Equity & Inclusion Everywhere
BUSSW's equity and inclusion initiatives have a significant, positive impact on our School and the wider community. The E&I Committee has also inspired and empowered BUSSW students, faculty, staff, and alumni to initiate their own projects to help make our School a more equitable and inclusive community. The Outcomes Report below showcases the measurable effect and influence this work has had on our community during the 2023-2024 academic year.
2,670 Participants Completed the Free Anti-Racism Course, Now Offering Free CEUs, Since June 2024
“Understanding Structural & Institutional Racism” is a free online course designed by the E&I Committee to expand knowledge of the interlocking social systems and ideology that are the foundations of racial inequality in our society. This year the course was updated to include 3.5 free continuing education credits (CEUs) and drew 58% more participants than last year.
Take the Course
BUSSW Organizational Improvements
Equitable and inclusive organizations are essential to making a better society. To improve the structural organization at BUSSW, the School made two major changes recently. A new position, the director of Inclusive Pedagogy, was created to ensure that BUSSW delivers high-quality anti-oppressive and inclusive instruction. The inaugural role is held by Lyndsey McMahon, who leads the recruitment, hiring, training, and evaluation of part-time instructors and lecturers across all MSW programs. She also provides intellectual leadership by introducing and implementing new methods of teaching assessment and student learning evaluations. BUSSW also previously introduced a required E&I training for all faculty involved in hiring searches which greatly improved diversity among hired faculty. This year the training was expanded to include staff with 24 employees completing the training, to date.
Learn About Our New Director
Curriculum Improvements
To improve our curriculum in the pursuit of social justice, our community took on several initiatives. We met new competencies centering anti-oppressive practice from our accrediting body, the CSWE, by gathering feedback from students on the school’s syllabi. We then launched a new syllabus guide for inclusive pedagogy and anti-oppressive practice to help make courses and class materials more equitable and inclusive for students. We also introduced a new Reproductive Justice Course that grew out of our learning community from 2022. And we introduced stipends for part-time faculty and permanent field staff who complete 4 anti-oppressive pedagogical activities a semester, which can include a range of anti-oppressive activities. Since these community members are paid hourly for their school contributions, training is not built into their paid time and these stipends acknowledge the time they devote to improving E&I initiatives in their classrooms.
Learn More About MSW Programs at BUSSW
6 Anti-Oppressive Labs with 60 Participants
E&I hosted six Anti-Oppressive Learning and Practice Labs for the internal BUSSW community this year. These virtual events covered a variety of topics such as navigating challenging conversations, confronting white supremacy in academia, and employing Liberation Health practice techniques. The discussions provided a space for BUSSW faculty, staff, and students to reflect on case examples and their own experiences.
Learn More
70 Anti-Oppressive Mentoring Sessions
Cultivating an anti-oppressive teaching pedagogy requires an ongoing commitment to constant critical reflection, life learning, and the capacity to deconstruct taken-for-granted assumptions about the world. These individual mentoring sessions with Dawn Belkin-Martinez, associate dean for equity and inclusion, provide a one-on-one opportunity for faculty and staff to discuss anti-oppressive frameworks, specific classroom dynamics, and individual course content.
Learn More
583 People Attended the E&I Speaker Series
The Equity & Inclusion Speaker Series hosts six virtual events each year focused on topics related to social justice, social work, and equity and inclusion. All Speaker Series events are free, open to the public, and provide free CE credits. During this school year, 583 people attended the live events and event recordings uploaded to YouTube have received 3,677 views as of July 2024.
Watch the Series
Support for Students
Last year BUSSW launched the Licensure Prep Initiative to address inequity and test bias in social work licensure. These efforts continued in the 2023-24 school year with a series of workshops specifically supporting BIPOC, Latinx, and non-native English-speaking students. Our Online MSW Program also co-sponsored “race talks” for online and off-campus students. Led by student services coordinator Cynthia Bramble Daley, these talks are specifically catered to students’ interests and needs. In addition to these events, the dean of equity and inclusion meets one-on-one with numerous students to provide support on E&I challenges in the classroom, field education, and around the world.
Learn More About the Licensure Prep Initiative
Student-Led Initiatives
Student action is a core part of our MSW curriculum. Each year student-led affinity groups enhance courses and conversation for marginalized people. In Fall 2023 students Katie Hale (MSW’24), Maria Torres Arpi Pous (MSW’25), and Anna Stevens (MSW’25) piloted a peer-to-peer mentoring program “PUMP” (Peer University Mentoring Program) which pairs first- and second-year students together for regular meetups, events, and more. This year 26 mentor-mentee pairs participated.
Learn More About PUMP
768 People Viewed the E&I Resource Page
The E&I committee maintains a robust resource portal with learning and teaching resources accessible to everyone.
View E&I Resources