The overarching aim of the National Institute for Transformation and Equity is to create and utilize tools to assist postsecondary institutions in their efforts to examine, understand, and improve their campus environments and maximize success among diverse student populations.
The Culturally Engaging Campus Environments (CECE; pronounced see-see) Project emerged from the voices of hundreds of people calling and fighting for change on college campuses. It was fueled by emerging scholars who made the sacrifice of leaving their communities and their families because they believed in contributing to a better world. It is made relevant by student activists who reject an education that does not respond to the needs of their people. It grows stronger because of leaders on campuses all over the country who are committed to a vision to build more inclusive campuses.
The CECE Project was subsumed under the newly established National Institute for Transformation and Equity. We have been hard at work to develop solutions to higher education’s most pressing problems. Over the last decade, our team has conducted nearly 1,000 interviews with educators and students, we have collected and analyzed survey data from thousands more, and we have worked with hundreds of leaders on campuses across the nation to effect positive change. Moving forward, their stories drive our agenda. The national institute expands the focus of our work to engage in new lines of research and generate new resources to effect change and advance equity.
Advance national discourse on inclusion and equity in higher education. We aim to reshape national conversations on equity to focus on the things that matter most. Our national Webcast On Change and Equity (WOCE) series brings together experts and activists from around the nation to discuss the most pressing inclusion and equity issues in higher education. Designed to increase awareness and foster ongoing national dialogue, these webcasts will also aim to offer ideas to advance inclusion and equity agendas in higher education.
Generate more knowledge about campus activism. We recognize the critical role that activism plays in advancing justice on college campuses and in society. Such activism has often led to important transformation in higher education, such as the emergence of ethnic studies and other culturally relevant programs and services. The significance of activism will not fade, and there is a need to document and better understand how educators and activists can work together to strategically effect change in the current political context and social climate. To this end, we are partnering with organizations, such as the National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good and the National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan, to execute projects that advance knowledge about activism and leadership that is dedicated to social justice.
Expand the scope and reach of our inclusion and equity surveys. We believe in the importance of pursuing a vision and focusing on solutions. In this spirit, our campus environment surveys go beyond generating data about problems and shift the focus to what campuses must do to cultivate more inclusive and equitable institutions. In 2016, we launched two national surveys that measure the elements of optimal college environments that allow diverse undergraduate and graduate populations to thrive. Several campuses across the nation have begun to institutionalize these surveys. Over the next two years, we will also launch faculty, staff, and alumni surveys to increase the scope of our work. And, we will work tirelessly to increase the reach of these surveys, aiming to partner with over 100 campuses by the year 2020.
Better document how campuses effect change to advance equity. We will continue documenting the many ways institutions of higher education are advancing justice. We are already conducting ongoing studies of how campuses are advancing equity efforts, how institutions are developing programs that allow diverse populations to thrive, and how college faculty are transforming their courses to be more culturally relevant.
Enhance the types of support we offer institutions seeking transformation. To support the work already happening in colleges and universities, we will launch a slate of consulting packages for campuses seeking external experts to help them restructure and increase the effectiveness of their inclusion and equity initiatives. We will also work with partners of the institute to create professional development modules that are focused on issues of justice and can be delivered to educators and activists at institutions that are serious about their efforts to transform and build more equitable campuses.
Cultivate a shared vision of what campuses must put in place to be inclusive and equitable.
Foster environments that engage and reflect the diverse backgrounds and identities of all students.
Utilize culturally relevant and responsive research and assessment practices to inform inclusion and equity efforts.
Engage in holistic long-term efforts to transform campus policies, programs, practices, pedagogy, curricula, and activities.