In January 2021, the Community Engagement Council, under the direction of Community Engagement Coordinator Lisa Klein, released the UWL Civic Action Plan. The goals and metrics outlined in the Civic Action Plan align with the goals and metrics outlined in the overall UWL strategic plan. 

A process to identify and designate specific UWL courses as Community Engaged Learning (CEL) courses has been developed to meet one of the action steps outlined in the Civic Action Plan; this process is moving through shared governance in spring 2021. 

In the spring and summer of 2020, the Community Engagement Office in collaboration with the Center for Teaching and Learning hosted two community-engaged workshops on campus and marketed five virtual Community Engaged Learning opportunities through Campus Compact in the CATL Weekly. 

UWL Community webpages were redesigned to target specific audiences and drive those community members to the appropriate resources on campus to help increase access to the university and create connections for faculty and community. 

Community-engaged partnerships have been developed with the university and/or individual faculty.  

The Community Engagement Office, in collaboration with the Chancellor’s Office, reviewed and added new community organizations to the Chancellor’s Community Council (CCC). In a joint effort, the offices invited the CCC to three of the Alumni Association’s virtual What’s New Wednesdays events in July, September and October to remain connected during the pandemic. 

In February 2021, Community Engagement Coordinator Lisa Klein successfully earned a micro-credential in Community Engagement Fundamentals through Campus Compact's Community Engagement Professional Credentialing Program. 

The Division of Diversity and Inclusion expanded in 2020-2021 and now includes Title IX, Affirmative Action, and the Institute for Social Justice. 

The Equity Liaison Steering Committee has worked to develop stronger ongoing communication with Equity Liaisons. This included more frequent meetings with Liaisons, direction and feedback on equity plans and providing resources to Liaisons. UWL now has a Liaison in every department and unit. 

The Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL) has made great strides in developing instructional resources for faculty and instructional staff to improve inclusive teaching practices.  A comprehensive Instructor's Guide to Inclusive Excellence is readily available to instructors via the Center’s website, and CATL will also provide workshops for individual departments. Additionally, CATL offers an Inclusive Teaching Institute. This is a one-week virtual immersive experience that allows participants to explore inclusive teaching practices and social justice pedagogies as they work independently on redesigning one course. 

The University has integrated concepts of equity, diversity, and inclusion into principal UWL communications. There has been more coordinated communication support for campus emails that relate to national tragedies and an effort to recognize weeks and months of cultural influence, including highlights on the UWL webpage. 

The Policy on Race Committee was convened in the fall of 2020 with the express purpose of examining various policies at UWL that are related to racial barriers. 

The Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion Certificate program for employees and Restorative Justice workshops presented by the Dean of Students were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic and will be revisited for the coming year. 

In recent years, scholarship opportunities have expanded for students of color, low-income students, and transfer students. In 2020-21, nearly $385,000 in scholarships were available to Students of Color through the UWL Admissions Office, an increase of 45% compared to 2016-17.

In June of 2020 the Division of Diversity and Inclusion presented the first Voices of Uprising panel discussion with "The Long Path Toward Racial Justice." The second Voices of Uprising panel discussion, "The Crossroads of Whiteness and Masculinities," was held in April of 2021. Both were followed by town hall discussions where the UW La Crosse community could reflect on the information presented and ask the panelists questions.

The University is using national data metrics to assess employee compensation, working toward achieving 92% of external market parity compensation across all employee classifications. 

The University conducted an Employee Engagement Survey in spring 2018 with the intent to continue to assess employee engagement through a bi-annual survey. This spring 2020 survey was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The University plans to resume the survey in spring 2022. 

The Caregiver Task Force survey captured data on employee experiences this past year and offered specific, evidence-based recommendations on how the University can continue to invest in its people, while also operationalizing its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Many of the recommendations have already been acted upon at UWL, while others are opportunities to continue making improvements in supporting employees. A copy of the full report can be found here. 

The Joint Multicultural Affairs Committee, Employee Engagement Action Team and the Steering Committee of the Equity Liaison Initiative partnered to pilot and implement an online course on workplace diversity and inclusion. The course was made available for all staff and faculty. While the plan to make the course a required part of the onboarding process was interrupted in 2020 due to changes at the federal level, in 2021, we plan to revisit this training opportunity. 

FYS 100 became a required class for all first-year UWL students in 2020-21. 86 sections of the course were offered during the year, providing an opportunity for students to explore a topic of shared interest to an instructor and the students in the class and to provide information and resources that will assist students in their transition to college. Over 100 instructors completed the training to teach the course. 

The General Education revision continues in the 2020-21 school year. The General Education Working Group (GEWG) drafted a final proposal that was submitted to GEC in April 2020 after soliciting feedback from campus through online surveys, open forum sessions, attendance at Chairs meetings. Due to the pandemic, GEC accepted the proposal from the GEWG and is continuing the work of the GEWG, to use campus feedback to modify the proposal, and potentially implement in the future, no sooner than Fall 2023. 

The General Education Assessment Committee (GEAC) is developing a pilot for the 2021-22 school year to transform the current general education course-embedded assessment using the AAC&U VALUE rubrics in Canvas. 

UWL has moved to a comprehensive internationalization plan after completing participation in the ACE Internationalization Laboratory (2017-2019). The Office of International Education and Engagement provides the leadership for continued work with faculty, staff, and students to support UWL’s strategic goal of advancing global learning for all students. Small grants were provided to faculty to develop collaborative online international learning projects for courses taught during the 2021-22 academic year. 

UWL hired a Dean of Graduate and Extended Learning in spring 2021 to advance the collective work of graduate education and the credit and non-credit programming supported by Extended Learning. Strategic planning for graduate studies continues with an emphasis on supporting students and faculty, improving the infrastructure, and graduate program development. 

EAB’s Navigate platform is being used successfully for early alerts (PRO@UWL), advising, and messaging campaigns. The Navigate student app was launched in summer 2020. Student success initiatives across the university continue to be developed and implemented, many of which were developed as additional ways to reach students during COVID.