Sponsoring Leadership member Levester Johnson said the work of the Campus Climate Assessment Task Force is more vital than ever.

“At no other time has our work been more important,” said Johnson, who is vice president of Student Affairs. Johnson spoke to the task force as the group prepares for another round of recommendations for campus.

Task Force Steering Committee member Doris Houston announced that the initial short-term recommendations of the Task Force have been accepted by President Larry Dietz and the rest of the Sponsoring Leadership Team. The recommended actions have the potential of being implemented within 60 days.

Johnson explained a new Implementation Team will spearhead putting in place the immediate and short-term recommendations by identifying “champions” for each feasible project. “Some of these are already being implemented, or already have plans in place,” said Johnson, referring to projects such as all gender restrooms on campus.

Houston praised Johnson’s statement that an online dashboard will be created to allow the campus community to track the progress of their recommendations. “Transparency like this is important in communicating to the campus community what changes are being made,” said Houston. “We not only want to get things done, we want people to know they are being done and to understand the steps being taken to create a more inclusive environment.”

Task Force members have already begun planning for intermediate and long-term recommendations based on the Campus Climate Assessment. The 40-page assessment can be found here.