The Bentley Buzz

Last month, Bentley’s third annual Community Learning Conference brought more than 200 staff and faculty members together (remotely) to engage with colleagues and learn tips for professional and personal development from our own campus experts. This year, President Chrite kicked off the conference with remarks about the importance of individual professional and personal development before the keynote presentation from Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts.

In her keynote address, titled Race, Work & Leadership: Three Zones of Action for Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice, Dr. Morgan Roberts spotlighted the challenges that racially diverse professionals face in gaining access and advancement in the workplace, and she outlined ways to create a greater organization-wide understanding and awareness of racial inequalities. After her address, Dr. Morgan Roberts engaged in a Q&A with attendees, led by Assistant Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion Matt Banks.

With the conference in its second consecutive year of virtual participation, and with a community well acclimated to Zoom meetings and remote technology, each session went off seamlessly with participants engaging in meaningful discussions over  three days. “Everyone was so comfortable presenting and attending through Zoom this year,” said Melissa Looney, director of learning, development and engagement strategies. “Last year, we sent resources and conducted a few Zoom training sessions before the conference to prepare everyone, but this time, all presenters and attendees were ready to hit the ground running.”

Though our campus community is looking forward to coming together in person again, including next year’s conference, Melissa said there are no plans to fully scrap the remote model that has proved to be so successful in years two and three. “We surveyed the conference participants and so many people said that they’d like to maintain the option to attend a few sessions remotely due to the ease of participation in between daily meetings,” said Melissa. “Remote conferences have been a really encouraging way to innovate for the future of employee learning and engagement. Even though we changed how we interact out of necessity, there are a lot of things we can embrace from that. We can really be creative about the way we do things.”

Melissa explained the positive impact that professional and personal development have on the Bentley community. “By taking time to invest in themselves, staff and faculty are doing their part to invest their expertise back into our community,” she said. “Participating in this type of programming helps to create a learning culture that will ultimately lead to a better university. I’m continuously glad to see so many staff and faculty engaging in these meaningful workshops year after year.”

For Erin Kelley, associate dean of assurance of learning and accreditation, serving on Bentley’s Racial Justice Task Force provided an opportunity to help the community think more actively about diversity, equity and inclusion in a way that felt different than in years past. A member of the task force’s core team, Erin played an important role in helping to guide the work of the more than 100 task force members since the group was created last summer.

But as the work of the task force came to a close after the rollout of the Racial Justice Task Force Discovery Document, the Racial Equity Tool Kit and the Inclusive Excellence Dashboard, Erin sought to bring what she learned as a task force core team member directly to her community by applying for a new initiative in her town. Last month, she was named one of six volunteers on the newly created Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee in her town of Tewksbury, where she’ll help explore ways to promote diversity there.

“I found out about the committee from the parent advisory council at my child’s school and saw that they were actively taking applications,” said Erin. “It felt like the right thing to do as the task force’s work was just wrapping up. Serving on the task force was one of the highlights of my time working at Bentley so far, and I’m glad that I’ll be able to share what I learned in this new role.”

As a member of the advisory committee, Erin will be responsible for holding listening sessions with residents to learn more about the community and assess its needs. “I’m looking forward to learning from our residents and my fellow committee members,” said Erin. “I didn’t grow up in Tewksbury, so I’m excited to learn more and to do my part to make the community the best that it can be for my kids.”

As Bentley Athletics prepares for the start of a new academic year—and the welcome return of team practices and competition—they’ll do so with a new focus on understanding and appreciating the contributions of Bentley’s Black student-athletes. With the formation of the Bentley Black Student-Athletes (BBSA), a group inclusive of all the university’s Black student-athletes, Bentley Athletics is taking steps to bolster diversity and inclusion initiatives within the university. 

This new student-driven organization, led by Jailen Branch ’22 and Haley Bernhardt ’23, was created as part of Athletics’ Racial Justice Action Plan in the wake of the movement following the murder of George Floyd. "I think the Bentley Black Student-Athletes organization is important in changing the image of Bentley athletics," said Haley. "By coming together as Black student-athletes, we will be able to have a stronger collective voice.” 

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This fall, the Division of Student Affairs is excited to launch BentleyPlus, a program designed to help students be strategic about how they spend their time in experiences outside of the classroom. This roadmap for the college experience, first piloted last year to over 300 undergraduates, will help students to develop skills that will set them up for success while at Bentley and in their post-college careers. While enrolled in the program, students are encouraged to take advantage of opportunities outside of the classroom to develop competencies that differentiate a Bentley education from others. While Bentley already offers resources and opportunities to occupy students' time when not in class, BentleyPlus provides guidance and structure to the sometimes overwhelming slate of ways to get involved. When enrolled in BentleyPlus, students identify ways in which their current experiences and potential new opportunities lead to growth in competency areas they wish to develop, such as problem solving, community engagement, leadership and resilience. 

Over the course of the academic year, students enrolled in the program meet with specially trained Student Affairs staff members for three advising sessions to discuss the competencies they've decided to focus on and explore ways they can use Bentley's co-curricular programs and experiences to maximize their development. At the end of the year, students who attended their three advising sessions are awarded a certificate spotlighting the competencies they developed throughout the year. The program is open to all undergraduate students and can be tailored to unique perspectives from first-year students looking to set themselves up for a successful four years to seniors preparing to enter the workforce. 

Want to learn more about how BentleyPlus sets the Bentley student experience apart from other schools? Check out the video and resources below!

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