As a sequel to the Lead like an Ally workshop, the Marketing Department held a follow-up training to inform faculty of the DEI curricular goals for 2021-2025. Led by the chair of the Graduate DEI Committee, Kelley Professor Rockney Walters also took participants through specific ways our faculty can incorporate compelling DEI materials into the Marketing Department curriculum.
The 4-Step Framework
A significant part of the workshop content was focused on the 4-step plan. This framework is a set of ideas, ranging from easy to complex to implement, to build DEI into the Marketing Department curriculum. The concepts are as follows: 1) build imagery of DEI into the curriculum, 2) embed stories of successes and failures of businesses owned and operated by BIPOC and women into the marketing curriculum, 3) address issues related to DEI in the curriculum, and 4) link DEI in courses to DEI events outside of the classroom.
Throughout the workshop, Rockney defined and provided examples for each of the 4 steps. One example that stuck with faculty was a student discussion board Rockney used in his class. Students were given a current article about a chain grocery store that was closing locations due to the pandemic. The class then was able to discuss if the closing of the stores violated the company’s DEI policy and possible compromises to the situation. This specific example gained great positive feedback from the participants of the workshop because it showed that content in the classroom can be relevant, current, and address issues related to DEI, all at the same time.
The Foundation
To ensure the content of the workshop was all-encompassing, the Marketing Department arranged a meeting with several Black and Hispanic MBA students to vet Kelley’s content. Their feedback was positive and optimistic for the future of marketing courses. After receiving and implementing the insights of the MBA students, the workshop was ready to be presented to the faculty.
Why Workshop?
We in the Marketing Department have made DEI a priority and we are dedicated to creating a classroom experience that ensures an equitable future for all faculty, staff, and students. Our DEI workshop was designed to give our faculty the tools to contribute to this goal.
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