Office of Diversity and Inclusion
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion promotes a culture of inclusion where individuals from all racial and ethnic identities, ages, nationalities, social and economic status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, religious, political and ideological perspectives, and physical and mental abilities are able to thrive and be engaged as students, faculty and staff.
Events and Resources
Meet the Team
Jess Kobryn
Assistant Dean of Students - Title IX and Equity & Director of Institutional Equity
Kelly Toaston
Chief Human Resources & Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Officer
Mary Rose Pedron
Assistant Director of Diversity and InclusionDiversity Strategy Committee
The Diversity Strategy Committee was established by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to bring forth initiatives for Flagler College to continue the efforts of a more inclusive and diverse campus. The committee meets bi-weekly and their first meeting was on May 21, 2020. The mission of the Committee is to establish a plan to help Flagler College become more welcoming and inclusive with a specific focus on increasing diversity, support structures, and inclusivity in meaningful ways. This strategy will be actionable and measurable and will result in a 5-10 year plan for Flagler College. Over the course of the next year the committee will be taking careful consideration to many aspects of programming, education, and community engagement by inviting the Flagler family to participate in focus groups and campus conversations, and reviewing available climate survey data. For more information, please contact any of the members of the committee listed below:
Dr. Jessica Kobryn, Assistant Dean of Students - Title IX & Equity
Mary Rose Pedron, Assistant Director of Diversity and Inclusion
Dr. David Rivera, Director and Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management
Beth Sweeny, Director of Community and Government Relations
Kelly Toaston, Chief Human Resources Officer
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May 21, 2020
Established a plan for ground work to be done to effectively communicate goals and mission of the committee. Agreed on a timeline for the strategy to be completed. May-August 2020 will plan for information gathering; August 2020- May 2021 will be action oriented to convene focus groups, gather data, and use the information to begin the Flagler College Diversity Strategy. May-August 2021 will finalize the Flagler College Diversity Strategy.
June 3, 2020
Stated planning short term goals like establishing a training for Saint Support Squad, identifying DD and DC initiatives/courses, and existing data collection.
June 17, 2020 – sub-committee tasks/meeting
Sub-committees developed their specific objectives to develop programming
June 30, 2020
Beth Sweeny joined the committee. Established four pillars of the plan: Students, Faculty, Staff, Community Engagement. Expanded more on the DD and GD specifics and procedure for approval and the Community Engagement aspect of the Strategy.
July 20, 2020
Full update and review of DD and GD proposal and procedures. Brainstorm on next steps for feedback and approval by curriculum committee.
August 11, 2020
Update on meeting with curriculum committee and guidance on developing DEI definitions as a framework to guide core curriculum and co-curricular course descriptions. Renamed Saint Support Squad to Saints Supporting Saints. Discussed demographic data and areas of improvement. Received update on a September community engagement discussion.
October 30, 2020
Update on definitions for GD and DD course listings, and the FYS Course Module in hopes for full implementation by Fall 2021. Report on data collection and started planning student focus groups. Received Action Committee update and the next date for Fearless Conversations. Focused on Saints Supporting Saints logistics and developed a call for programs for faculty and staff training.
January 11, 2021
Developed Saints Supporting Saints programming with final decision on workshops for Spring semester. Finalized Book Club details with White Fragility as the first book. Core curriculum change will happen in 2022, hoping to have GD and DD courses listed. Fearless Conversations, Action Committee and MLK Partnership will continue into the Spring.
March 8, 2021
Saints Supporting Saints program has started and further developed the implementation of the program, “certification” and branding. Decision was made to cancel the book club because of lack of participation. We will pivot and have a series of workshops using themes in the book to encourage discussion on campus. Offices who hold data have been identified and weak areas of data collection have been identified. Discussed a skeleton strategic plan to present to cabinet and Sandra/Dave will work on it. A student worker has been hired to help with community engagement in the D&I office. Still working on curriculum and FYS module.
March 23, 2021
Discussed timeline for releasing and vetting the skeleton strategy and confirmed Sandra/Dave to finalize strategy template.
April 6, 2021
Confirmed the template and decided on the overall campus goals and objectives that will be presented to Cabinet and Extended Cabinet for review and approval.
April 20, 2021
Overall goals and objectives were approved by cabinet. Discussed the diversity strategy and assigned sub committee.
May 4, 2021
Finalized strategy goals and objectives.
May 18, 2021
Brainstormed what should be included in narrative and assigned sub committee to write the narrative.
June 1, 2021 & June 29, 2021
Writing committee presented first draft of narratives and whole committee suggested edits.
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Contact Us
If you would like to get in touch with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, please email:
diversity@flagler.edu