2021 I&TLC Session Schedule

Inclusive and Equitable Recruitment Practices: Reframing Criteria

Reading a job description is often the first impression someone may have with an organization. Some applicants may look at the description and see a laundry list of requirements and have a vague understanding of what the employer is looking for and choose not to apply. This does not necessarily mean that they aren’t qualified, it may mean that the qualifications are inadvertently excluding them from applying, and therefore limiting the employer’s ability to diversify their candidate pools.

Identifying equitable and inclusive job criteria is foundational to creating equitable and inclusive recruitment practices. In this workshop, those who are actively engaged in recruitments will look at how to enhance their recruitment practices by reframing job criteria, in an effort to mitigate bias in the process and make applying more accessible for applicants. Tools and strategies will be provided for individuals to take back to their work place and adapt to their needs.

Get up and start dancing: Creating psychologically safe spaces to foster inclusion

If diversity is being invited to the party, and inclusion is being asked to dance, as Vernā Myers said, then there’s still a sense that the powerful do the “inviting” and “asking”. As leaders and collaborators, how can you create the conditions where anyone can get up and dance without waiting for permission? This presentation explores the ideas of psychological safety, and how to create conditions where everyone feels safe to be vulnerable, candid, curious, and able to “dance”.

The Value of Values: Building a Person-Focused Work Culture

Building workplace culture is easy. So easy, we often end up doing it without even meaning to - and not always the way we’d like! Using the example of DoIT Academic Technology’s Software Training for Students service, this talk examines what it means to create a workplace that treats the members of the team as people rather than positions. We discuss the importance of being intentional about the work culture we build, and we explore the crucial role that a clear set of values plays in the process.

Creative Writing to Envision a Future Full of IDEAs

We invite the audience to engage with a series of creative writing prompts to envision worlds with fewer barriers to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Justice. What is different in those worlds? What is it like to be a student, a teacher, a consultant, a designer, an IT specialist? In this way, we can start finding creative ways to make steps towards those goal states. Access to writing or word processing tools required.

When you assume, you make a (bleep) out of you and me: How to evaluate your assumptions and reduce bias in your decisions

Making assumptions is human nature. We store information in our brains about a topic and recall that information when the topic comes up. Then, we may translate it as a fact. Doing so creates an assumption, and assumptions are always tied up with the implicit biases (about ability, race, gender, class, experiences, and more) that we also store in our brains.

Before you use your assumption to make a key decision that will impact students, faculty, and staff, you can examine and validate those assumptions to make a more responsible, inclusive decision. I'll share a three-phase approach, used in design thinking and at the Center for User Experience, to documenting, prioritizing, and validating your assumptions.