LMU Responses

We ask that the university instate (with our input and guidance) a program to provide professional development and training to all Latinx staff and faculty to ensure upward movement in the LMU ranks. This will help with retention of talent and representation of the Latinx community at all levels, especially university leadership where there is currently none.

Response:

The university is committed to the professional development of all members of the LMU community, including Latinx faculty and staff.  There are several programs oriented to support upward mobility and leadership development, including the following:  the Management Certificate Program (MCP) offered through Human Resources; the Leading Institutional Units and Programs | Inclusive Excellence (LIUP|IE) through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; the Ignatian Colleagues Program (ICP) through Mission and Ministry, and; the Cabinet Associate Program (CAP) through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. All of these programs are at least one year in length, representing intensive opportunities for leadership development at the university or through the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU).  Other, shorter term professional development opportunities are also available.  Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is committed to working with the Latinx community to find ways to ensure that these programs are effectively serving all Latinx faculty and staff.

 The creation of an Advocate or Community Navigator position to be housed in the Office of Mission and Ministry. This case worker position would provide whole-person care for our co-workers to address the multiple issues that plague and trap low-income communities of color. This office would ensure that staff members, prioritizing hourly Facilities Management (FM) workers, have access to appropriate resources and care, are listened to, treated with dignity, and helped in solving whatever issues present themselves by identifying resources, helping to complete paperwork, and doing follow-up. The person in this position would be fully bilingual with speaking, reading and writing proficiency in English and Spanish. They must also be bicultural and demonstrate full cultural awareness and competency in cultural nuances and intersectionality for communities of color. Finally, the position requires a demonstrated commitment to the universal apostolic preferences of the Society of Jesus, which includes “walking with the excluded.”

Response:

The possibility of creating an Advocate/Community Navigator role in Mission and Ministry has been extensively explored by Mission and Ministry, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Human Resources, in consultation with FM.  HR has a Spanish-speaking staff member who works closely with FM to address staff concerns, including identifying resources, and providing messages in Spanish and English as appropriate.   After a review of the proposed position, the university will not create an Advocate/Community Navigator as described, particularly because many of these functions already reside within Human Resources and cannot be fulfilled outside HR.   Mission and Ministry has identified a Spanish-speaking Jesuit who, through his role in the Center for Ignatian Spirituality, will dedicate part of his role to accompanying Spanish-speaking staff, including FM workers, who desire this form of support and care. 

• Action Item: Given that unemployment benefits are set to expire at the beginning of March 2021, LSA requests a meeting with Mike Wong and Rebecca Chandler sometime during the week of Monday, January 11, 2021 to discuss the possibility of switching furloughed FM staff with staff currently working.

The proposal for allowing custodians to periodically switch or rotate furloughs was thoroughly reviewed and considered by HR and FM in January 2021.  \ The proposed furlough switch is more complex than it appears, with legal, ethical, and logistical ramifications, and is not an option.  This decision was made after thoughtfully exploring the possibilities and consequences.  

• Communication Breakdown … Action Item: The Latinx Staff Association requests that the immediate supervisors of furloughed FM staff begin communicating campus updates bilingually (Spanish/English) and in a clear and accessible manner monthly (no less than once per month) via phone calls effective immediately and that all such communications be always available in Spanish

The Facilities Management (FM) department has created a return from furlough plan for all affected staff members and contacted all FM staff by phone to relay Information related to “return to work” programming in March.  FM supervisory staff will meet with each group of returning-from-furlough staff to review the return-to-work plan, including revised COVID safety and cleaning protocols, any updated work assignments, and general check-in to address any questions or concerns. A follow up will be scheduled to respond to any questions or concerns that may have emerged after their return to work.  

FM staff will be brought back from furloughs in groups based on seniority, with the expectation that furloughs will be eliminated by June 1.  

FM supervisors will continue to be in contact with furloughed staff as they return to work.  Beyond these measures, the University’s Administration and Finance Division takes seriously its responsibility and concern for the welfare of and communication with, all its staff. 

Major university communications are now available in Spanish, including COVID communications and LMU This Week communications in an effort to increase accessibility to Spanish-speaking members of the LMU community and beyond.

Since 2010, members of LSA have been aware of a lack of basic computer training for members of FM, including (but not limited to) custodians, groundskeepers, tree trimmers, irrigation specialists, and Recycling Center staff. Given that the overwhelming majority of these staff members are Latinx or Black, it reflects very poorly on a Jesuit institution for its senior leadership to neglect this issue. In 2016, members of LSA worked closely with Staff Senate to submit a formalproposal to President Snyder and (at the time) Provost Joseph Hellige to approve a minimum of 15 hours per year to permit all LMU staff (including FM staff) to attend professional development opportunities on campus (such as computer workshops) during work time. This proposal was delegated to Human Resources, which ignored the core request of the proposal. Instead, in a document entitled, "Facilities Management Digital Literacy and ESL Update" (dated 3/21/17), HR committed to begin a series of six workshops for computer training (along with other benefits, such as offers to sponsor any custodian's attendance for ESL classes off campus, and financial assistance for the purchase of personal computer equipment). To this day, only one workshop took place, and custodians are largely unaware of HR's offer to sponsor attendance to off-campus ESL classes or provide financial assistance to purchase a personal computer. As a result of not receiving sufficient and continuous computer training, or work time or work space to view important university communications before and during the pandemic, custodians remain in the dark, especially those who are currently furloughed.

• Action Item: LSA requests a meeting with Patrick Frontiera (ITS) and Mike Wong and Martin Alvarez (FM) sometime during Phase 4 of LMU's plan to return to campus, when it would be safe to offer in-person computer training to FM staff.

Response:

FM will increase the number of computer terminals available to FM workers from 13 to 16 in Fall 2021, and reaffirms its commitment to 15 hours of professional development, including computer training, for all staff members who elect to do so.  All FM workers are provided training in email, time-keeping, and MyLMU, and are able to report their hours worked through MyTime.  Bilingual customer service is available through the ITS Help Desk/Front staff to assist employees, as needed.  More importantly, listening sessions will be held with all FM staff upon their return from furlough to identify additional training needs and to refine existing processes and create new programs, as appropriate.  The listening sessions will enable FM leadership to directly address current concerns of all staff in the department, including but not limited to, those FM staff who are active members of LSA.

Continuing education and advancement: We envision LMU becoming the leader in creating a new culture where privilege and exclusivity are things of the past, replaced by the effort to provide all our coworkers with ESL, computer literacy, GED, and other advancement classes. These educational opportunities would be incentivized by being offered on campus, in Spanish, free of charge and during the end or beginning of a work shift.  The participants would be paid their regular hourly rate while attending these classes.

Response:

Continuing education for ESL, computer literacy, GED and other advancement classes in Spanish are available online through LMU’s LinkedIn Learning membership and portal.  Participants are not charged for these courses and may complete them at their convenience.   Up to 15 hours of professional development may be taken and covered by regularly hourly wages.  Spanish/English Rosetta Stone-based training is also offered free of charge to FM staff.  

University Advancement: We ask that the university re-think the singular fundraising position that currently exists to fundraise for both LAA and AAAA, and instead reinstate the two separate staff positions that once existed and move swiftly to fill these roles. We suggest broadening the scope of the LAA position to include fundraising for the Latinx community across all units. The same is proposed for the AAAA position. This will create a holistic fundraising approach for all programs and initiatives that benefit our 2 communities, and ensure a substantial portfolio and workload for each position.

Response:

University Advancement will hire two separate staff positions, one of which will have direct responsibility for Latinx student success and other related initiatives, including supporting LAAA.  The scope of the LAA position includes fundraising for the Latinx community across all units, as indicated. 

The University’s commitment to the Latino community is exemplified by its actions. We request a dedicated University capital campaign focused specifically on the Latinx community needs.

Response:

The university has re-evaluated its campaign priorities, putting inclusivity and student scholarships as its first priority and campaign pillar.  The University’s commitment to its Latinx community is exemplified by its comprehensive campaign focus, including expansion of its network and base of donor support in the Latinx community to facilitate increased fundraising impacting Latinx community concerns. 

UPDATE April 2023: Two staff members have been assigned to fulfilling these responsibilities. 

We ask for social media experts to support LAA, AAAA, and API Alumni who can speak to each of our communities in our own unique voices. Understanding that hiring is challenging right now, we ask that a current staff member be temporarily assigned to this, and once budgetary constraints are lifted, hire full-time staff members who can work in this space.

We also ask that MarCom work with our various groups to highlight cultural awareness by being purposeful around things like Latinx Heritage Month. This should be built into their annual plans and should include how the university is engaging students, alumni, faculty and staff in meaningful conversation and celebration during these times. We are committed to assisting in these efforts.

Response:

MarComm has prioritized resources in advancement communications to work with LAA, AAAA, and API alumni, and is working with each group to establish content standards for their social media channels to better reflect community sensibilities and concerns.  MarComm has also established a DEI committee to revise processes to ensure that communications are reviewed by culturally diverse stakeholders.  In addition, a new editorial calendar for the university is being established, with content that will celebrate and uplift different groups during specified times of the year in partnership with DEI, Mission and Ministry, and other units (Black History Month, Women’s History Month, AAPI Heritage Month, etc.).

UPDATE April 2023: The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion requested a dedicated MarComm position. Further updates will come in the Fall. 

Student Scholars Support: We ask that someone on campus be identified and responsible for working directly with the LAAA and AAAA scholars, in a hands-on way. These students are most in need of support as many of them are first-generation students and these scholarships are critical to their retention at LMU.

Response:

The new UA directors for Latinx and Black student success, once hired, will work closely with EIS offices, including CLSS and OBSS, the Office of Alumni and Parent Engagement, and other departments and constituencies, as appropriate, to promote continuity of support for LAAA and AAAA scholars.

Financial Aid – There is a good deal of anecdotal evidence of students receiving strong financial aid packages for the sake of first-year enrollment, but are students continuously given support following the first few years? Continuing students do not receive their packages until the summer months, just weeks before the start of a new academic year. To ensure graduation rates of upper-class Latinx students, we recommend strong financial support facing economic challenges.

Response:

This anecdotal information is not consistent with LMU financial aid policies or practices.  First year students who receive LMU merit scholarships receive them for all four years, as long as they continue to meet academic eligibility requirements.  It is rare for a student, however, to lose a merit award.  Further, if a student were to lose a merit award, they would be considered for need-based aid, if eligible.  Students’ LMU need-based grants remain the same unless there is a change in their eligibility as determined by the FAFSA.

Finally, students receive their financial aid packages in late April/early May, well in advance of the July billing cycle.

Increased resources and funding for programs such as Chicano Latino Student Services, First to Go, ACE, and the Social Justice Scholarships.

Response:

Student Affairs will examine the budgets of all EIS offices, including CLSS, and will expand budgets as needed, depending upon enrollment and consistent with the enrollments and budgets for other EIS units.  The First to Go Program is administered through the Academic Affairs Division, while ACE is funded through DEI.  Both budgets are monitored for appropriate levels of support, considering levels of student participation in these programs. 

Undocumented students are limited by their status in multiple ways and their needs should be foregrounded across university units and programs….Undocumented students are burdened and placed in situations to expose their status. This is why there is a need for guaranteed resources such as a Dream Center that would provide: Physical Space; Legal Assistance; Secured Funding; Dream Center Director.

Response:

At the direction of the Cabinet, Student Affairs has put together a working group, co-led by Dean of Students, Dr. Terri Mangione, and Associate Dean, Dr. Will Perez.  This group will review and provide recommendations for updating services provided to undocumented students in light of the change in federal administration, in consultation with the Undocumented Student Advisory Council (USAC), which meets monthly.  As part of this work, the Dream Center proposal will be considered along with alternatives that may serve the broader Latinx student population as well.

UPDATE Spring 2023: The university has plans to hire a Dream Center Director in Fall 2023. 

Public Facing: The present "anti-discrimination" statements of the university does not include immigration and citizenship status as protected categories within our own community. Although we understand that federal law will supersede any university statement in terms of employment, the university needs to add immigration status and citizenship to all of its statements that name all of the anti-bias categories we currently protect and support.

Response:

University statements related to bias do not call out any categories of identity, such as in Student Affairs’ Freedom of Expression policy, implicit bias initiative, and reporting bias incidents.  The exception is the HR policy related to non-discrimination, which includes legally defined federally protected categories.  In the future, if any anti-bias categories are specifically named (excluding the HR non-discrimination policy) in our LMU communications, we will include immigration status and citizenship as examples of categories for which there should be no bias.

We are grateful for the present five Social Justice Scholarships dedicated to undocumented students per school year, but would like to encourage building a special campaign to fund more students, especially transfer students. At this time, we only have one scholarship dedicated to a transfer student and increasing that number would be a very practical step in support of our outreach to the transfer student community. Considering the number of undocumented youth nationally, five scholarships per year is a very modest percentage of students we serve, which we are committed to grow.  We hope that the category of undocumented student will eventually disappear due to just and comprehensive immigration reform, but until it does, these students are among the most vulnerable.

Response:

The university offers Social Justice Scholarships for the incoming first year class, as well as a scholarship for a transfer student each year.  Approximately five students accept this offer each year.  Many students who are offered this scholarship have multiple offers from other institutions, as well.  The level of support is substantial, at over $70,000 per student.  The university must weigh the level of comprehensive support it offers to a highly selective, limited number of undocumented students versus broader support provided to a greater number of Latinx students as it seeks to attain HSI status.  

Cognizant that racism is deeply rooted in all aspects of our society, the responsibility for promoting anti-racism should not only be placed on the faculties of Ethnic Studies departments, but should be integrated into every department.

Response:

This statement also reflects the position of the university, which is also supported through a university-wide Systemic Analysis process.  Please refer to DEI’s accountability page and note the range of departments who have begun this process, as listed under each college/school.  The Academic Program Review (APR) process has revised its criteria so that DEI is now included in all academic program document reviews.  At the same time, it is important to recognize the intellectual leadership and disciplinary expertise provided by faculty in Ethnic Studies and Women’s and Gender studies in support of the university’s anti-racism and anti-oppression efforts. 

Faculty Representation: We advocate most strongly for equitable representation, not just Latinx but also increased Black, API, and overall diversity within faculty, administration and departments university-wide. As demonstrated by research, such diversity has beneficial consequences in recruitment, retention, academic, career and institutional vibrancy.

Response:

The principle of equitable representation will be included in discussions to define outcomes for the strategic plan’s DEI spotlight initiative.  Progress will be tracked using disaggregated data with a DEI dashboard.  This year data was collected and reported for each college/school, and overall, through the Equity Scorecards, available online.

Invest in staff: We are concerned with the constant loss of BIPOC faculty and staff. We want the university to intentionally invest in mentoring, retention, wages and benefits to ensure longevity within the institution. We need staff that understand and can communicate with our community and can provide more impactful, tailored resources.

Retention of faculty and staff through the cultivation of an inclusive climate and culture is a major priority for the university, including mentoring, salary studies, as well as leadership and professional development opportunities.  For example, the university has obtained an institutional membership for the National Center for Faculty Diversity and Development.  To date: 142 individuals--largely faculty, but also including some staff, have engaged in over 800 activities offered by NCFDD.  LMU will also initiate faculty (2021-22) and staff (2022-23) salary equity studies to promote longevity within the institution.  The university seeks staff who can understand and communicate effectively with its Latinx faculty, staff, and students, and makes efforts to provides bilingual, tailored resources, where most needed, including bilingual staff in HR, ITS, Mission and Ministry, and other campus units.

We need data. In preparing for this meeting, we tried to undertake some data research to see what needs are most pertinent within our community. We have not been able to obtain substantive data. In consulting with the CLSS director, we were informed that they don’t have data available to them either. This data is necessary for us to keep the university accountable and also to have a better sense of ourselves and community on campus.

Response:

As part of the LMU Anti-Racism Project and in response to Black community demands, LMU has charged a DEI disaggregated data working group with providing university leadership with recommendations for the identification, collection, sharing, and dissemination of disaggregated data at LMU as follows:

• Identify and define a comprehensive set of diversity, equity and inclusion data variables that fully represent and celebrate the diversity of the LMU community (students, staff and faculty).
• Examine data collection processes as they relate to newly defined DEI data definitions and develop a set of recommendations to ensure a formalized data collection and archiving process. 
• Develop a robust DEI data sharing policy and procedure recommendation that is grounded in data transparency, access, training, and security. 
• Provide recommendations for a comprehensive DEI dashboard to ensure relevant metrics are available for community consumption.  

The university is expecting a set of recommendations from the working group in May 2021 and will seek to create and implement DEI dashboards for the university in line with the group’s charge.

UPDATE Spring 2023: Data was collected that will be used to inform the creation of more inclusive data definitions, beyond IPEDS categories. Additionally, Westchester student and faculty dashboards went live on March 30, 2023.

Increased representation in the curriculum. As the LMU Core Curriculum and other curricular requirements are evaluated in relation to anti-racism, we advocate for (a) a more representative and anti-racist Core curriculum and (b) testing, placement, and academic credit to be given to students who already speak a second language, allowing them into advanced language courses and encouraging a multilingual student body. While curricula of the university are the domain of the faculty, we ask for your explicit and proactive support of faculty initiatives to diversify and decolonize curricula.

Response:

In a report from the University Core Curriculum Committee (UCCC) on the LMU Core Review sent out to LMU faculty on March 29, 2021, the UCCC included a report on steps taken and next steps planned as part of the core review process.  These include steps towards decolonizing the core, suspending proposals for [American Diversity] FDIV courses to review FDIV course descriptions, learning outcomes, and goals, to define characteristics of FDIV courses and approval criteria.  In addition, the next phase of Core curriculum review (Spring 2021-Spring 2022) includes a review of the goals and learning outcomes for the core as a whole including addressing the broader question, “What changes do we need to make to the Core’s overarching goals and learning outcomes in order to call out our commitment to anti-racist approaches to curriculum and pedagogy?” Note that any proposed changes to the core curriculum require continued close collaboration with the Faculty Senate and will go to the full faculty for a vote.

As an example of the university’s commitment to be explicit and proactive in supporting faculty initiatives to diversify and decolonize curricula, the university is funding the implementation of seven “Teaching for Justice” college- and school- specific pedagogy workshop series (March-April 2021) led by peer faculty facilitators (BCLA: Julia Lee; SCSE: Brendan Smith; CBA Julian St Clair; SFTV Tara Pixley; CFA Arnab Banerji; SoE Maia Hoskin; LLS Katherine Pratt) under the leadership of Drs. Mairead Sullivan (WGST) and Jennifer Williams (AFAM).

Increased representation in the faculty body. LMU should conduct an equitable and intentional expansion of Latinx faculty hiring in all schools and colleges.

Response:

Guided by data from the Equity Scorecard and upcoming DEI dashboards, the university is committed to diversifying and increasing representation of faculty from historically underrepresented groups, including Latinx faculty, in each college and school.  This commitment is formally expressed in the university’s next strategic plan.

Equitable merit for service activities and institutionalized student support. For genuine structural change, we must end our dependence on ad hoc volunteerism, where our anti-racist programming, organizations, and activities are "staffed" by faculty and staff who happen to volunteer for a particular task. Furthermore, the university should recognize the well-documented augmented burden of BIPOC faculty mentoring and service activities in merit, compensation, tenure/promotion, and loads.

Response:

The Provost will direct the Deans to engage all colleges/schools in a comprehensive review of Departmental Standards for AY2021-22 in line with the Faculty Senate Motion (passed on April 15, 2021):  Recommendation on the consideration of Systemic Racism in Rank and Tenure.  These changes, present and forthcoming, will ensure that DEI considerations are embedded into faculty review related to rank and tenure processes for every department in the university.

Increased representation in senior leadership. We agree with President Snyder that there is an embarrassing absence of Latinx representation in the higher levels of administration. The past few years has seen substantial re-organization, hiring, promotions, and appointments, for Senior Vice Presidents, Provost, Associate and Assistant Provosts, Vice Presidents, Associate and Assistant Vice Presidents, Deans of most schools/colleges, and so forth, not to mention Regents, Trustees, and other key administrative positions, which evidence the failure of equitable representation and targeted hiring. Additionally, many of LMU's Latinx leaders have been overlooked for positions and have taken senior leadership positions at competing institutions.

Response:

As the President noted, the university seeks greater representation of leaders from historically underrepresented and marginalized groups in its senior leadership.  The Board of Trustees is examining how it recruits new members and has appointed a DEI liaison to strengthen communications around DEI issues.  In summer 2021, the President’s Cabinet will increase from 17% to 25% persons of color.  The next goal is to increase Black and/or Latinx representation in the President’s Cabinet in 2021-23. 

Support for the Latinx pipeline (from Admissions to Alumni) and targeted capital campaigns. We stress that in order to recruit, serve our students and continue a robust relationship with alumni we need a culturally-competent staff person dedicated to the work of the Latino Alumni Association. We need culturally competent advancement and communications staff. We need dedicated capital campaigns for Latinx and undocumented student scholarships and institutional structures. Furthermore, we stress the urgent necessity of a dedicated admissions recruiter and counselor for Latinx student recruitment. Related, we advocate for developing intentional pipelines from Latinx serving high schools to LMU. Without neglecting in any way public school pipelines, numerous and diverse Jesuit/Catholic high schools, such as Cristo Rey schools, would be on one end of this pipeline. The dedicated admissions counselor would develop recruitment and support programming and facilitate relationships with counselors, financial aid, etc. to ensure that students who are often the neediest, while demonstrating exceptional promise, have an opportunity to apply successfully to LMU.

Response:

The university agrees with the importance of recruiting, maintaining, and growing the pipeline for the Latinx community and will pursue possibilities for increasing support for doing so in the next budget cycle.   

Achieve and sustain an HSI status. We are encouraged by President Snyder's support of our reaching Hispanic Serving Institution Status and stress that many of the particular requests we make, admissions recruitment and staffing, programmatic support, financial aid, LAA support, increasing staffing and faculty representation, will sustain the status and allow for a better university fabric, alignment with our historical, local, regional, national, and international context, and open multiple avenues for funding, grants, research, collaboration, co-curricular experiences and beyond - for the benefit of all.

Response

The university seeks to attain and sustain HSI status, as defined by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), during the course of its next strategic plan.  Specific metrics and timeline will be developed as part of the implementation of the spotlight initiative focusing on anti-racism and DEI.

UPDATE April 2023: LMU is eligible for Title V grants.