Is that Legal? Navigating Program Compliance for Student and Alumni Communities-Strategic Practices Toolkit

Strategic Practices Toolkit

Pdf Summary

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) has created the Strategic Practices Programming Audit Toolkit. This comprehensive toolkit is crafted to help educational institutions evaluate and improve their policies, practices, and programs toward fair opportunities and impactful practices. The toolkit incorporates a framework developed by NYU’s legal scholar Kenji Yoshino, focusing on three crucial factors: preference, protected groups, and palpable benefits. These factors assess the risks and opportunities associated with access initiatives, helping organizations identify areas for improvement and ensure legal compliance.<br /><br />The toolkit offers a structured approach to auditing, including guidance for conducting audits, tailored questions for stakeholders, and actionable recommendations to address identified risks. It suggests avoiding common pitfalls and presents a traffic light indicator system to evaluate the risk levels of programs or policies. <br /><br />Key features of the template include understanding preference for particular groups, exploring tangible benefits, and assessing adverse impacts. It provides specific steps to guide users through preparing, training, conducting audits, analyzing data, and developing action plans. A critical aspect of the toolkit is fostering inclusive practices by engaging various stakeholder perspectives and addressing systemic barriers.<br /><br />The toolkit emphasizes measurable objectives, stakeholder engagement, comprehensive training, balancing qualitative and quantitative data, and assessing organizational culture for practical recommendations. It also cautions against pitfalls such as lack of follow-up, tokenism, resistance to change, and failure to measure impact.<br /><br />Overall, the Strategic Practices Audit Toolkit aims to create a foundation for meaningful dialogue, continuous improvement, and systemic change within organizations, aligning with CASE’s mission to provide equitable access and opportunities in education. By leveraging this resource, educational institutions can enhance their policies, ensuring they reflect a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Keywords

CASE

Strategic Practices Programming Audit Toolkit

educational institutions

fair opportunities

Kenji Yoshino

risk assessment

stakeholder engagement

inclusive practices

systemic change

diversity, equity, and inclusion