Wells College
PA-6: Support for Underrepresented Groups

WELLS COLLEGE COMMUNITY STANDARDS STATEMENT

Wells College strives to become a diverse and inclusive community where individuals live, work, teach and learn with a goal of promoting and maintaining an atmosphere of respect. Membership is a privilege that requires all individuals to treat others humanely, and with mutual understanding and tolerance. Wells College fosters an environment in which free speech, openness, acceptance, and inclusion—even of those ideas or beliefs that may be controversial—are appreciated and considered in their appropriate settings.

Discrimination on the basis of (but not limited to) race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, sex, age, varying physical or mental abilities, sexual orientation, gender identity, or political beliefs will not be tolerated. Verbally or physically abusive or harassing behavior that makes the College atmosphere intimidating, hostile, or threatening is unacceptable. All community members are subject to the laws that govern the rest of society.
https://global.wells.edu/ICS/Students/Student_Conduct_Code.jnz

Students, faculty and staff may report a Bias Incident or Hate Crime directly to the Department of Campus Safety, Office of Residence Life & Learning Communities, the Dean of Students Office, or the Office of Human Resources. You can anonymously report a bias-related incident or hate crime by filling out an electronic Incident Report. You can submit the report electronically by e-mailing it to bias-response@wells.edu or sending it through campus mail to the Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT) mailbox located in the Mail Room (Main Building). Hard copies of these forms are also available outside of the Office of Human Resources (Macmillan Hall), and the Collegiate Cabinet Office (Main Building).

1. All reports of an alleged bias incident or hate crime should be documented in writing. When documenting the incident:
Provide a detailed account of the incident, including date, time and location
Relate to the best of your ability the specific content of the words, gestures, or other behavior
Identify the alleged perpetrator, if known to you and/or provide a detailed description
List all witnesses and contact information
Attach written information (i.e. e-mails, letters or notes); contact the Department of Security to take photographs of visual evidence or information
Include other pertinent information that will assist the college in response
2. All reports of an alleged bias incident or hate crime will be forwarded to the Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT) who will follow up with all individuals involved and the campus community.

The Bias Incident Response Team members include:
Collegiate Cabinet President
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion: Brad Frazier
Professor of History: Cynthia (CJ) Koepp
Dean of Students: Jennifer Michael
Director of Campus Safety: Dennis Fairchild
Coordinator for Student Achievement: Megan Reidl
Manager of Human Resources: Kit Van Orman

The Office of Admission has adopted a test-optional acceptance policy, which has opened up admittance opportunities for students who struggle with standardized testing. Wells maintains an Admission counselor in the NYC area to specifically work with schools with high proportions of underrepresented groups of students. Wells also worked to recruit international students, further diversifying our student body.

The Office of the Provost, the Human Resources Office, and the director of Campus Life for Diversity and Inclusion work proactively in faculty recruitment to assure broad representation on the search committee and to advertise positions widely, including using online recruitment sites and directing some job postings to sites that promote more directly to underrerpresented groups. Search committees are guided in proper protocols for hiring to ensure equal consideration of qualified candidates.

The Human Resources office and the director of Campus Life for Diversity and Inclusion work proactively in staff recruitment to advertise positions widely, including using online recruitment sites and directing some job postings to sites that promote more directly to underrerpresented groups. Search committees and hiring supervisors are guided in proper protocols for hiring to ensure equal consideration of qualified candidates.

As a community, Wells College respects the right of each individual member of the campus community to a fair hearing of complaints and grievances. The Wells College policy on grievances and appeals is intended to ensure the fair and careful consideration of complaints, guarantee the right to due process and appropriate appeal, preserve confidentiality, and protect the rights of all parties concerned. Any Wells College student, faculty member, or staff member with a grievance or complaint against another
member of the College community has a right to a fair and objective consideration of that complaint, first through informal complaint procedures and then, if necessary, through formal grievance procedures. Formal grievances must be in writing; and only grievances submitted by the complaining individual will be considered. Every effort will be made to resolve grievances and complaints at the lowest possible level. In all
circumstances the rights to privacy and due process of both the person making the complaint and the person complained against must be protected. Retaliation in any form against a person exercising her or his rights to grievance and appeal is in itself an offense for which action may be sought under this policy. This policy covers a wide range of possible categories of grievances and appeals, including among others
those related to personnel decisions, charges of unfair bias, or grading disputes.

The faculty, staff, and students at Wells each have their own committee for the purpose of advancing Inclusion and Intercultural Excellence on campus. Each committee provides representation of and a voice for its constituent group to bring forward issues related to inclusion and intercultural awareness and acceptance. The all-college President's Advisory Committee on Diversity, Inclusion and Intercultural Excellence unites the efforts of and has representation from each of three other committees: the Faculty Committee on ​Inclusion and Intercultural Excellence and Off-Campus Study; the Staff Committee on Inclusion and Intercultural Excellence, and the Student Committee on Inclusion and Intercultural Excellence. The Student Committee on Inclusive and Intercultural Excellence consists of a student representative from each class as well as a representative from each of intercultural group including but not limited to: WISA (Wells International students Association), POWER (Praising Our Work, Ethnicity and Race), Sexuality and Gender Activist (SAGA), Sex Collective, Women’s Resource Center (WRC), and a non-traditional student. The committee works cooperatively with other diversity groups on campus to foster respect, interculturalism and pluralism within the Wells College Community. The committee meets at least once per month to address student concerns and consider matters of importance to the student community.

Staff Forum offers monthly "coffee breaks" with guided discussions of topics of interest. Topics have included inclusion and support for underrepresented groups.

Academic support, including peer tutoring, is offered through the Office of Student Success to all students requesting such assistance.

The director for Campus Life for Diversity and Inclusion works directly with underrepresented groups on campus to provide support and programming. The campus diversity officer has offered a number of educational and awareness-raising programs open to all members of the campus community. These have included workshops and events to support community members of color, of Hispanic heritage, LGBTQ orientation, and others.

There are a number of student organizations that provide peer support for students from underrepresented groups, including: Access for All Abilities; Commuter Council; Cultural Fusion; H.O.P.E. (Helping Open Peoples Eyes); Living in Color; Praising Our Work, Ethnicity, and Race (POWER); Querencia; S.E.C.S. Collective; Sexuality and Gender Activists (SAGA); and Umoja. All these students organizations have faculty sponsors who provide additional support and mentoring to student members.

Professional counseling is available to students through the Medical Center to all students requesting such assistance. Professional counseling for employees is available through our Employee Assistance Program.

Not at this time, but the institutional leadership is considering several options.