Diversity Plan

Washington and Lee University Department of Journalism and Mass Communications
Diversity Plan
Updated and approved March 2011
Updated and Approved May 2016

The Department of Journalism and Mass Communications prepares students to live and work in a diverse world. Its mission in that regard complements that of the university, as expressed in the University’s Statement of Commitment to Diversity: 

Washington and Lee University commits itself to the recruitment and retention of a broad, inclusive student body, faculty and administration who represent a wide range of interests, abilities and cultures – a diverse array of talent. The University will strengthen a curriculum that increases knowledge, awareness and understanding of diversity and inclusiveness, and will create a climate that builds on our core values to welcome and nurture all members of the Washington and Lee community. Just as a vibrant liberal arts education in the classroom challenges attitudes, beliefs and accepted ways of thinking, the interaction outside the classroom of individuals with different perspectives strengthens our educational enterprise. (2002) 

In the Fall of 2003, the department adopted a plan of goals and actions to underscore this commitment. Many of those actions were carried out and remain ongoing practices. The plan was updated in 2011. This revision, approved by the department in May 2016, presents goals and actions intended to continue our commitment to our students to demonstrate the appropriateness of celebrating what unifies us as we also embrace what makes us unique. It also includes our department’s definition of diversity and under-represented groups, as now required by ACEJMC: 

The Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Washington and Lee University defines diversity as the inclusion of people and ideas from a variety of perspectives. We define under-represented domestic racial groups as African-American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian-American and multiracial. Other under-represented groups include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals, those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and those from minority or unpopular religious faiths. While women are not underrepresented in the student body or our department’s faculty, we believe our teaching should be mindful of historic challenges to women’s advancement in communication professions. International perspectives are also essential to represent in our teaching, as we prepare our students to work in a global economy.

1. Goal: Ensure that the content of our courses continues to reflect the world that we live in and that graduates will encounter as citizens and professionals.
   
   Action Steps:
   
   
   1. In core and required courses: 
      
      
      1. Include readings and assignments related to multicultural perspectives and diverse audiences. The Diversity Committee members will annually review syllabi, which are kept in the department’s Box folder, to make sure these elements are included and cited. The committee will report to the full faculty once a year at its latesummer retreat. (All faculty members, once a year.)
         
         
      2. Re-examine course descriptions in the online course catalog and the department’s website to ensure that multicultural perspectives are included. (The university no longer publishes a printed course catalog.) (All faculty members, fall of each year.) 
         
         
   2. In elective courses:
      
      1. The department will actively support the initiative to establish a “diversity FDR” for the university and make sure Journalism and Mass Communications has several permanent courses that fulfill the requirement, if it is adopted. 
         
         
      2. Until a university-wide FDR is adopted, the department will petition the Committee on Courses & Degrees for a new major requirement, so that all Journalism and Strategic Communication majors take at least one course focused on issues of underrepresented communities. (Department head: Summer 2016, accomplished) 
         
         
      3. Petition the Committee on Courses & Degrees for a permanent course number for “News Media, Race and Ethnicity” (Department head: June 2016, accomplished) 
         
         
2. Goal: Expose students to working journalists and communications professionals who, by who they are or what they do, embrace diversity.
   
   Action Steps:
   
   
   1. Bring women and racial and ethnic minorities to campus to speak to classes and to public audiences. In coordination with the department head and colleagues, each faculty member will be responsible for identifying and inviting such individuals; publicize these visits and include requirements or incentives in our classes that ensure student attendance at class and public lectures and more informal contacts including department-sponsored lunches and dinners. When diverse professionals are not able to make it to campus, faculty will consider having Skype interviews during class. (All faculty members, continually.) 
      
      
   2. Keep a record of our visitors that includes their race, gender and other potential for contributing to our efforts to promote diversity; charge the department’s diversity committee with checking at least twice a year to ensure that the list appropriately represents gender, race, ethnicity and other demographic indices of diversity. (Administrative assistant keeps the list, checking done by diversity committee members.) 
      
      
3. Goal: In our department faculty, continue to appropriately reflect our communications industries and academic discipline in all relevant parameters, including gender, race, ethnicity, cultural background and perspective. 
   
   Action Steps:
   
   
   1. Include female and minority faculty on search committees. At professional meetings, identify promising women and minorities in our fields and explore bringing them to campus for short-term visits. (All faculty members, continually.) 
      
      
   2. Identify working professionals who are minorities and look for ways to bring them to campus as adjunct professors for a term. (All faculty members, continually.) 
      
      
   3. Place information and advertisements about position openings on the websites of organizations that strive to represent minority professionals, including the National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Asian American Journalists Association, Native American Journalists Association, South Asian Journalists Association, National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, and UNITY. Attend periodic meetings of those organizations to identify and recruit appropriate candidates. (Search committee members.) 
      
      
4. Goal: Continue to develop opportunities for students from historically underrepresented groups at Washington and Lee to have access to the department, and increase opportunities for our more traditional student populations to share educational and life experiences with a more diverse cohort. 
   
   Action Steps:
   
   
   1. For prospective students: 
      
      
      1. Work with the W&L admissions office and professional associations to develop a meaningful outreach to high school students of color who are interested in journalism and strategic communication. 
         
         
      2. Create an FAQ page on the department’s website to provide prospective students with answers to questions about our sequences and courses as well as links to information about opportunities for internships in journalism and strategic communication. (Department head and technology manager, with input from faculty members.) 
         
         
      3. Continue to work with the Admissions Office to: 
         
         
         • Notify us of minority prospects who have an interest in journalism and strategic communication so we can meet them when they visit campus and/or reach out to them via e-mail and social media. (Department head and diversity committee members when notified.) 
           
           
         • Send mailings to select high school guidance counselors each year to provide information about our programs, with the hope that they will tell students about W&L. (Department head.) 
           
           
         • Contact professional groups or news organizations to help us compile lists of minority high school students with an interest in journalism and send them W&L material. They include: the Dow Jones Minority Journalism Workshop program, operated in conjunction with several newspapers across the nation; the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, the National Association of Black Journalists; the South Asian Journalists Association; the National Association of Hispanic Journalists; and UNITY, among others. (Department administrative assistant.) 
           
           
         • Attend national and regional conferences hosted by minority professional groups and high school journalism organizations, including the Journalism Education Association and the Virginia Association of Journalism Teachers and Advisors, to establish contacts with minority prospective students and with journalists and journalism teachers who can refer students to W&L. (Faculty members, continually.)  
           
           
   2. For current students:
      
      1. Identify potential journalism majors among minority students in J101 and other classes and work closely with those students to ensure top-notch advising as they decide on a major or minor. (All faculty members teaching J101 each term.) 
         
         
      2. Encourage students to attend conventions of the National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Asian American Journalists Association, Native American Journalists Association, South Asian Journalists Association, and National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. Where possible, provide financial support for these visits. (All faculty members in each journalism class.) 
         
         
5. Goal: Increase involvement of minority alumni who work in journalism, public relations and other professions.
   
   Action Steps:

1. 1. Generate and maintain a list of minority alumni and establish a mentorship program by which they can advise current students. (Diversity committee, annually.) 
      
      
   2. Maintain ethnic diversity on our alumni advisory board to ensure appropriate representation of women, racial and ethnic minorities, and alumni and other communication professionals younger than 40. (Department head, annually.)