Resolution 23-20 Policy Equity Scorecard

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of California State University Dominguez Hills (ASCSUDH) create a task force for the purpose of working with the Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Officer to:

research best practices for use and implementation of equity scorecards or other applicable equity assessment tool;
establish an objective policy equity scorecard or other applicable equity assessment tool and a guide to its purpose and usage; and,
create a suggested timeline for best practices on campus-wide policy reviews and updating policies for equity;

therefore be it further,

RESOLVED: That the Policy Equity Scorecard Task Force be guided by the Mission, Vision, and Values of the Strategic Plan, and more specifically the following goals for Thriving Students and Educators:

therefore be it further,

RESOLVED: That the Policy Equity Scorecard Task Force sample policies from Academic Affairs and Student Affairs as part of understanding current policy structures and goals; and be it further,

RESOLVED: That the Policy Equity Scorecard Task Force be comprised of the following members:

Academic Senate Appointed Faculty Co-Chair,
Vice President of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice or designee Co-Chair
Two Tenure-Track/Tenured Faculty elected by the Academic Senate
One Non Tenure-Track Faculty elected by the Academic Senate
One Academic Affairs Staff* member appointed by the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs - staff with policy familiarity recommended
One Student Affairs Staff* member appointed by the Vice President of Student Affairs - staff with policy familiarity recommended
One Undergraduate Student appointed by ASI
One Graduate Student appointed by ASI;
therefore be it further,

RESOLVED: That the Policy Equity Scorecard Task Force provide a preliminary Policy Equity Scorecard or other applicable equity assessment tool and guide to the Academic Senate by May 2024 to be voted on by the Senate to Academic Senate replace the current Policy Equity Questions provided in EXEC 23-09 Resolution on Best Practices for Policy Equity with the new scorecard to be used in Academic Senate Standing Committees that recommend, review, and revise policy; and be it further,

RESOLVED: That the ASCSUDH distribute this resolution to the: President of CSUDH, Chief Diversity Officer Vice President and Campus Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Provost, VPs, Deans of the Colleges, and Library, AVPs, ASI President, Faculty and Staff.

RATIONALE:

Upon feedback from the Senators at the Fall 2022 Academic Senate Retreat, a focus on equity in policy making was prioritized. At the Spring 2023 Academic Senate Retreat senators learned about and used policy equity questions on a sample of Academic Affairs policy to better understand how to implement equity practices into policy creation, assessment, and revision. On April 26, 2023, the Academic Senate passed EXEC 23-09 Resolution on Best Practices for Ensuring Policy Equity that called for the creation of a Policy Equity Scorecard Task Force.

The origin of equity scorecards developed as a “diversity assessment tool designed to foster institutional change in higher education by helping to close the achievement gap for historically underrepresented students.”[1] Faculty at the USC College of Urban Education created the Equity Scorecard to “to monitor progress toward equity for historically underrepresented students in four areas: access, retention, excellence, and institutional viability.”[2] They piloted the scorecard at partner universities with several CSUs, including CSU Dominguez Hills participating. The use of equity scorecards has been adapted by universities to include broader institutional equity assessments. For example, Minnesota State Equity Scorecard: User Guide and Facilitation Tool created by their Office of Equity, and Inclusion is aimed at assessing Student Success, Compositional Diversity, Employee Retention & Development and Supplier Diversity, which they use as a “ tool for creating greater awareness of, and accountability for, equity gaps across key facets of [the institution] and system which are relevant to impacting equity, diversity, and inclusion.”[3] The Academic Senate in partnership with the CSUDH Division of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice sees the adaptation of equity scorecard best practices for the creation of a Policy Equity Scorecard as one means for broadening diversity, equity, and inclusion awareness and assessing policy equity. By providing a best practices model for the implementation of Equity Scorecards or other applicable equity assessment tool in the realm of policy creation and assessment, the ASCSUDH’s longer-term goal is that campus units will adopt and adapt Equity Scorecards or other applicable equity assessment tool for a range of assessments and accountability for creating, reviewing, and adjusting policy and practices as part of meeting DEIJ Strategic Planning goals.

[1] Abbie Robinson-Armstrong, Derenda King, David Killoran, and Matthew X Fissinger, “The Equity Scorecard: An Effective Tool for Assessing Diversity Initiatives,” The International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations 8, No. 6 (2009): 31.

[2] Armstrong et al., 32

[3] See https://www.minnstate.edu/system/equity/Equity%20Scorecard.html.