Faculty Fellow for Inclusion Focuses on Diversity


Donna Langston, from left, Jennifer Wade, Kathleen Beatty and Mark Heckler discuss Wade’s appointment as Faculty Fellow for Inclusion at a reception in her honor.

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Not long ago, Jennifer Wade was recognized at a reception in her new role as the campus’ first Faculty Fellow for Inclusion. Donna Langston, director of ethnic studies, Kathleen Beatty, dean of the Graduate School of Public Affairs, and Mark Heckler, provost, were two of many colleagues to toast Wade, noting her impressive record prior to and since joining GSPA.

“We waited a year [for Wade to finish her doctoral degree] because we knew she was special, a change agent and someone who will make us a much stronger community,” Beatty said.

Heckler thanked Beatty for allowing Wade to work half time on this important responsibility, which runs through the end of this year but could continue depending on results and funding capabilities. “If you’ve ever looked back and wondered where great change began, this is that moment,” Heckler stressed.

After acknowledging the accolades and thanking the dozens of supporters at the reception, Wade went to work defining the task before her. The first step in any such endeavor is to assess the strengths and weaknesses, assets and liabilities at hand. “Something I am working on is the definition. It varies across campus,” she said. “I am spending a lot of time meeting with people on how they view diversity and inclusion on this campus.

“As Faculty Fellow for Inclusion, I work with faculty mostly, but also staff and students in an effort to create a climate and environment that is inclusive,” Wade said.

Wade’s office, a branch of the provosts, will work with deans, upper-level administrators, faculty and staff to change policy on this campus. “We’re trying to ascertain what that entails at this time,” Wade said. “What I can say is it has been recognized by the administration on this campus that we will have to work on inclusiveness and diversity. This office is a great step in that direction.”

While Wade undertakes the weighty issue of inclusion, she continues her work as a stand-out faculty member in GSPA. She’s teaching Social Entrepreneurship this semester and, instead of contracting with a single nonprofit or public agency to create operating business plans as she did in the class’ inaugural semester, this semester her class is working with four. Students are again working with the Urban League of Metropolitan Denver and also have contracted with the Community Resource Center, a nonprofit agency striving to provide opportunities for a more just society; the Denver Indian Center, an nonprofit community resource center for Native Americans; and the Museo-de-las-Americas, a Latin-American art history and cultural museum.

The class is one of the first in GSPA that involves both service learning and practical application. MPA students learn concepts including revenue diversification, marketing, management, and operational structures before building a business plan for the agencies.

“When you have the college behind you, the school behind you,” Wade stressed, “that means a lot, and obstacles that seem insurmountable become hurdles one can leap over.”