
JUSTICE, EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION (JEDI) COUNCIL
The School of Public Health is developing a JEDI strategic plan to help foster inclusive excellence.
The School of Public Health enrolls the highest percentage of Black/African American public health bachelor’s and master’s students among the 60-plus ASPPH member schools and programs.
JEDI Statement
The School of Public Health is committed to operating in excellence by enhancing the diversity of thought and lived experiences within our school’s leadership, faculty, students, and staff, ensuring equitable and transparent distribution of resources for our organizational structures, policies, curricula, and co-curricular programs. Furthermore, these efforts include, but are not limited to, fostering an inclusive, pluralistic, and welcoming environment that bolsters authentic and civil interpersonal relationships within our school community.
In October of 2020, Dean Rodney Lyn announced the creation of a standing School of Public Health Diversity Council, which has since been renamed the JEDI Council. The Council is chaired by Dr. Carlos A. O. Pavao, the Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
The Diversity Statement was crafted to reflect the School's mission and values as a leading urban school of public health focused on advancing and championing health equity and social justice for all human beings and our environment.
JEDI Action Plan
To inform the development of the School of Public Health's Diversity Action Plan, the JEDI Council reviewed existing data from both university and school level surveys related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Utilizing the inclusive excellence framework, the JEDI Council identified 17 objectives to put forth to the School‘s community members. For the 2022 - 23 academic year, the JEDI Council is building upon this work by developing a JEDI Strategic Plan.
Glossary of Acronyms
DrPH: Doctor of Public Health
GRA: Graduate Research Assistant
MPH: Master of Public Health
PPE: Personal Protective Equipment
PTI: Part-Time Instructor
SPH: School of Public Health
The five target areas related to the inclusive excellence framework include:
Access and Success Goal
Develop and maintain an infrastructure that will support the recruitment and retention of a diverse and inclusive student body, faculty, and staff in the School of Public Health.
Objectives
I. Identify and review available assessment data and information for our school’s current levels of diversity among faculty, staff, and students. Review should include an assessment of hires/admittance, as well as our sustainment of a diverse workforce (i.e. tenure and promotion rates) and student body (graduation rates from all programs).
II. Make recommendations for the implementation of policies, practices and procedures to our admissions and advisor practices for students and our searches and sustainment for employees that reinforce the training.
Actions
a. Review data in SPH Self-Study to closely examine current faculty, staff, and student diversity and identify areas of need.
b. Review SPH marketing materials and current strategies for recruitment of our workforce and student body. Explore best practices for attracting the most diverse and qualified pools of applicants to our school workforce and academic programs. Make recommendations for changes to our existing practices.
i. Are there things we want to document or pilot immediately to help inform and understand our existing practices? (i.e. MPH admissions, current faculty hires—lessons learned from the recent Epidemiology searches could be applied to the DrPH search).
c. Identify trainings on the recruitment and retention of our constituents (students, staff, and faculty). Once identified, ensure that individuals working in key areas participate in trainings (i.e. those working on search committees, those serving on admissions committees for our academic programs).
i. There have already been some workshops and seminars at Georgia State University and the School of Public Health related to diversity and inclusion.
d. Examine ways to build an infrastructure that supports and reinforces the best practices and procedures learned from identified training. i. May include a resource/reference guide on student recruitment and faculty/staff recruitment and hiring.
i. May include a resource/reference guide on student recruitment and faculty/staff recruitment and hiring.
ii. Consider storage of guidance/best practices, most likely an online location/portal.
Climate and Intergroup Relations Goal
Create and sustain an organizational environment that acknowledges and celebrates diversity and employs inclusive practices throughout its daily operations.
Objectives
I. Enhance community building efforts in the school
II. Identify Mentoring Models for faculty, staff and students
III. Measure climate for part-time instructors (PTIs)
IV. Measure and document various models of mentoring in SPH
Actions
a. Create survey based on existing school and university surveys that includes additional questions focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.
b. Summarize the survey results to inform suggested action items, the SPH dean search, and the development of the school’s strategic plan.
c. Identify how part-time instructors are being supported and how we might understand their needs and engagement with SPH more broadly.
d. Support initial SPH Organizational Assessment Action Plan steps for building community by having at least one member from each of the Diversity Council subcommittees involved in the two new committees.
e. Invite faculty, staff, and students to share thoughts on mentoring in small group discussion.
Education and Scholarship Goal
Facilitate student, staff, and faculty engagement with curricula, research, work environment and school culture that represents and reinforces a commitment to social justice, health equity inclusivity, acceptance, diverse perspectives, and global competence.
Objectives
I. To address issues of inclusivity and cultural competency in SPH curriculums and syllabi
II. To contribute to the design of the School of Public Health’s Diversity Statement
III. To conduct survey study on faculty and student’s research/service-learning opportunities
Actions
a. Identify inclusive training and resources related to curricula and syllabi reviews that challenge cisnormativity and promote decolonization.
b. Facilitate faculty and staff training on above mentioned resources.
c. Review course descriptions for all courses across all academic programs.
d. Consider development of a new course on anti-racist and inclusive attitudes and norms necessary for career and life readiness.
e. Review and contribute to the draft diversity statement currently under consideration.
f. Collaborate with other sub-committees on survey development.
Infrastructure and Investment Goal
Support the School of Public Health through equitable and inclusive administrative policies and investments.
Objectives
I. Create a Diversity Statement Representative of the School of Public Health
II. Assist with the development of a 2-year action plan for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
III. Assess the institutional and financial priorities of the school regarding investment in faculty, students and staff via training, scholarship, academic support, etc.
IV. Develop assessment tools and metrics for the overall action plan to assess progress and challenges
Actions
a. Finalize Diversity Statement to be prepared for community review.
b. Continue to consult with subcommittees and Dean for institutional/school level actions needed to execute the action plan.
c. Confer with the Chief Administrative Officer and the Dean to assess funding resources, including:
ii. The amount of funding that current goes to GRAs and the compositional profile of that funding.
iii. The compositional profile of the students who are publishing with faculty.
iv. Determine if investment in a community liaison is appropriate for this time.
d. Develop diversity assessment tools to monitor progress and accountability.
Community and Partnership Goal
Be a strong partner with and good neighbor to our region, contributing to economic and social well-being by providing accessible healthcare, innovative education, opportunity, and engaging alumni.
Objectives
I. Create a Diversity Statement Representative of the School of Public Health
II. Assist with the development of a 2-year action plan for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
III. Assess the institutional and financial priorities of the school regarding investment in faculty, students and staff via training, scholarship, academic support, etc.
IV. Develop assessment tools and metrics for the overall action plan to assess progress and challenges
Actions
a. Provide opportunities for sensitivity training and increased awareness of issues related to racism, privilege, discrimination, and equity—i.e. recognizing structural racism, microaggressions, approaches for addressing and reducing marginalizing or offensive language, awareness of social inequities, etc.
b. Develop semi-annual webinar series around topics that bring a public health lens to current events and issues related to systemic racism, racial inequities, police violence, education, etc.
c. Speak to the broader Atlanta community on the need for a health equity consideration for justice reform (mass incarceration) during the pandemic (vaccines and PPE) and beyond (nutrition, mental health, epidemiology, internal medicine).
The School's JEDI Action Plan will affirm and operationalize the commitment to offering a world class public health education and sustaining and growing a diverse and inclusive learning and working environment.
JEDI Council Members


Vena Crichlow

Sam Fahmy

Kimberley Freire

Harry Heiman

Jonathan Key

Adrienne King

Ruschelle Leone

Johana Lopez

Katherine Masyn

Karen Nielsen

Suhasini Ramisetty-Mikler

Logan Ray

Ashley Salmon
Belonging@GSU
Leading as a model for inclusion is a vital goal for Georgia State University. In valuing the wide range of backgrounds and life experiences that are integral to the people of Georgia State, part of our work to achieve this goal includes informing our communities about what we've done, where we’re going and what we can do to go even further. The Belonging@GSU website provides a wealth of information about events, activities, programs, research projects, opportunities and resources that support the university community.