Stony Brook University will invest more than $1.6 million into its Plan for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, according to updates linked in a campus-wide email sent on Friday, Nov. 1.
The implementation plan divides its investments among four broadly-defined “goals,” which include recruitment, hiring and other measures to foster a more inclusive campus climate.
“These investments help to recruit and retain students, staff, and faculty, as well as improve the lived experience on campus and encourage engagement with our local communities,” Interim President Michael Bernstein said in the email. “They also enrich the research, academic, and healthcare missions of our University and hospital network.”
The Plan for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was set in motion in 2016, after SUNY launched its own 2015 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy with the goal to make SUNY “the most inclusive state university system in the country.”
So far, the university has been focused on building a foundation for implementation, including establishing working groups such as an Advisory Council and a Steering Committee, which prioritize initiatives and programs that highlight Stony Brook’s commitment to diversity, according to the email.
“These groups developed suggestions for policy change, an infrastructure for discourse with senior leadership, and a set of action steps that have been updated annually,” Bernstein wrote in the email.
The university is also implementing several working groups, including a Community Task Force and Student Inclusion Leadership Council, which will “analyze how local, state, and national issues impact diverse groups on campus” and “engage with the campus community about DEI policies and procedures that affect the student experience,” respectively.
Stony Brook University currently holds a diversity index of .69, according to U.S. News, which lists Stony Brook among the top 50 most ethnically diverse national universities.
