'We Are Committed to ACT' Initiative Well Underway

Chieko Hara, University Relations

More than 40 employees from across the university have been hard at work this school year creating a more inclusive campus as part the Office of Equal Opportunity and Compliance's "We Are Committed to ACT" initiative.

The four working groups — programming, reinforcement, resources and communication — have each spent the school year conducting research and gathering information to help inform decision making and plans to advance the three goals of the initiative, centered around the "ACT" acronym:

• to Aid in stopping the acts or incidents of discrimination and sexual misconduct.
• to Champion inclusive excellence through equity, access, civility, diversity and inclusion
• and to Tell someone who can take action about your concerns or report it online at report.uark.edu.

Research includes identifying additional needs and gaps in campus programming; determining existing campus policies that may serve as barriers to the campus community; compiling university resources related to diversity, equity and inclusion; and devising communication strategies to raise awareness of the "We Are Committed to ACT" efforts.

"Our working groups have worked with stakeholders across campus to collect data and information that will serve as a crucial foundation for our efforts," said Danielle L. Williams, assistant vice chancellor and director of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Compliance. "We are excited to take this information and form concrete, transformational actions for our campus that were developed with a broad and diverse perspectives and that embodies our university's vision to be equitable and inclusive to all."  

The groups expect to create an actionable plan over the summer and early fall.

More information can be found on the OEOC website. Those interested in participating in "We Are Committed to ACT" can contact Williams at 479-575-4825 or dlw11@uark.edu.