photo by: Mike Yoder

University of Kansas Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Barbara Bichelmeyer speaks during an interview March 4, 2020.

Many KU employees soon will be expected to take at least an hour’s worth of online training in diversity, equity and inclusion, according to a pair of recent memos from KU leaders.

University of Kansas Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer on Friday sent a memo to faculty and staff at the Lawrence and Edwards campuses inviting them to take a one-hour online course titled “Diversity and Inclusion.”

Upon further questions from the Journal-World, a spokeswoman for KU said all employees on the two campuses who have access to the online training platform are expected to take the class by Jan. 10, and if they don’t, “they can expect to see reminders in social media, in their email boxes, as well as from their supervisors.”

On Monday, KU employees received a separate memo further detailing the need for the increased training. D.A. Graham, interim vice provost for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging at KU, said in the memo that the new training program “directly responds to continued community calls for additional education regarding diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging for all members of the KU community.”

The online course is produced by Everfi, a Washington, D.C.-based company that produces a variety of training program for the education and corporate sectors. The Journal-World asked to a see a copy of the course in order to explain how various issues are addressed in the training, but KU said it was unable to provide access to the training since the newspaper doesn’t have access to the internal training platform used by KU.

But the university did provide some basic information about what the training will address.

“Ultimately we are working to ensure all employees understand there are important concepts that affect their workplace experience as well as the experiences of those who they work with,” KU spokeswoman Erinn Barcomb-Peterson told the Journal-World via email. “Knowing more about bias and discrimination are among the first steps in reducing their existence.”

In his memo, Graham told employees that the training course would help develop a “shared language” around the topics of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and help employees “to name and confront bias and discrimination as we act in service of our vision to be an exceptional learning community that lifts each other and advances society.”

In her memo to staff, Bichelmeyer said incidents of bias and discrimination continue to occur on campus. She said the university likely will have other initiatives to announce in the future as work is underway to create “inclusive excellence offerings” that are being developed by KU’s Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. She also said those topics are being addressed as part of KU’s strategic planning process, Jayhawks Rising.

“Even as we make progress, I know there is more we must do — as individuals and as a community — to significantly improve diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging at KU,” Bichelmeyer said in her memo.