By Grace Apostol
News Co-Editor
During the February WC Board of Visitors and Governors meeting, both the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan and the College’s Five Year Plan were passed in a unanimous vote.
According to Vice President for Planning and Policy and Chief of Staff Victor Sensenig the two plans, now that they have been voted in, are effective immediately.
“Early conversations are taking place on the question of what to prioritize in the plans,” he said. What should we focus on first? It’s a challenging question, but an exciting one.”
Both plans have been in creation for some time before the presenting to the BVG. The DEI plan, in particular, according to Associate Provost for Diversity & Inclusion and Professor of English and American Studies Dr. Alisha Knight was created in Spring of 2021 by former president of WC Wayne Powell.
When Dr. Knight took the position of Associate Provost in February 2022, she made inquiries about the DEI plan that Powell began a year earlier.
“It’s really important to know that I didn’t create the DEI plan,” she said. “Since the planning process was not complete at that time, I suggested that Vic Sensenig and I collaborate to do that work. Our process involved sharing drafts of the document with the College community and soliciting additional input and feedback.”
According to Sensenig, “a working group from the diversity committee” worked up a first draft of the DEI plan, and from there, Dr. Knight and Sensing obtained campus feedback on the initial draft and with the feedback created the final draft. This last draft was then approved by the Board, faculty, and staff.
“It really was a tremendous collaborative effort, and then there were the many people who attended diversity forums and visioning sessions, who responded to surveys, and who gave feedback on drafts,” Sensing said.
Within the DEI plan, five goals, which according to Dr. Knight, “that the College community has committed to for the next five years,” were listed for the College to pursue:
“1. Work to make the campus culture, climate, and civic engagement efforts more inclusive and informed. 2. Encourage our students, faculty, and staff to engage in inclusive teaching, research, scholarship, and creative work. 3. Increase the diversity of students, staff, faculty, and the Board of Visitors and Governors. 4.Support the well-being of all campus constituents who have been underserved. 5.Ensure that our facilities, internal policies, public facing information, and experiential learning opportunities are accessible and equitable.”
Regarding the Five Year Plan, which was started in the Summer of 2022 and worked on in a more full-fleshed sense in the Fall ‘22 semester, Sensing was a part of the steering committee for this plan. “The five-year plan is currently in the form of a one-page map, which outlines the main pillars and the goals for each,” he said
Now that both plans have been approved, they must go through “implementation planning.” According to Senesing, “We have to decide how and when to do particular pieces, and these are so important because they give us shared objectives and a sense of direction as a campus community.”
The last strategic plan of WC was created several years ago, and still needed much work. However, both the newly implemented plans go hand in hand.
“The great thing about putting forward these plans at the same time is that diversity is one of the overarching goals of the five-year plan,” Sensing said. “In other words, we got an excellent jumpstart on a vital piece of this overall plan.”
Several members of the community, including president of the College Dr. Mike Sosulski, are pleased with the approval vote of the plans.
“Both plans were the result of many careful community conversations, and the fact that they have included so many voices and been affirmed at so many levels means that we have a very strong foundation from which to grow as a college over the next decade and beyond,” he said.
According to Dr. Knight, the work will still continue now that the plans have been voted in.
“The fact that WC students, employees, and Board members have endorsed this plan indicates this institution has meaningful buy-in for doing this important work, and for doing it in a strategic and not haphazard way,” she said. “The next step is for the College to develop specific strategies for prioritizing and implementing the action items and steps outlined in the plan.”
Sensenig believes that these plans help to create a brighter future for the College and also that all the members of the community working on the projects are hardworking.
“I feel that the College’s bright future has come even more into focus with these plans,” he said. “I think that we have many, many talented, hard working people already doing great things at the College, but our work goes to the next level when we are pulling together to the same ends. And that’s what these plans offer us.”