Enrollment and Student Services ADEI Unit Update September 2022

In Spring 2022, the Division of Enrollment and Student Services created an Access, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Unit consisting of three departments – the Disability Access Center (DAC), LGBTQ+ Western, and Multicultural Student Services (MSS). Our announcement of the Unit shared information about its direction.

Over the last few months, we in the ADEI Unit of ESS have continued structuring our programs so that they can best support Western students with marginalized identities and support all students’ intercultural learning and ability to collaborate for greater equity and justice. Changes we have made to our organizational structure include the following, and we are working to reflect these changes on university websites, signage, and printed materials:

• The Ethnic Student Center, Black Student Coalition, and Blue Resource Center are now programs of Multicultural Student Services.
• The Disability Outreach Center is now a program of the Disability Access Center.
• Student staff positions that previously formed the Queer Resource Center and Gender Liberation Center are now part of LGBTQ+ Western.

Shifting some programs from the Associated Students into the related professionally led departments of the ADEI Unit better allows professional staff, student employees, and student-led clubs to collaborate on educational and community-building programming and services for Western students. With these changes, we can establish more defined and regular flows of communication between student leaders and staff in the ADEI Unit, and provide better access for these student team members to advisory and work groups engaged on ADEI topics within and beyond Enrollment and Student Services. These changes likewise provide structure for staff to better mentor and support student staff working in these areas.

As we continue building structures that best serve our students, we are committed to (and happy to be!) growing our collaborations with Laural Ballew, Executive Director of American Indian/Alaska Native and First National Relations and Tribal Liaison, and Jacqueline Hughes, Chief Diversity Officer. And we will continue building and nurturing partnerships with students and colleagues around the university who bring so much wisdom, joy, and care to the work of learning and growing together.