Inclusive Excellence Council

Chairs: Lee Christopher and Brian Grewe

Goal: Focuses on the compositional number and success levels of historically underrepresented students, faculty, and staff at ACC.

Chairs: Courtney Kuntz and Lance Rubin

Goal: Focuses on diversity content in the courses, programs, and experiences across the various academic programs and in the social dimensions of the campus environment.

Chairs: Amanda Hardman and Karen Browning

Goal: Focuses on the development of a psychological and behavioral climate supportive of all students.

Chairs:  Lisa Christiansen and Allana Farley

Goal: Focuses on the acquisition of content knowledge about diverse groups and cultures and the development of cognitive complexity.

Chairs: Scott Guenthner and Jahlia Hope

Goal: Focuses on the systematic practices that lead to growth, development and accountability as it relates to equity and Inclusive Excellence.

Background

Arapahoe Community College continues to be dedicated to implementing the Inclusive Excellence framework and has recently created a new strategic plan that includes strategic directions of Equity and Inclusion and Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Expected outcomes identified within these two strategic directions include the implementation of culturally responsive pedagogy, diversifying the curriculum, and equity-minded professional development. The Diversity in the Curriculum sub-committee of the Inclusive Excellence Council, which is made up of full-time and part-time faculty members, program chairs, department chairs and directors, the director for the Center for Professional enrichment, and the chief inclusive excellence officer, have recently developed a structured format to engage faculty and instructors in learning about equity-minded and culturally responsive pedagogy.

The purpose of engaging in this type of professional development is to increase academic success and retention of all students and close equity gaps in student course pass rates and grade distribution between students of color and white students. This professional development opportunity will be modeled from the Community College of Aurora’s Equity in Instruction Leadership Academy (EILA). Upon completion of EILA, faculty members who participated in CCA’s EILA program saw their student success rates increase by nearly 25% from 66.4% pass rate to a 91% pass rate after just two years of implementing equity-minded practices. Faculty members also saw their student success gaps nearly close between Latinx, and White students going from a 16.2% gap to a 3.1% gap, and a 9.7% gap between Black and White students to a 1.3% gap. The proven success of this type of professional development will benefit ACC students and will contribute to making ACC a more equitable and inclusive institution. It will be expected of all full-time faculty at ACC to participate in this Equity-Minded Teaching Academy over the next five years to create sustainable change for equity. The information below details the process of selection, compensation, structure, and content of the professional development program.

Process and Structure

The Academy will be offered in the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Outside of the pilot year of 2021-2022, there will be two cohorts offered for the fall and spring semesters and one cohort offered over the summer semesters. There will be a total of nine three-hour sessions that will be offered virtually, or in-person depending on the guidelines of ACC and needs of the participants.

To participate in the Academy, all participants must be teaching within the same semester and have taught at ACC for at least one academic year. The Academy will be open to part-time instructors, but it is not expected for every part-time instructor to participate. Department and program chairs will work with their faculty and instructors to determine who should participate in each academic year based on schedules and availability by no later than April 15^th of every year and will communicate selections to the director of the Center for Professional Enrichment.

Program chairs, department chairs, and directors who teach will make up the first cohort for the 2021-2022 academic year. The Academy will begin with individuals in these positions so when faculty and instructors participate their chairs will be able to support them and provide guidance based on their participation during the academy. If the 2021-2022 cohorts do not capture all chairs and directors who teach, then the subsequent cohorts from 2022-2026 will have a mixture of faculty and instructors in one cohort, and chairs and directors in a separate cohort until all chairs and directors who teach have completed the Academy. Each cohort will have ten total participants. The cohorts will consist of five faculty and five instructors and will begin in 2022-2023.

Participant Commitment: Up to 52 hours total

• 9 3-hour meeting sessions
• 5-7 hours of one/one meetings with peers and academy facilitators
• Homework for each session, ranging from 1-3 hours/week

Compensation:

• Full-time faculty will have the option to receive release time for 3 credits or take an overload of 3 credits.
• Part-time instructors will receive 3 credits of compensation at the tier 1 payrate.
• Completion of the academy can be counted towards activity hours for any level of the Master Teaching Certificate or Instructor Advancement Program.

Facilitators:

ACC will contract a facilitator from CCA to conduct the pilot group for the 2021-2022 academic year along with a current ACC faculty member with prior knowledge and experience in equity-minded teaching. Upon completion of the pilot cohort, a participant who has demonstrated increased knowledge of equity-minded teaching, willingness to make significant changes in their practice, and proficient facilitator skills will be asked to serve as a co-facilitator for the 2022-2023 year. Selected facilitators will be expected to complete a facilitator training prior to the start of the academy.

Cohorts will be facilitated with two facilitators. One facilitator will take on the lead-facilitator role and the other will take on the mentor role. The lead facilitator will coach the mentor through the content, structure, and facilitation skills. Facilitators will meet one on one with participants prior to the start of the Academy and multiple times throughout the academy, to discuss classroom observations, syllabi review, and additional protocols informed by the University of Southern California’s Center for Urban Education and Center for Race and Equity. The mentor will take on the lead-facilitator role the following year and then begin to coach a new mentor.

Facilitator & Mentor Commitment: Up to 83 hours total

• Full-day facilitator training
• Facilitating 9 3-hour meeting sessions
• 6 individual 1-hour meetings with 5 participants
• Preparation and meeting debriefs

Compensation:

• Full-time faculty facilitators will receive a course release of 5 credits or an overload. To ensure quality facilitation, facilitators will maintain a total load of no more than 18 credits.
• Part-time instructor facilitators will receive five credits at the tier 1 payrate.

Session Descriptions and Learning Outcomes

Session 1 (BCC Week)

• Participants will learn about expectations of the academy
• Build community and learn about previous experiences of the academy
• Understand classroom observation protocol
• Increase knowledge of common language used when engaging in equity-minded teaching practices

Session 2 (week 2 of semester)

• Provide feedback to cohort mates on classroom observations
• Create a feedback survey for students based on classroom observations
• Examine language of success and identify race neutral language

Session 3 (week 4 of semester)

• Examine language of success
• Identify strengths and opportunities from student survey results
• Understand social identity and group membership associated within identities
• Facilitators share data, begin conversation on equityzing the data-give article for homework

Session 4 (week 6 of semester)

• Identify how the cycle of socialization impacts individual perceptions and assumptions related to marginalized identities and how to interrupt the cycle to support students
• Discuss student success data article,
• Review student success data
• Understand second classroom observation protocol

Session 5 (week 8 of semester)

• Identify racialized experiences in classrooms
• Identify which data sets to focus on for the next semester
• Address power dynamics between teacher/student
• Understand how to code language from classroom observations

Session 6 (week 10 of semester)

• Deconstruct understanding of racialized classroom experiences
• Understand syllabus review protocol
• Engage in self-reflection of academy experiences and explore areas of change and opportunity

Session 7 (week 12 of semester)

• Provide feedback to cohort mates on second classroom observations
• Understand assignment task deconstruction protocol

Session 8 (week 14 of semester)

• Identify how to review and revise syllabi to create an inclusive and supportive environment for students
• Identify class assignment revisions that are clear, student centered, and equity-minded

Session 9 (week 15 of semester)

• Engage in self-reflection of participation and impact of the academy
• Create action plan based on data and academy experiences

This training program will support increase knowledge, awareness, and skills regarding equity, diversity, and inclusion concepts and practices that can support and affirm the success and identities of students and employees. The training will consist of 6 workshops for three hours each. Each workshop will be scaffolded and will require prep work and/or homework to do in between sessions. These sessions will be held once or twice a month, depending on the needs of the cohort. Please refer below for the description of each workshop and the outcomes for each one.

Outcomes of Inclusive Excellence (IE) Training Program:

• Provide employees with knowledge, skills, awareness, and resources to create and maintain an inclusive, welcoming, and equitable environment.
• Develop leaders across multiple divisions and departments at ACC who advocate for equitable practices, policies, and environments.
• Implement practices in the roles of ACC employees to equip them with using equity in decision making, in professional development, and in service.

Training Workshop Descriptions

Exploring the Foundation

The purpose of this training program will be covered during this first workshop to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of changing demographics, addressing the equity gap, and creating welcoming and inclusive environments. Participants will explore connections between and commitment to equity and ACC and examine the concept of inclusive leadership. Participants will explore and define common language and begin to reflect on their professional and personal contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Outcomes:

• Understand the concept and commitment of ACC
• Identify strengths and improvements of Inclusive Leadership
• Identify changing national and Colorado demographics at community colleges
• Connect the concept of diversity to leadership and interactions

Social Identity Awareness

Participants will explore social identities of themselves and others (gender, class, age, race, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, and religion). They will also discuss how social identity and perceptions of those identities impact the work environment and interpersonal interactions in the workplace.

Outcomes:

• Understand social identity and group membership associated with each.
• Examine social messaging and how it impacts the work environment.
• Identify how the cycle of socialization impacts individual perceptions and assumptions and how to interrupt the cycle.

Inclusive Conversations

This workshop will examine language that is oppressive and can unintentionally be harmful to individuals from historically marginalized identities. Participants will learn about microaggressions and gain strategies of best practice to engage inclusive conversations.

Outcomes:

• Educate participants on best practices when using inclusive language.
• Build knowledge of microaggressions and their hidden power structure and assumptions.
• Understand the difference between a person’s intent versus the impact it may have on an individual or an organization.
• Create strategies to engage in more inclusive conversations.

Implicit Bias

This workshop will allow participants to understand the concept of implicit bias and examine how implicit bias influences decisions, guidelines, and interactions with students and colleagues. Participants will have the opportunity to examine strategies to interrupt bias particularly in decision making.

Outcomes:

• Explore the concepts around unconscious/implicit bias and its formation.
• Examine one’s own background/experiences and biases and how they influence perceptions and behavior.
• Identify the differences between stereotyping, bias, and prejudice.
• Identify skills needed to interrupt unconscious/implicit bias.

Exploring Systemic Oppression and Critical Race Theory

During this workshop participants will have the opportunity to learn about the historical oppression experienced by different groups and understand the present-day indicators of common isms such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia. Participants will also learn about critical race theory in higher education. Participants will then have an opportunity to think critically about their individual contributions to oppression and gain strategies to combat systemic oppression.

Outcomes:

• Understand and identify different isms that impact groups.
• Analyze how different isms have contributed to oppressive systems and structures in higher education.
• Examine how members of dominant groups benefit from oppressive structures.
• Identify strategies from Critical Race Theory to examine and analyze ACC policies, processes, and practices.

Equity in Action

This workshop will empower participants to use the equity impact assessment to implement change and embed equity-mindedness in their roles. Participants will have the opportunity to practice navigating difficult but productive and effective conversations with their colleagues by identifying equity detours in order to create and maintain welcoming, equitable, and inclusive environments.

Outcomes:

• Understand and demonstrate action techniques that will address and interrupt exclusive and oppressive behaviors.
• Identify strategies to respond to equity detours and dialogue blockers when trying to create inclusive environments.
• Create personal action plans with specific tools individuals will use in their work with others.