The current state and future goals of Facilities Management's Inclusive Excellence Plan
October 28, 2021
Members of the Facilities Management Inclusive Excellence Planning Team were shown appreciation on Oct. 14 with a luncheon hosted outdoors at The Park with remarks from Don Sundgren, Colette Sheehy, Laura Duckworth, Julie Thomas and Emily Douglas.
The Inclusive Excellence (IE) planning team, consisting of representatives nominated from departments across the FM organization, began work in September 2020 to address diversity, equity and inclusion as a collaborative effort in line with President Ryan’s 2030 Great and Good plan for the University. The group completed 45 team meeting hours, learned about current practices from directors and University representatives, and underwent training on implicit bias, cultural competency, and empathy mapping.
Through 92 Zoom calls over 15 days, the team collected 900 anonymous survey responses from employees regarding the current state of diversity, equity and inclusion at FM. Using these survey results, the team created an IE plan, covering the five areas outlined by UVA’s effort: Access + Success, Education + Training, Climate + Intergroup Relations, Community + Partnership and Infrastructure + Investment. The result is the Facilities Management Inclusive Excellence Plan.
After gaining approval from FM leadership, the office of the Senior Vice President of Operations and State Government Relations (SVPO) and the UVA Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, representatives from each of the five emphasis areas will meet to progress the plan’s goals in their focus area. The Access + Success team, made up of members Sonya Swiderski, Shawn Anderson and Marcus Klaton, is the first group to meet. Representatives dedicated to implementing the next four emphasis areas of the IE plan will begin convening in 2022 with the goal of implementing one IE area per quarter while engaging more employees in the process. Recruitment of committee members is slated to be underway before the end of 2021.
Additionally, a committee has been established at the SVPO level to engage leadership in the implementation and support of the IE plans for each SVPO area. Rollie Zumbrunn, Dan Shantler and Emily Douglas will report to this committee as representatives of Facilities Management.
To learn more about Facilities Management’s IE plan, visit the FM Inclusive Excellence webpage, or contact Facilities Management Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Specialist Emily Douglas at em4hg@virginia.edu or (434) 906-5810.