Black Lives Matter.
The CCPD acknowledges that individualistic and systemic racism continues to be pervasive in the United States and around the world, and stands in solidarity with those that are fighting for basic human dignity.
The CCPD has taken the summer to carefully review our policies and procedures around employer and alumni relations and staff and student engagement to address our role in the fight against racism. We announced previously that we would share our comprehensive plan at the beginning of the Fall 2020 Term.
Actions Completed:
This summer, after collaborating with colleagues across other college and university career centers, we added a new page called “Identity-based Resources” to our website. This is an evolving page that is open to new submissions.
We reviewed our current representation of BIPOC on our website, promotional, and presentation materials in graphic, photo, and quotation formats. Representation matters. We commit to continue being mindful of how we visually represent humanity in our work.
In our review of student usage of Handshake, especially with relation to finding and applying for posted jobs, we launched a new label to help BIPOC students identify employers that consistently hire and support BIPOC employees. Using Diversityinc’s Top 50 Employers, we created a label for easy student sorting. Students can use the label ‘diveristyinctop 50-2020’ right now to search for these employers.
In addition, we will use these labels to inform intentional employer engagement. We have already invited all of these companies to our virtual career fairs, which are of zero cost to employers.
Work In Progress:
Data Analysis and the Creation of SMART Goals:
This academic year, we will expand on our annual data analysis related to student and alumni usage of our programs and services. We will explore deeper questions related to BIPOC student and alumni involvement, with the plan of creating a baseline and measurable goals for the future.
We already know from past year’s data analyses that we want to increase BIPOC participation in our Discovery Externship Program, both in terms of alumni and students. Our goal will be to increase the number of BIPOC alumni who participate as hosts in the externship program and seek out alumni who either run or work at black-owned businesses and organizations. We know that representation matters, and that increased BIPOC alumni hosts will help us increase student participation.
We also want to increase the participation rates of BIPOC students in our summer internship stipend program. This involves intentional advertising and collaboration with cross-campus departments and student organizations.
Employer Engagement:
As stated in the CCPD’s Recruitment Policy, the CCPD reserves the right to deny on-campus recruitment opportunities or position postings by any Employer or Recruiter at its discretion. The CCPD is evaluating the current Employer Approval process in Handshake, to determine what additional steps may be needed to identify and deny access to employers with discriminatory hiring practices or poor reputations related to BIPOC.
The CCPD is reviewing resources to identify and contact employers who have a record of hiring and supporting BIPOC employees as well as regional Black-Owned companies. Staff will select top tier companies and organizations from these lists in fields of interest to K students, and build and implement an engagement strategy to these employers. Engagement levels will include the posting and promotion of positions in Handshake, inviting employers to participate in on-campus or virtual events, and developing K-Treks to these organizations.
Student Feedback:
While keeping in mind the delicate balance of asking for student feedback but also not making BIPOC students “do the work”, we will hope to work with stu-orgs across campus on building partnerships for career development. We will be open and honest in asking, “Do you feel supported by the CCPD?”. We will tailor our offerings of industry alumni networking to stu-orgs that are interested, and establish regular dialogue to ensure we are curating content that is timely, relevant, and wanted.
Staff Professional Development:
As part of our continued engagement with College programming, working to bring about a culture change of inclusion, anti-racism, and equity, we will participate in the Inclusion Excellence project, including the Reading for Change initiative, Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria, And Other Conversations About Race, by Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D. We have each also began reading other important and emerging titles in the academic study of anti-racism, and we have staff representation on the newly formed BAFSA. While the majority of our staff have completed ERAC/CE training, we commit to full staff completion by the end of this academic year* (*if COVID-19 restrictions allow. If not, ASAP