Council on Innovation, Belonging and Equity
What is CIBE ?
The Council on Innovation, Belonging, and Equity (CIBE) is a shared governance body that was established April 6, 2021, through Board Action 5378. The purpose of this body is to permeate completion, equity, inclusion, and belonging throughout Delta College’s activities and culture and to assist in the assurance that the Diversity, Equity, Belonging and Inclusion framework is being fully implemented. An additional purpose of the CIBE is to foster collaboration and creativity to reduce opportunity gaps across the College body.
In Delta College’s model of shared governance, institutional and policy decisions are made from well-informed recommendations, ideally reached through consensus among stakeholders. The CIBE Advisory Board directs relevant institutional issues or concerns to the appropriate group for thorough examination. Committees (standing or ad hoc) may make recommendations to the CIBE Advisory Board for action based upon supporting rationale and data. Throughout the process, open and respectful communication ensures participation by all affected parties.
Advisory board meetings and how people can attend
CIBE advisory board meetings are open meetings; however, there may be certain topics during which the CIBE advisory board will need to meet in closed session.
If interested in attending a CIBE advisory board meeting, please contact Sheryl Jensen for the Zoom link.
Fall 2025 meetings
- Wednesday, September 10, 2pm
- Wednesday, October 8, 2pm
- Wednesday, November 12, 2pm
- Wednesday, December 10, 2pm
CIBE members (voting members)
- CIBE chair
Chris Hausbeck (term ending 12/2027) - ECAPS chair/designee
Eric Merkle/designee (term ending 12/2025) - Administrative/Professional staff at large (2 elected by AP, 1 SES and 1 non-SES)
Monica Hernandez-Alaniz (term ending 12/2027) and Craig Wilson (term ending 12/2028) - Faculty Assembly Board (FAB) chair
Chris Curtis (term ending 12/2028) - Faculty at large (2 elected by the faculty)
Meredith Bladecki (term ending 12/2027) and Amber Sleight (term ending 12/2028) - SSEC chair/designee
Jill Delaney/designee (term ending 12/2025) - Support Staff at large (2 elected by support staff, 1 SES and 1 non-SES)
Loni Benkert (term ending 12/2027) and Traci Morris (term ending 12/2026) - Adjunct Faculty
Christina Szilagyi (annual reaffiirmation) - Public Safety designee
Robert Battinkoff (annual reaffiirmation) - Maintenance designee
Vacant
Ex-officio CIBE members (non-voting members)
- College President (or designee)
Mike Gavin - Belonging, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (BEDI) designee
Chris DeEulis - CIBE Chair Emeritus
Elena Lazzari (term ending 12/2026) - Shared Governance Office Professional
Sheryl Jensen
Standing Committee – Pedagogy
Charge: To foster learning environments characterized by innovation, a sense of BEDI by exploring and encouraging pedagogical best practices that recognize and address differences amongst students.
- Danielle Petersen, co-chair
- Kim Boldt, co-chair
Standing Committee – Policies & Processes
Charge: To identify and review policies and processes that may contain barriers to success both for students and employees from a completion, inclusion, belonging, and equity lens.
- Kim Katzer, co-chair
- Elena Lazzari, co-chair
Committee 1
Proposal name: Student Leave of Absence (LOA) Policy
Date of charge: January 15, 2025
To: Shelly Raube, requestor, and Kim Katzer, co-chair of Policies and Processes committee
Charge: Please perform a thorough review of the Student Leave of Absence (LOA) policy, looking at this through an equity lens from the student and faculty viewpoints. The existing policy seems to actually include the procedure for Student LOA; we are suggesting the policy is edited to reference (but not include) the procedure for a short-term LOA and a long-term LOA. Please also submit the procedure for short-term and long-term LOA.
Committee 2
Policy name: Disputed Final Grades
Date of charge: January 15, 2025
To: Policies and Processes CIBE subcommittee
Charge: Please perform a thorough review of the Disputed Final Grades policy, looking at this through an equity lens from the student and faculty viewpoints. Consider the reasons that a student would get all the way to the appeal board. Are these reasons adequate? Do they need revision? What is the impact of a student appealing their grade based on academic dishonesty for using artificial intelligence? (The current disputed final grade policy lacks specific language addressing academic dishonesty). Finally, discuss reasons/scenarios in which an academic administrator could re-open a grade appeal after a decision has been made or could alter the timeline in the policy if the student failed to meet the deadline.
Committee 3
Proposal name: Update to Board Policy 10.012 – Academic Graduation/Certification Requirements
Date of charge: April 21, 2025
To: Kim Katzer and Elena Lazzari, co-chairs of Policies and Processes committee
Charge: Please perform a thorough review of the Academic Graduation/Certification Board Policy, looking at this through an equity lens from the student and faculty viewpoints. Part III of the existing policy outlines the procedure for revising general education curricular requirements. Update the language to reflect current titles/roles at Delta College, and discuss the membership of the ad hoc committee in IIIC (is this appropriate?). The Advisory Board is recommending an ad hoc committee be formed with representation from the Policies and Processes committee. We would like the ad hoc committee to discuss/consider separating the procedure from the policy (but still reference the procedure if the committee deems it best to separate these). We are also suggesting a clarifying statement around the AAA, AAS, AFA, and ABS requirements – who determines these degree requirements and how are they changed/revised?
While doing this work, please be in regular communication with the curriculum council ad hoc committee that will begin its work in Fall 2025.
Proposed timeline and rounds: Begin this work in Fall 2025 and make an effort to finish by the end of Winter 2026. Take the proposed changes to Faculty Assembly for input prior to bringing the policy back to CIBE before going to the Board of Trustees.
Adhoc Committees
Committee 1
Policy #: N/A
Proposal name: Student Success Modules
Date of charge: January 15, 2025
To: Casey Armour, ad hoc chair
Charge: As outlined in your request, please proceed with the development and implementation of creating accessible, concise modules for students, ensuring that they meet the needs of students with varying levels of proficiency. Additionally, consider modules on time management, self-discipline, and fostering effective communication in virtual environments.
Proposed Timeline: Please attempt to complete your work by the end of Winter semester 2026; an update will be requested during the Fall 2025 semester to see if this timeline is feasible.
