The Inclusion, Diversity, and Excellence in Academics (IDEA) Plan serves as the university’s evolving blueprint and guide to embracing the ever-widening variety of people, cultures, identities, experiences, philosophies, and ideas vital to building CU Boulder as an equitable 21st century public research institution. The plan has Three Key Goals with Five Action Areas of Focus.
The Three Key Goals:
1.Climate -Create a richly diverse, inclusive and equitable learning and working environment.
2. Infrastructure -Empower individuals and university entities to enact transformational diversity, equity and inclusive excellence work.
3. Leadership -Create a permanent focus on diversity, equity and inclusive excellence as a deeply understood and shared priority among campus leaders at all levels.
Five Strategic Action Areas (CLIMB)
1. Cultivate success for a diverse undergraduate and graduate student body with new financial resources and programming
2. Learn and lead effective efforts to attract and retain a diverse faculty and staff
3. Increase financial resources and incentives to undertake diversity and inclusion work
4. Move accountability for diversity and inclusion from the periphery to core institutional functioning
5. Build institutional infrastructures and human capacity to implement the plan
Leaders and supervisors within units nominate and/or appoint students, staff, and faculty to participate on IDEA Council. Please let your supervisors/unit leader know you are interested in participating so that you can possibly be considered when a representative within your area turns over.
The IDEA Council serves as a designated campus leadership team and advisory board that prioritizes and makes recommendations to campus leadership to implement the IDEA Plan. The group is a representative body of individuals appointed by Vice Chancellors and Deans from across all major areas of campus. The council is convened on a monthly basis with executive sponsorship from the Senior Vice Chancellor of Diversity, Equity, and Engagement as well as Ex Officio members to inform institutional strategy and make recommendations to leadership regarding prioritization and implementation of IDEA Plan actions. The IDEA Council is co-chaired by a tenured faculty member and a Strategic Resources and Support division member.
IDEA Council members are representative of the following units across campus including CU Student Government, Graduate and Professional Student Government, Staff Council, Boulder Faculty Assembly, Academic units across campus, and units across Strategic Resources and Support.
Ex Officio members represent leaders in administrator roles across campus who are selected by their unit to participate in helping to guide and advise the IDEA Council (they are not voting members). These represented units include: Student Affairs; Office of Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement; Undergraduate Education; Graduate Education; Research Institutes; Office of Faculty Affairs, and Public Safety.
The IDEA Council serves as an advisory body that:
- Informs and prioritizes institutional strategy regarding inclusion, diversity, and equity
- Counsels and makes recommendations to university executive leaders related to the IDEA Plan
- Assesses and reports on progress toward IDEA Plan implementation
The IDEA Council works closely with units across campus and subject matter experts when determining the needs, work already being done, and work needing further support as it relates to recommendations within the IDEA Plan. We then take this information and utilize it when determining what recommendations to prioritize next and thoughts regarding how it could be implemented.
When the IDEA Council votes upon and forwards recommendations to the campus/campus leadership, the appropriate subject matter experts and units will work to implement the recommendation.
The IDEA Council has advanced nine recommendations and initiatives to date that are in various stages to for implementation. Read more about each recommendation on the IDEA Council Page.
In the academic year 2022-23, IDEA Council is focused on prioritizing all of the recommendations in the IDEA Plan
- Read the IDEA Plan
- Ask about and engage in diversity efforts in your department
- Think about how you can apply recommendations outlined in the Idea Plan to your daily life