Facing the Divides:
Diversity, Learning, and Pathways to Inclusive Excellence

Pre-Conference Workshops

Separate registration and fee required ($100 members, $125 non-members); seating will be limited, so register early

Thursday, October 21, 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Workshop 1: Building Institutional Capacity to Make Excellence Inclusive
How are campuses modeling the values of diversity and inclusion in decision-making and administrative operations? How can campuses better facilitate the infusion of diversity-related content and more inclusive pedagogies and learning materials into the curriculum and co-curriculum? Participants in this workshop will learn effective strategies for fostering institutional capacity to make inclusion and engagement an integral component of educational excellence. They will also have the opportunity to discuss and develop steps for advancing these changes on their own campus.
Gail G. Evans, Dean for Undergraduate Studies—San Francisco State University and Roland B. Smith, Jr., Associate Provost, Office of Diversity and Inclusion—Rice University

Workshop 2: Closing the Achievement and College Readiness Gap
What practices, strategies, and cultural shifts are needed most at educational institutions to ensure that students reach and maintain academic success? What can school systems, colleges, and universities do to improve the preparation of and transition to college for lower-income students and underrepresented students? What are communities doing to address the achievement gap? How can communities and universities work together to increase equality and inclusiveness regarding access to and success in higher education? Participants in this workshop will get the facts and explore promising practices for addressing this growing problem.
Georgia Brown, Student Associate, Center for Public Deliberation, Windy Lawrence, Director, Center for Public Deliberation, and Gene Preuss, Assistant Professor of History and Co-chair, Achieving the Dream Committee—all of the University of Houston-Downtown

Workshop 3: Assessing Diversity in Context
Many institutions approach assessment as a means for collecting information to present to accreditors, instead of as a process that is integral to the quality of teaching and learning. In the case of diversity, this often translates into providing recruitment and retention numbers without understanding the quality of learning about and through diversity for all students, including those historically underserved by the academy. This workshop will address how assessment can be realigned so that it is valued by faculty as a rich source of information that enhances teaching and advances student achievement. How does diversity fit in with helping students to develop critical discourse skills? How can adding diversity as a course outcome enrich the content of what is taught? How can faculty assess if students are indeed gaining diversity-related knowledge and the skills to use it effectively? Participants will discuss and develop diversity outcomes in the context of their own disciplines and fields of interest, such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; humanities and fine arts; business; communication, and health care.
Catherine Wehlburg, Assistant Provost for Institutional Effectiveness—Texas Christian University

Workshop 4: Diversity in the Classroom: Examining the Intersections of Faculty Development, Student Learning, and Inclusive Pedagogy
University missions often reflect the compelling need to help students engage across difference. How prepared are faculty to model democratic practices, inside and outside of the classroom? How equipped are faculty to handle microaggressions—situations of conflict, power, and confrontation that arise around issues of difference and intolerance? In this workshop, participants will learn about research-based theories, principles, and practices for faculty development that enhance inclusive teaching effectiveness. Specifically, they will learn to transform unscripted challenges of diversity into teachable moments and explore the impact of multiple and intersecting identities on many aspects of the classroom, including learning outcomes.
Kathleen Wong (Lau), Assistant Professor, School of Communication— Western Michigan University; and Jesús Treviño, Associate Provost for Multicultural Excellence—University of Denver

Workshop 5: U.S. Diversity and Global Learning: Examining the Intersections for Teaching and Learning
This workshop will help participants re-frame the either/or limitations that too often pit U.S. diversity learning efforts against global learning efforts. Participants will examine the sources of these tensions, the differing historical contexts that spawned the two movements, and the institutional habits that can transcend or reinforce mutual suspicions. Participants will then work together to discover shared values among U.S. diversity and global learning outcomes and ways to approach designing programs, curricula, and collaborative structures that advance these values. Outcomes for the workshop include a framework for practitioners to recognize the connections and distinctions of these efforts in order to advance a more inclusive approach to diversity and prepare students for life and work in an interdependent world.
Harvey Charles, Vice Provost for International Affairs—Northern Arizona University; Kevin Hovland, Director for Global Learning and Curricular Change, and Caryn McTighe Musil, Senior Vice President, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Global Initiatives—both of AAC&U