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Climate Survey 2020

Connect, Share Knowledge, and Succeed Within the LGBTQ+ and Ally Legal Community.

Widener University Commonwealth Law School

April 28, 2020

Question 1 provided each school with a field to confirm or update their nondiscrimination statement.
 
2. Does your law school intentionally seek out LGBTQ+ prospective students?
No
3. Does your law school's welcome packet for admitted students include mention of identity group support for LGBTQ+ students, as well as for students of color or other minorities?
Yes
4. Does your school offer students the option to self-identify (also known as "Self-ID") as LGBTQ+ in admissions applications or post-enrollment forms?
No
5. Does your law school offer transgender and nonbinary students who have not legally changed their names the ability to have their name-in-use reflected on their admission applications or post enrollment forms?:
Yes
6. Does your law school provide any annual scholarships specifically for LGBTQ+ students?
Only general diversity scholarships
7. Does your law school actively seek to employ diverse staff/faculty/administrators, including openly LGBTQ+ individuals?:
Yes
a. If 'yes,' please detail how and where diversity recruitment efforts are directed:

Widener University has a strategic commitment to building an inclusive community whose diversity enriches the lives of all members. We recruit through an online tool called PageUp and all jobs that are approved automatically post to the following: Indeed.com, Diversityjobs.com, and Higheredjobs.com. In addition, Widener University was the recipient of the INSIGHT into Diversity, Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award in 2018.

8. Does your law school conduct a "Self-ID" program which allows staff/faculty/administrators to voluntarily and (if they desire) confidentially identify their gender identity and sexual orientation?:
Yes
a. If you answered 'yes' or 'unsure,' please describe your school's process for collecting this data

Widener University’s employment record form offers new employees the opportunity to voluntarily self-identify gender. Information related to sexual orientation is not gathered.

9. How many faculty (not staff/administrators) are employed by your law school in total?
Widener University Commonwealth Law School has (15) full-time faculty members.
10. How many self-identified LGBTQ+ faculty are employed by your law school in total?
Zero
Lesbian
Zero
Gay
Zero
Bisexual/Pansexual
Zero
Transgender /Nonbinary
Zero
Queer or gender/sexual orientation minority
Zero
11. How many self-identified LGBTQ+ faculty of color does your law school currently employ in total?
Zero
12. How many staff/administrators (not faculty) are employed by your law school?
Widener University Commonwealth Law School has (29) full-time administrators and staff members.
13. How many self-identified LGBTQ+ staff/administrators are employed by your law school in total?
1
Lesbian
Zero
Gay
1
Bisexual/Pansexual
Zero
Transgender/Nonbinary
Zero
Queer or gender / sexual orientation minority
Zero
14. How many self-identified LGBTQ+ staff/administrators of color does your law school currently employ in total?
Zero
15. Does your law school provide employee benefits such as health insurance, family medical leave, parental leave, and nontraditional family planning like assisted reproduction and/or adoptive benefits?
Yes
a. If 'yes,' are those employee benefits available on equal terms to employees in same-sex marital/domestic partnership relationships as they are to employees in different-sex marital/domestic partnership relationships?
Yes
b. If you answered 'yes' to #15, are those employee benefit plans inclusive of the specific needs of LGBTQ+ employees (i.e., are assisted reproductive benefits offered without the need for extended traditional attempts at pregnancy, are care techniques such as mammograms, prostate exams, hysterectomies, etc. available to employees of all genders, are parental leave policies equal for people of all genders, etc.)?
Yes
c. If you answered 'yes' to #15a AND/OR if you answered 'yes' or 'unsure' to #15b, please summarize or reproduce your policy here:

Answer left blank

16. Does your law school offer transition-related health benefits including hormone therapy, gender counseling, gender-affirming surgeries, etc. to transgender employees and/or employees who are undergoing gender transition?
No
17. Does your law school offer a student benefit plan including health insurance with nontraditional family planning like assisted reproduction and/or adoptive benefits, and/or any additional benefits such as access to campus facilities?
No
18. Does your school offer the same transition-related healthcare benefits to students and their partners/spouses who are transgender or undergoing gender transition?
No
19. Do all students at your law school have access to on-campus health, counseling and therapy services either through the law school or the larger University?
No
20. Does your law school provide single-stall restrooms available to people of all genders in each law school building?
Yes
a. If 'yes,' please describe how the single-stall restroom(s) is/are identified (i.e., what does the signage say, is it identified on building maps and online resources), the number of single-stall restrooms available in each law school building, and whether these are accessible for people with disabilities in each building or floor

Signage is posted next to communal restrooms that informs of the location of all gender restrooms. The specific signage says: “Am all gender restroom is available in. . .” The single stall all gender restrooms are located in both of our law school buildings and there are (4) available. Currently, restrooms are designated as unisex with male/female icons. However, signage will be transitioned over the next year to omit the icons and just use the word “Restroom.” Restrooms are identified on campus maps.

21. Does your law school have a restroom policy applicable to gender-segregated (i.e., "Women's Restroom" and "Men's Restroom") facilities which ensures that transgender students/staff/administrators/faculty have access to facilities that match their gender identity?
No
22. Does your law school have one or more annual LGBTQ+ specific course offerings (e.g., LGBTQ+ Law and Policy, Sexual Orientation and the Law, Gender and the Law (focused on trans-inclusive materials), etc.)?
Yes
a. If 'yes,' please list course names:

Sexuality, Gender & the Law Seminar

23. Does your law school have an active LGBTQ+ law student group that is supported by the administration?
Yes
24. Does your law school provide funding, including travel support, for LGBTQ+ students to participate in LGBTQ+-focused learning and/or career services opportunities?
Yes
a. If 'yes,' please provide details and examples of when and how those opportunities have been utilized in the past three years:

Funds have been allocated to support interested students’ attendance at the National LGBT Conference and Career Fair. This opportunity is open to LGBTQ+ students and/or allies.

We also fund OUTlaw activities through our Student Bar Association when funding is requested by the organization.

25. Does your law school have a hate/bias incident policy that faculty, staff/administrators, and students are required to follow?
Yes
a. If 'yes' to #25, does that process specifically identify sexual orientation AND/OR gender identity/expression as protected categories?
Yes, both
b. If 'yes' to #25, does the policy set out a clear hate bias/incident reporting process for faculty, staff/administrators, and students to utilize if necessary?
Yes
26. Does your law school provide mandatory anti-sexual harassment training that explicitly covers same-sex harassment and harassment of transgender/nonbinary people, for all staff/faculty/administrators, at least every three years?
Yes
27. Does your law school provide diversity and inclusion training that incorporates robust LGBTQ+ curriculum as well as anti-racism curriculum, at least every three years? NOTE: Please check all that apply.
Yes, optional for all faculty/staff/administrators
Yes, optional for all students
28. Please describe all additional ways, not identified through your earlier responses, in which your law school works to be safe, inclusive, and welcoming for its LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and administrators:

Members of our faculty, staff, and administration who wish to participate in the Safe Space Ally training program are encouraged to do so. In 2019, Widener University launched a new and improved Safe Space training program. This program consists of a comprehensive online training module as a well as a hands-on workshop. We promote this program and participating faculty, staff and administrators are listed on our website. At present, over 20% of our faculty, staff, and administrators are Safe Space “certified.” We expect this number will increase further over the next year given the flexibility of the new online module.

Also, in the next year, we intend to develop a student module to promote knowledge and inclusion on LGBTQ+ issues that will be mandatory for our student organization leaders to complete. This is in addition to Implicit Bias training that was mandatory for all 1L students to complete this year.