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Our DEIJ Goals

During the summer of 2023, CARE staff worked with DEI+W (diversity, equity, inclusion, and wellbeing) consultant and violence prevention specialist Dr. Avina Ross. With her support and expertise, we reviewed our policies and procedures, evaluated our strengths and areas of growth, and set short-term and long-term goals for our office. You can read her full consulting report here. Based on the work we did with Dr. Ross during summer 2023, as well as Dr. Luana Bessa in spring 2023, we created the following goals starting in September 2023.

 

CARE's short-term goals:

1. Write transparent and equity-centered policies and procedures

  • This includes our student groups. In September 2023, the Sex Health Reps created an extensive written Constitution which includes more transparent and democratic decision-making processes, and Green Dot is reviewing and writing down its policies and procedures.

2. Continue to participate in professional development opportunities around white fragility, white supremacy culture, decolonizing practices, and other pertinent issues and skill sets

  • Here are a few of the things we attended/participated in during the 23-24 academic year:
    • The Emerging NCHA Data on Trans and Queer Student Well-Being webinar
    • Rutgers University's 7th Annual Challenging Racism Conference: A Call to Action 
    • The Cambridge Center for Adult Education's five-part White People Challenging Racism: Moving from Talk to Action
    • SHIP's Empowered Trans and Queer Sex Ed training
    • Boston University's Autism Training for Sexual Assault Counselors
    • SHIPs' Autism, ADHD, and Gender: How Gender Expression and Neurodiversity Intersect training
    • "Let's Talk About Race: Exploring White Privilege Series," an eight-week discussion group offered by Tufts' Office of the Vice Provost for DEIJ
    • TA 102: Improving Health Equity and TA 104: Building Skills for Anti-Racism Work: Supporting the Journey of Hearts, Minds, and Action through the IHI Open School
  • Here are a few of the things we have done/are planning to do during the 24-25 academic year:
    • Tufts' Evening With Fania Davis: Race, Restorative Justice and Healing in a Time of Awakening, Repair and Re-Imagining

3. Create a satisfaction survey and campus feedback surveys

  • We have added a satisfaction survey to the follow-up email students receive after they have an appointment with us or after they attend a TCU-mandated Green Dot training, and we have also made this feedback form available on our website and in our email signatures
  • The TASCS survey was sent to the Tufts community in spring 2024, which included questions about the CARE office and students' experiences with sexual misconduct and accessing resources
  • We implemented anonymous feedback forms for CARE's "Yoga for Healing" and "Yoga & Meditation for Emotional Wellbeing" classes

4. Create an off-campus referral database with organizations that specialize in providing supportive services to people with marginalized identities and experiences

  • We have created this and will continue adding to it. You can find our list of culturally- and identity-specific resources here.

5. Share CARE's goals and progress with our community

  • Starting at the end of this academic year, we will publish annual reports to update the community on what we accomplished that year, what we are still working on, and outlining our goals for the future. Stay tuned!

CARE's longer-term goals:

1. Create an advisory committee made up of students, campus partners, and community members to support us in creating a strategic plan and determining our annual goals

  • We piloted a joint undergraduate and graduate Student Advisory Group during spring 2024
  • As of fall 2024, we have two graduate student advisory committees, one for our Medford/Somerville campus and one for our Boston campuses. The advisory boards offer valuable insight into the unique needs of graduate students across degree programs, and are key in shaping CARE’s programming.  Additionally, they provide direct means for involved students to provide CARE with feedback, ensuring CARE to remains accountable to graduate students.

2. Staff expansion

  • We hired a Graduate and Professional Student Prevention and Response Specialist in summer 2024
  • We are hopeful CARE will be able to keep expanding!