IDEAS Committee

Mission Statement:

The Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Action, and Solidarity (IDEAS) Committee’s mission is to facilitate, promote, implement, and evaluate actions that align with the Psychology Department’s stated values of diversity and inclusivity.

In this work, we align ourselves with the CSULB Psychology Department’s mission statement and recognize that our efforts emerged from organizing in 2020-2021 that produced the Department’s statements of solidarity with Black Students, Staff, Faculty, and Communities and AAPI Students, Staff, Faculty, and Communities. We seek to organize in a collaborative manner, in ways that extend beyond interest and talk to produce action. In addition, we reflect on how our practices may both support and dismantle white supremacy and systems of oppression.

As a newly established committee (AY 2021-2022) tasked with identifying and dismantling barriers to full participation in the Department, we have identified our initial charges as:

  • Assessing the Department’s diversity climate
  • Building political and community will and engagement within the department around issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion
  • Advocating for practices of antiracist evaluation of students, faculty, and job candidates
  • Integrating and supporting on-going diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at the college and university level (e.g., CLA Strategic Plan committee).

Overall, we plan to assess our progress, practices, effectiveness, and this mission statement at the end of this initial year.

1This committee also acknowledges the inequities often generated by diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts for participants (including but not limited to underrepresented students, faculty, staff; women; lecturer/junior faculty) such as inequitable workloads, uncompensated labor, and additional time burdens.

We also acknowledge that DEI efforts can often lead to enhanced interest, talk, and planning but little in the way of action. We acknowledge these concerns to highlight them and organize, to the best of our ability, in ways that lead to action.

Members