University of Iowa launches new approaches to bias complaints

IOWA CITY - With some minority students describing the University of Iowa as uncomfortable and unsafe, administrators are laying plans to quickly respond to complaints of bias and train employees to make the campus 'a welcoming space for all.”

The UI Chief Diversity Office is reviewing rules for responding to bias complaints and forming a team to take that on.

And this fall, it will offer a certificate program for faculty and staff that, among other things, focuses on relationship building and recognizing implicit bias in hiring and promotion decisions.

Officials announced those initiatives at the same time the university disclosed plans to end its 25-year-old Celebrating Cultural Diversity Festival. The final festival event is set for Oct. 4.

Ending the festival, which was the only one of its kind when it began, allows the university to redirect resources to 'innovative and impactful” initiatives, said Lindsay Jarratt, diversity resources manager for the Chief Diversity Office.

'In a lot of ways, this festival has been something that has laid the groundwork for where we are today,” Jarratt said, noting the campus and community now have more than 30 similar events - including the Iowa Soul Festival, UI Powwow, and Iowa City Pride Parade.

The issue of inclusiveness on campus came under the microscope after an assistant professor on Dec. 5 installed a 7-foot-tall statue depicting a Ku Klux Klansman robed in print screenings of newspaper articles depicting racist incidents.

Authorities took down the campus statue after about four hours. But the incident drew criticism both from those offended by it and those who said the display was a matter of free speech.

The artist said it was meant to spark dialogue about racism, but administrators said it caused some black students to feel terrorized and fear for their safety.

A group of offended students submitted a list of demands, imploring it be able to review the university's methods of dealing with bias,

Georgina Dodge, chief diversity officer and associate vice president, told The Gazette this week the university was working on diversity initiatives before the KKK-statue brought the issue into the public eye.

'This has been in conversation for a while,” she said. 'It was a coincidence that it happened simultaneously with other events we have going on. But that just speaks to the need for such programs.”

The university has a protocol that allows students to file bias complaints and concerns with the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity or the Dean of Students. But Dodge said a new response team, which would include student's, could provide victims with more tools, including mediation and education.

'Often complaints are based on misunderstandings and lack of education, and if we could address them at this level and help people gain the education and communication skills they need, that would be a win-win,” Dodge said. 'We also want to redress any hurt that has been caused.”

The UI will begin tackling its response in the fall, but Dodge said she doesn't know how long it will take to put in place systematic changes

One thing that will be available to faculty and staff is a program for faculty and staff offering 18 to 20 hours of training.

The classes, in part, will impart skills for recognizing 'micro-aggressions and micro-inequities,” and reducing the impact of implicit bias in decision-making and work culture.

'My phone has been ringing off the hook about this,” Dodge said. 'People are more excited than I thought they'd be.”