Diversity and Inclusion Statement
Ball State Public Media (Ball State PBS and Indiana Public Radio) is committed to becoming a leader in developing diverse perspectives. This is essential in fulfilling our vision to connect people to educational experiences and trusted stories. We commit ourselves to this work by stating it clearly as part of our Vision Statement and doing the daily work to live up to moving ever towards that vision.
We acknowledge that diversity is an organizational strength and imperative for us to remain relevant in our community. We recognize that diversity has many facets. In our work, we will examine our content, staffing, activities, and business partnerships using a lens that will include race, gender, physical ability, ethnicity, national origin, nationality, religion, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identification, and age. We also recognize that diversity also includes geographic location, work experience, family status, socio-economic class, and political thought.
We heed the call of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, the founding public media law which requires our work to be an alternative source of local communication specifically focused on serving the underserved and unserved. The Act also notes the important role we play in creating content for children and minorities in our communities.
As researcher Dr. S.E. Page writes in The Diversity Bonus, diversity can also improve the bottom line of businesses and other organizations facing complex challenges in the knowledge economy. We will hold ourselves accountable to increasing the diversity of team members, business partners, and content contributors.
Ball State Public Media established a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) committee charged with monitoring and communicating our progress on our commitment to improving our work and our service to the community.
Ball State Public Media exists within the broader context of Ball State University. The university recognizes inclusive excellence as an integral endeavor to fulfill the University’s mission and strategic plan. Ball State University seeks to recruit, support, and retain a diverse population of students, faculty, and staff. We encourage and reward a diversity of thought. We promote a work environment that encourages and rewards innovation and creativity. We pledge to keep Inclusive Excellence at the highest level of institutional importance and as a foundation in all that we strive to do.
Our over-arching goal for Inclusive Excellence is to adopt a university-wide Inclusive Excellence approach to academic, administrative support, and service functions of the university. We believe Inclusive Excellence must be infused in every step we take.
In our strategic plan, we define inclusiveness as a commitment “to respect and embrace equity, inclusion, and diversity in people, ideas, and opinions.”
The terms “diversity” and “diverse” are used throughout this Inclusive Excellence Plan. Our definition of diversity recognizes the broad spectrum of experiences and unique differences of all members of our community. We celebrate diversity in all of its dimensions as we endeavor to create and sustain an inclusive campus environment.
Ball State Public Media engages in this university-wide process, while also recognizing the special importance of our content and engagement in our community being part of our work to include all voices in our community.
DEI IN ACTION
Ball State Public Media has established a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee in order to uphold our vision of becoming a leader in diverse perspectives and improve our organization and our service to the community.
This committee is tasked with developing a plan to improve on the following four objectives:
- Diversity: Recruit and retain qualified, diverse team members that reflect, at a minimum, the statistical makeup of the population of the community we serve.
- Equity: Rectify systemic barriers to inclusion by embedding diversity and inclusion in policies and practices, to the extent possible while complying with Ball State University policies and requirements.
- Inclusion: Foster a culture that encourages collaboration, flexibility and inclusion to enable all team members to contribute to their potential and increase retention.
- Community: Provide programming and events that reflect the diversity of our community.
Our plan will include key results, measures of success, accountable parties, and deadlines attached to each of these objectives.
The first iteration of this plan will be completed by December 2023. We embrace the ongoing nature of this work and will continue to iterate on our plan to achieve a fully diverse, equitable and inclusive organization.
Ball State Public Media holds quarterly DEIAB Committee meetings. These are on the second Thursday from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. in the David Letterman Communication and Media Building on Ball State University Campus. This committee is comprised of staff and community members to discuss best practices and innovations in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, Belonging, and Community in accordance with our mission, vision, and values.
The next scheduled meetings are:
February 8, 2024
May 9, 2024
August 8, 2024
BALL STATE PUBLIC MEDIA STAFF DIVERSITY 2022-23
DELAWARE COUNTY DIVERSITY 2021
Source: U.S. Census Bureau