The 80/20 Principle: Restorative Practices Knowledge, Capacity, and Community Building

80/20 Project: Orienting UMBC to a Restorative Campus

This year's 80/20 project is focused on orienting UMBC to what it means to be a restorative campus, moving the institution toward a shared understanding of restorative practices (RP) as a way of being in community together.

This series highlights Restorative Practices Foundations, Exploring Fair Process and Inclusive Design, Using Circles for Community Building and Problem Solving, and Reframing Accountability, with several opportunities woven throughout to practice community building in circles with colleagues.

Session Two: "Voice.Trust.Decide. / Fair Process and Participatory Decision Making"

Featuring: Dr. Whitney Howarth, Instructor and Implementation Coach, International Institute for Restorative Practices

Who gets a say? Who gets heard? Who decides?

This session dives into fair process and inclusive design as proactive tools for building trust, buy-in, and belonging, long before harm ever enters the room. We'll unpack what happens when decisions are made without us, and what changes when they're made with us.

Join us to explore the three elements of fair process (engagement, explanation, and expectation clarity) and see how they show up everywhere, in committee work, policy design, and even the classroom. We'll also introduce inclusive design as a partner practice, exploring how to build our structures and spaces with community voice baked in from day one, not bolted on after the fact.

Finally, together we will explore when and how decisions can be made restoratively, even when shared decision-making isn't an option, because fair process doesn't disappear just because the table gets smaller.

This session connects to the rest of the series, which will go on to explore:

• Reframing accountability: shifting toward accountability rooted in relationship and repair
• Circling Up!: deepening facilitation skills and comfort with circle practice as a core community-building tool in a restorative context

Come ready to rethink how decisions get made at UMBC, and who gets to help make them.

Help us spread the word! Download and share the attached flyer. 

To request accommodation(s) or to inquire about event accessibility, please get in touch with us via email, culture.umbc.edu, with "[Brief Event Name]" in the subject line. All sessions are open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.