Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Impact Assessment Guidance

What are the Law School’s Goals with regard to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?

Wake Forest Law is a community that welcomes and values people from all backgrounds, strives to cultivate spaces where members feel included and connected, and acknowledges that our work is ongoing, imperfect, and never finished.

What is a DEIIA?

A Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Impact Assessment is a tool to spur thought about how the law school’s goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion will likely be affected by a proposed action, policy, or decision made by a law school administrator, faculty committee, or student organization. DEIIAs are used to anticipate and prevent consequences adverse to DEI goals in a variety of contexts, including the analysis of existing and proposed policies, institutional practices, programs, plans, and budgetary decisions. A DEIIA can be vital in preventing institutional discrimination and for identifying new options to remedy long-standing inequities.

Why are DEIIAs Needed?

When our goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion are not intentionally and consistently addressed, disparities are often ignored or unconsciously replicated. Adopting a habit of considering such issues in the context of significant law school decisions will help us make DEI concerns a central and intentional part of our work. Imagine, for example, how consideration of the potential disparate impact on different groups of students might affect discussion of our school’s printing policy, a shift to online classes, or the hiring of staff leaders. Or how consideration of potential impacts on inclusivity might affect a student group’s consideration of its membership qualifications or its sponsored social activities. This tool provides a means of encouraging thought about the variety of potential impacts so that our policy choices do more good and have less potential for harm.

When should DEIIAs be conducted?

DEIIAs are best conducted during the planning process for any significant policy proposal, new program, or budgetary decision. For example, a DEIIA might be useful in formulating a program’s budget, formulating a hiring recruitment strategy, considering a change in the grading policy, reconsidering the write-on process for a student journal, deciding whether to amend a faculty or staff leave policy, or formulating a strategic plan. Decisions that would not ordinarily constitute “significant policy” decisions might include, for example, the faculty’s approval of individual course proposals, a hiring decision between two finalists, or an Associate Dean’s decision to include a particular course in the schedule or when to schedule it (although the overall schedule would benefit from consideration of many of the questions asked in a DEIIA).

Who might benefit from a DEIIA?

A DEIIA might aid any decisionmaker in the law school—including, for example, faculty committees and administrators of the MSL program, student organizations, the support assistant pool, the OCPD, or the Dean’s office.

How to conduct a DEIIA?

The following steps are central to conducting an effective DEIIA, although particular decisions might call for more, fewer, or different measures. This assessment is meant to catalyze thought, not to serve as a static or mechanical requirement. Some inquiries might require as little as a discussion among committee members as to whether a proposed policy might impact the groups listed. Many will call for consultation with potentially affected groups or with a DEI expert. Still, others might call for a process that involves even more in-depth study. A typical inquiry might proceed as follows:

1. Consider and discuss the questions listed in the DEIIA

2. As appropriate, gather information relevant to the DEIIA from potentially-impacted constituencies and resources such as the DEI Committee, the Dean of Students, or the University ODI. This might call for distribution of the proposed policy and solicitation of comments.

3. If a negative (or insufficiently positive) DEI impact is observed, develop a mitigation plan or proposal for a revised policy

4. Some changes would benefit from a post-adoption DEIIA, perhaps 6 months or 1 year after a policy has become operational, in order to check for unforeseen impacts.

References & List of Resources

1. Center for Racial Justice Innovation, Race Forward Racial Equity Impact Assessment.

2. Equity Impact Assessment Tool, Healthier Here, Seattle, WA.

3. Why Equity Matters, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.