witness social injustices in almost every facet of our daily lives, even when we’re at work. Although there’s an industry-wide effort to hold dialogues about social issues in the workplace, many leaders struggle to have these tough conversations with their teams.

Social injustices like racism, bigotry, domestic violence, assault and hate crimes blatantly violate the University of Utah’s policies and core values. To help our industry take a proactive approach to addressing social injustice, we've created a new program sponsored by the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) – Department Time Out.

The Department Time Out program is a conscious effort to set aside time and space to acknowledge these injustices and to connect, share perspectives, and begin to address them in the workplace.

It is an ongoing initiative that encourages faculty, staff, and students to recognize and discuss topics of social injustice.

Participants voluntarily take a scheduled recess from their work and school responsibilities to review social issues in a group setting. Our program strives to promote awareness, allow for reflection, encourage collaboration, and support individual involvement.

Putting our plan in action

In 2022, we hosted three Department Time Outs: 2 in March and 1 in November. Each session focused on violence, anti-Black racism, and allyship, respectively. Session topic selection was based on current events and participant input.

Using email announcements and electronic calendar invites, we recruited approximately 270 faculty and staff members to participate in three voluntary virtual discussion groups. We offered two time slots–a morning and an afternoon session–for each of the three designated Department Time Outs. Our invites also contained resources for our participants to explore, including:

• Educational material: an introduction to each topic 

• Future discussion points and questions  

• Community action  

• Behavioral health services 

Participants met in a virtual conference room for a quick logistical briefing from one of the Office for EDI leaders before separating into small, randomly selected virtual groups of five to six people. During the initial briefing, the facilitator explicitly communicated the following to promote safety.

• Discussions about social injustices might be disturbing and even traumatizing to some. If you feel you need to leave the discussion, please feel free to do so. This is a judgement free and inclusive space. 
• This is NOT a counseling, therapy nor clinic session. If more individualized attention is needed regarding this subject, please utilize the resources provided. 

Participants were then given 20 minutes to discuss the predetermined topic, using the introductory questions and resources we had provided in the initial email invites.

At the end of the discussion, participants reconvened in a large group for a debriefing and concluding remarks. 

A brief summary of the results

Department Time Out #1: Domestic Violence  

Leaders decided to focus on domestic violence after the untimely death of multiple students and a staff resident. A total of 37 faculty and staff participated in the two sessions, and approximately 30% of the participants were faculty and 70% were staff.

Department Time Out #2: Anti-Black Racism 

The second Time Out was one of many activities across the university during a Day of Collective Action against anti-Black racism. The U of U Office of the President dedicated March 22, 2022, as a day to pause and “reflect on how hate impacts our community; how we want our community to grow; and how we will take active steps to support and build inclusivity.”  A total of 30 faculty and staff participated in the two Time Out sessions, and approximately, 40% of the participants were faculty and 60% were staff.

Department Time Out #3: Allyship  

Leaders decided to focus on allyship after multiple students and employees expressed an interest in being more supportive of equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts. A total of 46 faculty and staff participated in 2 sessions, and approximately 28% of the participants were faculty and 72% were staff.

Initial feedback: 

Feedback after the first Time Out from the department’s executive committee revealed that several participants felt pressured to attend, and some expressed concerns that the discussion triggered negative emotions. In response to feedback, we added a briefing and debriefing for each session and reworded the discussion prompts to avoid vague or triggering language. The briefing and debriefing was facilitated by a leader from the Office for EDI. We also tweaked logistical element and educational material to add clarity and depth to each subject. Logistical improvements included making sure that the Outlook invitation reflected the accurate duration of the session, i.e. 30 min rather than 1 hour. Furthermore, we more explicitly emphasized that the event was voluntary in attempt to decrease the burden of participation pressure.

Although we’ve dealt with certain constraints along the way, from logistical challenges and virtual scheduling conflicts, to shifts in classroom curriculums and limited formal feedback, our program received positive comments from the faculty and staff, verbally and via email.

Over the course of a year, we’ve seen the Department Time Out program blossom into a constructive workplace activity that offers participants time and space to discuss pertinent social topics. Incidences of social injustice can radically influence people’s productivity.

We’ve learned that allowing people to vent, while also empowering them to take action, can be cathartic and beneficial to their overall wellbeing.

Our program strives to promote awareness, allow for reflection, encourage collaboration, and support individual involvement. We hope that other departments will consider implementing a similar activity for their employees.