Next Steps Working Group

Proposed Structure

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
to include President, members of the President's cabinet, student representatives

STEERING COMMITTEE
to include faculty, staff, SGA VP for Diversity and Equity, working group facilitators, at-large student representatives, designated SGA ex-officio members, SJPOs, University Senate representative, College Senate representative, Emory Alumni Association representative

SJPOs
to include faculty, staff, and designated students based on topical areas; SJPOs rotate off committee upon completion of work, and new SJPOs will be invited based on the needs of the community

On March 18, the Next Steps Working Group of the Racial Justice Retreat met and developed a committee structure to support the implementation of racial and social justice initiatives that strengthen diversity and inclusivity at Emory.

Organized around shared values, passions, and concerns, this committee will foster a  more socially just community to create a sense of belonging and positively transform the Emory community. By enhancing current processes and leveraging existing resources, the committee will embrace community-based reciprocal relationships that cultivate cross-cultural exchange and institutional accountability. The committee will ensure that attention is given to long-term opportunities and issues and facilitate better university decision-making through the benefit of collective experience and thinking. Through consistent communication, the committee will foster transparency.

The proposed committee structure consists of an Executive Committee and Steering Committee that work closely with Social Justice Process Owners. The Executive Committee will create the university’s vision on racial and social justice that guides the work of the committees. The Executive Committee includes the university’s president, executive vice president and provost, senior vice president and dean for campus life, and designated student leaders.

The Steering Committee is comprised of at-large student representatives, the Student Government Association vice president for diversity and equity, working group facilitators, faculty, staff, representatives from the University Senate, College Senate, Emory Alumni Association, academic units, and Social Justice Process Owners. Social Justice Process Owners will be organized around topical areas identified by the Executive and Steering committees and assume responsibility for strategies and tactics geared toward achieving outcomes within their domains.

Committees

The committees are charged with fostering an ethically engaged, diverse community to create a sense of belonging and to positively transform the Emory Community. The Committees will ensure that attention is given to long-term opportunities and issues, and facilitate better university decision-making through the benefit of collective experience and thinking.

The Executive Committee will:

• Serve as a final point of accountability for timeline, structure, and outcomes.
• Provide guiding principles that outline governance.
• Represent a cohesive, integrated, and compelling vision for Emory to integrate diversity and inclusion as deeply held university values.
• Authorize essential resources.

The Steering Committee will:

• Identify and select Social Justice Process Owners (SJPOs) to develop strategies and tactics that meet our social and racial justice goals.
• Represent and be accountable for the collective work of the SJPOs.
• Serve as a body to provide counsel and advocacy.
• Contribute to and report on progress in achieving the university’s racial and social justice goals.
• Facilitate sustained dialogue through collaboration and communication to the university community to improve transparency.

The Social Justice Process Owners will:

• Develop and advance strategies to achieve racial and social justice outcomes.
• Assess and report progress and overall impact of strategies.
• Support continued integration of racial and social justice strategies into day-to-day operations that support progress toward outcomes.
• Rotate off committee upon completion of work. (New members will be invited based on the priorities identified by the committees.)

This proposed committee structure will proactively identity challenges and opportunities in our community related to racial and social justice issues. The structure and composition of the committees will be consistently evaluated to ensure the needs of the community are being met. To view a printable, condensed version of this information, please download our PDF overview here.