne Ward, William Smith Student
Goal I: Communicate the Commission’s vision to all members of the HWS community and to our community partners.
Goal I Initiatives:
• Ensure the Vision remains a high priority in the overall planning efforts of the strategic plan and mission statement of HWS.
• Ensure effective collaboration with the larger Geneva community.
Goal II: Assess the campus climate on an annual basis and evaluate whether it is welcoming and conducive to retaining a community of inclusive excellence.
Goal II Initiatives:
• Assure the campus climate is the point of departure and culmination of all efforts to achieve inclusive excellence.
Goal III: Review and assess current programming and practices for the ways they do/do not reflect our institutional goals for inclusive excellence in order to provide a foundation for on-going assessment and improvement.
Goal III Initiatives:
• Evaluate curriculum and collaborate with the faculty to assure that it properly addresses topics related to inclusiveness.
• Evaluate the co-curriculum and collaborate with student affairs to assure that their efforts contribute to a community of Inclusive Excellence.
• Review current campus wide hiring practices and work closely with HR in assuring that such practices follow the Commissions vision.
• Evaluate current training of faculty, staff, administration and students on principals of inclusiveness, equity, social justice, cultural competence and offer suggestions to maximize the effectiveness of such training.
• Analyze current recruiting practices and make recommendations that contribute to diversifying the student population.
• Review institutional financial priorities and offer suggestions to assure that key priorities foster the development of practices, programming and institutional climate that follow the Commissions vision.
Goal IV: Generate a comprehensive database to evaluate our current situation and create measurable goals for the future.
Goal IV Initiative:
• Collect appropriate data in the areas of recruitment and retention in three main areas: students, faculty and non-academic staff.