Strategic plan

The School of Architecture and Planning has made cultivating equity, inclusion and diversity a strategic priority through explicit planning and action. Our latest five-year strategic plan (2019-2024) states inclusion and equity as a key goal and integrates related action in all strategic priorities of the school.

The School of Architecture and Planning confronts racism, misogyny, implicit or explicit biases, and any other practices, structures and policies that undermine students, faculty and staff from leading full professional and academic lives. Equity, inclusion and diversity (EID) are complementary, reinforcing and interrelated ideas. Without diversity, inclusion is meaningless, and without inclusion, equity cannot be achieved. Equity advances fair, just and equitable outcomes for all people. Inclusion ensures that all people have a full and equal opportunity to be included, embraced, engaged and celebrated in all settings, from physical spaces to decision-making processes. Diversity engages those who have been denied access to an academic environment, including historically underrepresented minorities and people representing varied gender identities and expression, people with disabilities, people from low socioeconomic status, and people from varied countries of origin, especially the Global South.

Gender equity. Create culture in school and communities where people of diverse gender expressions and orientations thrive.

• Celebrate accomplishments of individuals.
• Offer training to faculty and staff on creating gender-expression inclusive learning environments, including “respect and civility training” by UB’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
• Employ discourse analysis to ensure voices of women students, faculty, and staff are fully heard.
  
• Raise awareness and understanding of issues faced by people with diverse gender orientations and expressions face.

Racial, ethnic and socioeconomic equity. Develop a culture where students, faculty, and staff from minority groups thrive in school and in life.

• Racial, ethnic and socioeconomic equity. Develop a culture where students, faculty, and staff from minority groups thrive in the school and in life.
• Focus on recruitment of students from the Global South, students with disabilities, and students from marginalized socioeconomic backgrounds.
  
• Assist students, faculty, and staff from underrepresented minority groups in submitting scholarship, fellowship, and awards applications.
  
• Secure scholarship support for diverse, highly-qualified, out-of-state students.
  
• Host public events that gather international and domestic students and faculty around relevant global topics.
  
• Develop supports to address linguistic, cultural, and other barriers.
  

Focused racial equity. Develop a culture where African American students, faculty, and staff thrive in school and in life.

• Develop a culture where African American students, faculty, and staff thrive in school and in life.
  
• Celebrate the work and accomplishments of African American students, faculty, scholars, guest lecturers, staff and alumni in our buildings and materials, particularly during Black History Month.
  
• Host lectures and community events that empower/represent African American students, faculty, and staff.
  
• Assist African American students, faculty, and staff in submitting scholarship, fellowship, and awards applications.
  
• Target recruitment from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other universities with underrepresented minority populations.
  
• Provide social and learning supports to African American students.
  

Build EID capacity. Ensure students learn about scholarship and design focused on marginalized groups.

• Convene a committee to develop strategies and practices for integrating concepts of equity, inclusion, and diversity into course content and teaching methods.
  
• Develop strategies and practices for the ethical engagement of diverse community stakeholders.

Support work-life balance. Cultivate an atmosphere where diverse work-life integration needs are acknowledged and supported for faculty, staff and students.

• Provide yearly training to faculty and staff on their own work-life integration and study-life balance for their students.
  
• Make mentorship available to faculty and staff challenged by work-life responsibilities.
  
• Cultivate supportive environment for faculty, staff, and students who are caregivers and/or pregnant.

Create inclusive environments. Ensure physical facilities reflect the needs and celebrate the richness of our diverse students, faculty, staff and visitors.

• Display images and exhibits in our facilities —including Hayes Hall—that reflect the diversity of the school.
  
• Name rooms and other facilities to honor the diversity of the school; honor various types of contributions, including non-monetary.
  
• Use inclusive design methods to improve the spaces in which students, faculty, and staff work, learn, converse and relax.
  
• Coordinate with UB Accessibility Resources to identify relevant trends among students and challenges particular to our school.
  
• Ensure all school displays, exhibitions, and events are inclusively designed.

Reinforce governance. Strengthen governance mechanisms through which EID concerns can be addressed.

• Establish an EID committee that oversees EID concerns school-wide.
  
• Integrate EID discussions into departmental and school-wide meetings.
  
• Promote participation in university-sponsored learning opportunities, such as through the Office of Inclusive Excellence.