LEO Toolkits

In order to best support the HSC community in creating and maintaining respectful, supportive, and inclusive learning environments, LEO shares toolkits and resources as part of our quarterly reports. Each of the toolkits we have released are linked below with accompanying descriptions of each toolkit. We hope you find these helpful as you work to foster positive learning environments.

Mandatory Reporting

Almost everyone who is employed by the University of New Mexico is what is called a Mandatory Reporter. Mandatory reporters are required to report certain behaviors to UNM Office Compliance, Ethics, and Equal Opportunity (CEEO). This toolkit will help you understand what those behaviors are, what your responsibilities are, how to report, and what happens if you don’t report. Mandatory reporting is required by federal and university policy, so it is very important for everyone to understand their role, obligations, and the purpose behind the mandatory reporter status.

Professionalism Behaviors and Expectations for MD Students

MD students are expected to act professionally in all of their learning environments, including classrooms and clinical spaces. Unprofessional behavior can have serious consequences, such as lower grades, poor patient care, and even in dismissal from the UNM SOM.

Because this is such an important part of MD training, the SOM wanted to ensure that professionalism standards for MD students were updated, clear, and consistent across the insitution.

To that end, the LEO team has worked with many other faculty and leaders to develop a new set of professionalism standards, which are effective immediately. We hope this toolkit will help you understand the standards, get a sense of behaviors that are and are not in line with the standards, and be clear on what happens if those standards are not met.

What to Say When You Can't Say Much

This guidance supports supervisors—including program directors, division chiefs, department chairs, and others—in navigating communication, confidentiality, and conduct during active Learning Environment Office (LEO) processes.

This guidance complements LEO fact-finding and investigative processes as well as Anti-Retaliation Plans, No Contact Directives, and Interim or Supportive Measures. The goal is to uphold confidentiality and fairness while maintaining psychological safety, trust, and stability.

Particularly for small environments, silence can create uncertainty or mistrust, and is often interpreted as inaction or concerns “being swept under the rug.” Leaders are encouraged to acknowledge that something has occurred, signal that formal processes are underway, reinforce privacy, and assure teams that appropriate action is being taken. Procedural transparency helps to ensure that clarity, containment, and care can, and must, coexist with confidentiality.

Calling In vs. Calling Out

In fostering spaces of inclusion and belonging, it is important to recognize, name, and address when individuals or groups are experiencing harm, such as mistreatment, bias, or discrimination. These actions are what moves someone from being a bystander—an observer of harm—to being an upstander, someone who intervenes in harm. Knowing how to speak up can help us reflect, then act, in the ways we feel will best promote constructive and lasting change.
The goal of Calling In, to quote Dr. Harold R. Saunders, is to create a conversation in which a person who commits harm “recognizes the other’s valid human claims” and “listens deeply enough to be changed by what they learn.”

Intent vs. Impact

Imagine you say something that you think is a compliment, or a neutral statement, but then later you’re told that you hurt someone. But you didn’t mean to, and you don’t know what they mean. Or, imagine someone says something you find very offensive. You give them feedback, but all they say is, “that’s not what I meant.” When intent and impact don’t align, we often find ourselves in conflicts. This toolkit will help find ways to move forward effectively.

Closing the Loop

After someone raises a concern to you, they often want to know that their concern was addressed, what happened, and the timeline for when things are going to improve. This circle-back communication is often called “closing the loop,” because that’s what allows the person with the concern to understand that the process has concluded and learn what happened and what they can expect for the future.

Creating and Maintaining Respectful, Supportive, and Inclusive Learning Environments

This toolkit provides faculty, learners, staff, and administrators with guidelines and strategies to foster supportive, respectful, and inclusive learning environments. It outlines key principles and actionable steps to ensure that everyone can thrive while upholding high standards in education, research, and patient care.

Giving Feedback AND Receiving Feedback

Feedback is an act of care. Imagine a culture where feedback, even critical feedback, was considered a gift—an act of care and support—rather than punishment. Where feedback was always expected, welcomed and practiced with skill and humility on all sides. Moving toward a culture that views feedback as a gift means not pretending that feedback is easy but rather that it is a skill to practice intentionally and together in shared responsibility.