Social Impact

Amplify the social impact aspects of our mission and brand

At Texas Woman’s University, we are driven by our institutional mission to advance education and our historical strengths of empowering women and those traditionally marginalized. We aim to create positive social impact by proactively supporting, affirming, exhibiting, and leveraging our institution’s ability to transform lives. Centering diverse internal and external voices, Texas Woman's serves as a pillar of progress through the amplification of education, research, and knowledge for a better, more sustainable society.

Texas Woman’s University envisions a transformative approach to amplify the social impact aspects of our mission and brand. We commit to mitigating injustice through educating, supporting, centering, and empowering women and marginalized voices. We prioritize documenting and boosting existing social impact initiatives as well as investing in the collective well-being of our institutional members and external community. Leveraging interdisciplinary and collaborative education, research, and service opportunities, we bridge academia and practice, addressing societal challenges while highlighting system strengths. Our unwavering commitment to socially responsible change encompasses the active involvement of both our internal and external communities. Through systematic initiatives, we will serve alongside our communities, enhance student prosperity, support and retain our employees, and strive for educational excellence. We will foster transparent and honest partnerships, nurturing collective endeavors toward an equitable and sustainable society rooted in restorative justice and accessible information. Embracing diverse experiences, perspectives, ways of knowing, and paths to acquiring knowledge, we cultivate a culture that values diversity, fosters a sense of belonging, promotes inclusivity, and empowers individuals. With these collective efforts, we aim to contribute to a more just, inclusive, and sustainable world.

Strategies

• Prioritize an ethos of collaboration with internal and external partners and the productivity and well-being of our workforce and students
• Improve internal and external communication methods
• Foster diverse and creative partnerships with communities by seeking and sustaining collaborative relationships with external partners
• Strengthen our commitment to civility and neighborliness among university constituencies and with our local communities and peer institutions

Success Measures

Milestone 1 Develop and implement comprehensive social impact initiatives. (Strategies 1-3)
Measures:

• Create a task force/committee to identify key areas, set goals, and implement strategies.
• Establish measurable targets for social impact programs annually.
• Monitor operational efficiency.

Milestone 2 Increase representation and inclusion of marginalized voices in decision-making processes and foster inclusivity and belonging. (Strategy 1)
Measures:

• Assess current representation in leadership and set improvement targets.
• Conduct regular climate surveys for students, faculty, and staff.

Milestone 3 Identify strategic community organizations and stakeholders for collaborations that benefits both the institution and the outward community. (Strategy 3)
Measures:

• Evaluate the effectiveness of partnerships (joint projects, research impact) and the impact of our work on the external community (e.g., Quakertown).
• Foster open conversations through forums, focus groups, town halls, etc.
• Gather input from external stakeholders using quantitative and qualitative measures.

Milestone 4 Enhance educational programs to address societal challenges. (Strategies 2-3)
Measures:

• Monitor new courses on social justice, diversity, and sustainability.
• Track student and faculty, and community engagement in social impact initiatives.

Milestone 5 Promote research and knowledge dissemination on social impact topics. (Strategy 2)
Measures:

• Track grants and funding for social impact research.
• Monitor research publications/ presentations and media engagements.

Milestone 6 Recruit and retain diverse staff, students, and faculty. (Strategy 1)
Measures:

• Track promotion and tenure rates for faculty.
• Share success stories on social media platforms.
• Implement responsive programming based on needs assessment.
• Reward TWU members for social impact work.

Milestone 7 Monitor, report and, when needed, repair social impact initiatives. (Strategies 2-3)
Measures:

• Develop a system to evaluate the outcomes of social impact programs.
• Publish annual reports on social impact achievements.
• Create a GANTT chart to show expected outcomes.
• Build an integrated model for mapping theory to action.
• Collect time-series data during implementation.
• Maintain a repository of work related to social impact initiatives.

By setting clear objectives and regularly evaluating progress through these milestones and measures, Texas Woman's University can actively work towards creating a positive, socially responsible impact that contributes to a more just and sustainable society. See the complete list of strategies and success measures.

The Team

• Michelle Kelly, Ph.D. - Co-Lead
  Director, Health and Wellbeing Initiative, Student Life
• Gabrielle P .A. Smith, Ph.D. - Co-Lead
  Associate Professor of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences
• Bhana Sharadha Nathan, MBBS, MHSc
  Adjunct Faculty, Schools of Sciences, Biology
• Suzi Rumohr, MLS
  Sciences Librarian
• Jason Lambert, PhD
  Associate Professor, College of Business
• Christine Torres, MLA
  Assistant Director, PCSE Houston
• Cheryl Thaxton, DNO, APRN, CPNP, FNP-BC, CHPPN, ACHPN, FPCN, FAANP
  Associate Clinical Professor, DNP Program Director, College of Nursing