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Inclusive Excellence Action Plan

Three pictures of students, faculty, and staff on campus

Our forthcoming Inclusive Excellence (IE) Action Plan will serve as a roadmap to advance diversity, equity and inclusion throughout UNC Charlotte. Central to this plan, is the shared understanding that our University’s success is dependent on and tied directly to how well we value, engage and include the rich diversity of our community members, including students, employees, alumni and friends. To get there, we must be deliberate in our approach and provide measurable goals to reach our institutional aspirations. Listed below are our university-wide IE Action Plan strategic goals and its cross-reference with the University's larger strategic plan.   

strategic goals

Goal I: Strengthen Pathways to Institutional Access and Success

Enhance access, recruitment, retention and success (education and career) of all students, employees and community stakeholders–with an increased emphasis on historically underrepresented and minoritized communities.  

Goal II: Foster a Positive Campus Climate and Culture

Cultivate, integrate, improve and sustain a culture of belongingness where students and employees feel included and supported across all aspects of the university. 

Goal III: Promote Inclusive Education and Transformational Scholarship

Provide innovative and transformational learning and research experiences enabling all students and employees to understand and advance inclusive excellence.  

Goal IV: Sustain DEI Progress Through Investment and Infrastructure

Develop an institutional infrastructure of transparency and accountability to drive and sustain data-driven decision-making around diversity, equity and inclusion through systems, policies, procedures, resources and performance measures. 

Goal V: Enhance Inclusive Excellence Through Communication and Shared Language

Provide and promote clear, cohesive and comprehensive communication of how we define and operationalize inclusive excellence at UNC Charlotte through our goals, accomplishments, initiatives and innovations. 

As we continue to develop our Inclusive Excellence Action Plan, here are some of the previous planning iterations.

1. Assess UNC Charlotte’s current DEI efforts for effectiveness and efficiency to determine how to best support them as well as to identify gaps, redundancy and innovations.

  • Complete a listening tour of campus colleges and divisions to determine key issues, programs, plans, service gaps, innovative ideas, commitment to DEI, areas of positive energy and desire to move forward.
  • Collect UNC Charlotte institutional data for the purpose of identifying gaps and critical areas related to diversity, equity and inclusion as well as positive outcomes.
  • Represent UNC Charlotte at the UNC System level in regard to issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion, including by serving on System’s Diversity and Inclusion Council.
  • Review the recommendations related to diversity and inclusion forwarded by the UNC System Racial Equity Task Force in fall 2020; prioritize these according to UNC Charlotte’s needs and goals.
  • Conduct a University-wide survey on issues related to DEI in early 2021; compare outcomes to previous DEI surveys.
  • Collaborate regularly with campus leaders, faculty, students, staff, and internal and external constituencies to ensure consistent DEI programing that creates an inclusive campus and supports the University’s values, by eliminating systemic barriers.

2. Collaborate with the Office of the Chancellor (and the forthcoming Chancellor’s Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Council) to formulate the University’s DEI mission, goals and updated plan based on input from UNC Charlotte’s internal and external stakeholders.

  • Form the Chancellor’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council to serve as an advisory and coordinating group.
  • Partner with the University’s academic colleges and administrative units to identify DEI leaders and champions, who are able to aid the advancement of the University’s DEI goals and emphasize their priority to internal and external constituents.
  • Align UNC Charlotte’s DEI priorities with the UNC System’s strategic plan for access, student success, and diverse and excellent institutions, as well as with the UNC System Racial Equity Task Force and UNC Charlotte’s current strategic plan.
  • By April 2021, finalize UNC Charlotte’s 2021 Plan for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, designed to advance the University’s DEI efforts and achieve the goal of creating and ultimately, sustaining, a model campus for DEI.
The 2019 Progress Report for the UNC Charlotte Campus Plan for Diversity, Access, and Inclusion describes our progress toward the seven objectives of the Plan. Data are presented here to illustrate work in progress, achievements, and areas for improvement as we strive to create a strong, diverse and inclusive campus that is responsive to the needs of our region and state.
In preparation for the development of the Institutional Plan for 2016-2021, the Council on University Community revised the Plan with input from the African American and Latino caucuses as well as the Committee on the Future of the Faculty. This review affirmed the continued importance of the six objectives outlined in the 2008 Plan and acknowledged the progress toward our campus goal for diversity. Specific recommendations for improvement were incorporated into this revision, including action items to be reviewed and updated annually.
The Campus Plan for Diversity, Access, and Inclusion was adopted in November 2008. The Plan is aligned with and supports the mission of the University. Six objectives for diversity, access, and inclusion, are detailed in the Plan along with measures of success. The Council on University Community is responsible for assessing and reporting to the campus on progress toward the goals of the Diversity Plan. This report presents data to assess progress to date toward the Plan objectives. The report also documents some initiatives related to diversity that have been implemented across the University. Although this is not an exhaustive report of all the diversity-related programming or initiatives on campus, the programs highlighted illustrate some of the efforts to promote the Plan’s goals across the campus.