The Division of Student Affairs deeply values diversity and fostering the multicultural competency of our staff and the students with whom we work. We strive to live these values through our conduct, our words, and our expectations of each other. This commitment is necessary to create a safe, healthy, and productive community for all members to thrive.

For over 15 years, the Division has methodically and intentionally worked to increase the racial, gender, and sexual orientation diversity of the Student Affairs Leadership Team and of our 200 professional staff members. Our efforts to pursue our goals are vast and evolving. Below are a few of the systemic changes that have supported our organizational evolution.

  • The inclusion of diversity and multicultural competency education in every professional staff member’s position description to support continued learning and growth;
  • The annual division diversity series focusing on power, privilege and oppression and how that impacts various identities;
  • The establishment of a library to provide staff access to written, audio and visual materials to supplement their learning;
  • The development and implementation of an annual staff census to better understand the demographic make-up of our community;
  • The creation of an assessment implemented in 2018 to assess the divisional climate every three years (along with utilizing the University’s climate survey) to recognize and meet the changing needs of staff and students;
  • The incentive of providing financial support for meaningful engagement and learning opportunities (e.g., affinity spaces, restorative practices, divisional engagement); and

Since the adoption of the University’s Inclusive Excellence Framework in Spring 2016, the Division has implemented the tenets of the framework into our previous work to enhance our programs, practices and partnerships. To see our updated Inclusive Excellence goals, please click below.  

View the Summer 2019 Division of Student Affairs Inclusive Excellence Framework

Celebrating Our Accomplishments

Our division’s engagement with becoming a more diverse, inclusive, and multiculturally competent division has been sustained for more than a decade. Recently we were nationally recognized for our efforts.

  • Since 2014, annually, we were named in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine as “One of the Most Promising Places to Work in Student Affairs”.
  • In 2013, ACPA College Student Educators International awarded our division’s diversity professional development series the Voice for Inclusion Medallion for Exemplary Program.

 

Our Commitment to Professional Staff Development

Diversity and multicultural competency professional development are critical components to our division’s organizational culture. For staff in our division, diversity training and professional development can occur at the divisional level (e.g., Exploring the NASPA/ACPA Competencies with a particular focus on the Social Justice and Inclusion competency), the departmental level (e.g., staff meetings, retreats, programs), and the individual level (e.g., attending events and programs, presenting at conferences). 

Throughout the years, many of our staff have attended, facilitated, or presented diversity-related programs at the following local and national conferences and institutes:

 

Our Commitment to Student Learning

We remain committed to advancing our diversity efforts within the larger University but especially in the departments that influence campus programs and student experiences. Below are just a few examples of the ways in which we support student learning related to diversity and multicultural competency.

Our Partners

 

Resources