Focus Area 1: Ensure an Equitable and Inclusive Experience for All CCAPS Learners

Current data show that, compared with their centered peers, learners belonging to marginalized groups face additional challenges that interfere with their success in CCAPS. We will work to counter the systemic and behavioral barriers that create inequality for our learners in the following ways.

CCAPS credit programs vary in representational diversity, from the BA in Information Technology Infrastructure, with 76% BIPOC students, to the MPS in Horticulture, with 10% BIPOC students. Demographic data for noncredit programs has not previously been tracked, but anecdotal evidence suggests that representational diversity is also lacking there. This lack of diversity means all of our learners are missing out on valuable perspectives and opportunities to work across differences that will be essential in building skills for professional success. Lack of diversity may also harm marginalized students by making them more vulnerable to issues such as stereotype threat. Finally, a lack of diversity may make marginalized students reluctant to enroll in a program where they are deeply under-represented. Increasing representational diversity across all programs will mitigate these issues.

This goal supports the MPact 2025 System-wide Strategic Plan in Commitment Four, Community and Belonging, Action Point 4.1: Recruit diverse students and retain diverse students, as well as CCAPS Compact Priority 2: Expand recruitment of underrepresented learners in professional development programs and assist them in completing the course(s) and certificate(s) that meet their needs.

Strategies

  • Establish a baseline for diversity of noncredit programs by designing a system for gathering noncredit learners’ demographic information.
  • Review admissions procedures and implement industry best practices for equitable admissions review.
  • Review marketing and recruiting strategies and implement tactics to focus on recruiting historically marginalized students.
  • Examine factors that could influence matriculation/registration and retention/continuation of historically marginalized students, including the use of focus groups to examine how barriers to matriculation/registration and retention/continuation could be addressed.
  • Explore ways to bring diversity in dual enrollment (e.g., College in the Schools, Post-Secondary Enrollment Options) courses in line with partner schools' populations by tracking race/ethnicity and following methods outlined in The Dual Enrollment Playbook.
  • Explore ways to improve student linguistic diversity.
  • Explore ways to track alumni career outcomes with a focus on marginalized populations.

Success Metrics

  • Increase percentage of marginalized students applying to and enrolling in credit programs.
  • Increase retention of marginalized students in credit programs year over year.
  • Gather baseline demographic data for noncredit programs and college pathways.
  • Gather baseline demographic data for alumni.

In recent SERU surveys, marginalized CCAPS students report experiencing certain obstacles to success at higher rates than their majority peers. For example, in the SERU and gradSERU, BIPOC CCAPS students experience higher rates of food and housing insecurity and are more concerned about paying for school compared with white CCAPS students. Reducing these disparities will give marginalized students a more even playing field for program success.

This goal supports the MPact 2025 System-wide Strategic Plan in Commitment One, Student Success, Action Point 1.1: Improve retention and graduation rates while closing gaps; Commitment Four, Community and Belonging, Action Point 4.1: Reduce disparities among underrepresented groups, and Action Point 4.2: Develop education and training to increase intercultural competency and interactional diversity; and Commitment Five, Fiscal Stewardship, Action Point 5.1: Increase aid targeted to students with demonstrated need. It also supports CCAPS Compact Priority 1: Continue to build a culture of inclusivity in the college.

Strategies

  • Identify 2–3 key obstacles to student success in credit programs by gathering information about current and discontinued students.
  • Reduce or eliminate key obstacles to program success by promoting university resources (e.g., additional scholarships, access to existing campus resources).
  • Decrease the gap in sense of belonging between marginalized students and other students by increasing opportunities for students, especially marginalized students, to connect with one another.
  • Improve data collection and evaluation to measure success rates of BIPOC and white students and to help identify areas to focus on to reduce gaps in access and success for BIPOC students in dual enrollment programs and noncredit programs.
  • Make events, courses, and all College materials more universally accessible.

Metrics

  • Decrease the gap in sense of belonging between marginalized students and other students, as measured by SERU.
  • Assess differences in program completion rates between BIPOC and white students in credit programs.
  • Improve data collection and evaluation to measure success rates of BIPOC and white students and to help identify areas to focus on to reduce gaps in access and success for BIPOC students.
  • Increase scholarship dollars awarded to marginalized students at start of and throughout program.
  • Track number of staff who earn Digital Accessibility badges.

In recent SERU surveys, both grad and undergrad white students in CCAPS tend to report a more optimistic view of diversity compared with BIPOC students in CCAPS and students at other colleges. For example, white undergraduate CCAPS students are more likely than BIPOC undergraduate CCAPS students to report that they are comfortable with the climate of diversity and inclusion at the U, that diversity is valued highly by the campus community, and that the curriculum provides opportunities to learn about a variety of people. This may mean that white CCAPS students lack an understanding of systemic racism and the obstacles faced by BIPOC students. In addition, among CCAPS undergraduate students, only 26% of BIPOC students and 33% of white students reported that they had not heard fellow students express negative or stereotypical views based on race or ethnicity during the current academic year. We aim to reduce the number of students affected by such biases through more thoroughly educating all students about the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

This goal supports the MPact 2025 System-wide Strategic Plan in Commitment Four, Community and Belonging, Action Point 4.2: Develop education and training to increase intercultural competency and interactional diversity. It also supports CCAPS Compact Priority 1: Continue to build a culture of inclusivity in the college.

Strategies

  • Include information about the importance of inclusion and strategies for creating a more equitable environment as a student in orientation programming.
  • Promote existing DEI training opportunities to learners and document participation.
  • Investigate and map current strategies to track student competencies related to DEI that measure student progress and can be used more broadly across the College.

Metrics

  • Improve SERU measures of biased behavior (e.g., reduce percent of students hearing negative or stereotypical views from fellow students).
  • Establish a system for monitoring credit and noncredit courses with DEI content designator.
  • Monitor the number of students participating in DEI training such as OED workshops, Gopher Equity Project, etc.
  • Track College-specific outcomes of the Gopher Equity Project.
  • Track Curriculum and Assessment Specialist’s progress infusing DEI principles and practices across undergraduate curricula.

The 2019 SERU provided evidence that BIPOC students experience bias in the classroom and that they are not satisfied with the climate of diversity and inclusion in CCAPS. Only 19% of BIPOC respondents in CCAPS reported that faculty value diversity a great deal. Almost half of BIPOC respondents reported hearing instructors express negative or stereotypical views about race or ethnicity during the current academic year. Only 51% of BIPOC students reported feeling comfortable with the climate for diversity and inclusion in their classes. Only 36% of BIPOC students reported that the curriculum often or very often provides an adequate opportunity to learn about the social, historical, and intellectual contributions of a variety of people.

In an effort to improve the classroom experience for marginalized students and strengthen evidence that our faculty/instructors value diversity, we plan to empower instructors to lead more equitable classrooms.

This goal supports the MPact 2025 System-wide Strategic Plan in Commitment Four, Community and Belonging, Action Point 4.2: Develop education and training to increase intercultural competency and interactional diversity.

Strategies

  • Empower faculty/instructors to create a more inclusive classroom through:
    • Organizing CCAPS-specific DEI events for faculty/instructors.
    • Promoting existing DEI events (e.g., OED workshops, other University programming) to faculty/instructors.
    • Promoting existing professional development opportunities to all noncredit and college pathways instructors and expanding their access to DEI-specific training.
  • Improve inclusivity and equity in curriculum by piloting a program that invites faculty/instructors of credit-bearing courses to submit syllabi to the DEI Council to earn a DEI content designator (e.g., Diversity Enhanced Curriculum) and by piloting DEI statements on syllabi.
  • Examine noncredit offerings that include DEI content to set baseline expectations.
  • Increase awareness of available resources by creating a resource library.
  • Educate faculty/instructors about existing disparities and how to work against these disparities in their roles by increasing resources and opportunities to gain the understanding needed to serve learners of all backgrounds.

Metrics

  • Increase number of faculty/instructors participating in DEI programming including OED workshops, CCAPS-specific trainings, and CCAPS Faculty Development Day.
  • Monitor participation in non-CCAPS sponsored activities via self-reporting form.
  • Develop method for tracking use of the DEI Resource Database.
  • Pilot a syllabus review process and record baseline data on submitted syllabi.
  • Increase the number of CCAPS credit-bearing and professional development courses with verified DEI focus.
  • Increase positive responses to SERU-related questions related to faculty investment in DEI and diversity demonstrated in curriculum.

CCAPS would benefit from a staff that’s more deeply invested in incorporating equity and inclusion into all that we do. In a 2019 survey, CCAPS staff reported needing additional resources in order to adequately support marginalized students. Less than half of staff respondents reported attending any OED workshops in the past five years. In the 2018 SERU, only 26% of BIPOC students and 41% of white students in CCAPS reported that staff value diversity a great deal. In an effort to improve the experience of current and prospective students, we aim to empower staff to focus on equity in their work.

This goal supports the MPact 2025 System-wide Strategic Plan in Commitment Four, Community and Belonging, Action Point 4.2: Develop education and training to increase intercultural competency and interactional diversity.

Strategies

  • Increase staff participation in DEI activities by:
    • Organizing DEI events.
    • Encouraging supervisors to nominate academic advisors to the Racial Justice Training Program.
    • Creating a self-report form for reporting attendance at community DEI events.
  • Examine student-facing services and communications for inclusive language, etc.
  • Review websites and communications to ensure accessibility and demonstration of College’s commitment to equity.

Metrics

  • Gather baseline data on percent of staff participating in DEI activities.
  • Increase positive responses to SERU-related questions related to staff investment in DEI.
  • Increase percent of staff indicating that they have sufficient resources to serve students of all backgrounds.
  • Gather baseline information on accessibility of existing internal and external materials.

Focus Area 2: Ensure an Equitable and Inclusive Work Environment at CCAPS

CCAPS is committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive environment in which to work, an environment that celebrates differences. Right now, our staff does not reflect the diversity of our student population. In addition, only a small portion of our staff are directly engaged with the College’s DEI initiatives. We intend to make the working environment at CCAPS more equitable and inclusive in the following ways.

Currently, CCAPS staff and faculty/instructors do not reflect student populations. For faculty/instructors and staff who chose to disclose their race and ethnicity, 80% identify as white, 14% identify as BIPOC, while our students are much more diverse. Overly homogenous faculty/instructors and staff means that CCAPS misses out on valuable perspectives and skills. Improving representational diversity will not only benefit the work of our staff and faculty/instructors, but also improve student experience by allowing students to see themselves represented in positions of authority.

This goal supports the MPact 2025 System-wide Strategic Plan in Commitment Four, Community and Belonging, Action Point 4.1: Recruit diverse faculty and staff and retain diverse faculty and staff and CCAPS Compact Priority 3: Increase representational diversity of staff and instructors.

Strategies

  • Hire and retain staff and CCAPS faculty/instructors that reflect student diversity.
  • Attract more diverse applicant pools by assessing and adjusting recruiting practices.
  • Ensure equitable hiring practices by requiring leaders of hiring committees to have taken anti-bias training.
  • Assess pipelines for instructor and program partner diversity (i.e., explore ways to increase access to affordable credentialing pathways for marginalized CIS instructors).
  • Assess retention of staff that contribute to representational diversity by collecting data from staff exit interviews.

Metrics

  • Increase percent of staff reporting on DEI Staff Survey that diversity, equity, and inclusion are valued in the hiring process.
  • Increase total percent of BIPOC staff and faculty/instructors.
  • Increase diversity of applicant and finalist pools.
  • Gather baseline data on factors contributing to staff and faculty/instructor turnover.
  • Gather baseline data on diversity of noncredit instructors.

In a 2019 CCAPS staff survey, 36% of respondents reported that their unit supported diversity, equity, and inclusion “very well” in its activities. An additional 23% of respondents reported their unit was doing “moderately well.” Few staff expressed interest in being part of the work of the Inclusivity Council; 30% of respondents said they’d be interested in working on DEI initiatives in their own unit, and 46% said they’d be interested in attending events. We believe that the work outlined in this plan can only be completed with the cooperation of all CCAPS staff. The following strategies aim to embed DEI work into every role in CCAPS.

This goal supports CCAPS Compact Priority 1: Continue to build a culture of inclusivity in the College.

Strategies

  • Create a staff role to coordinate DEI efforts across the College.
  • Identify how each unit can contribute to creating a more equitable CCAPS by auditing current DEI efforts in each CCAPS unit.
  • Review and revise job descriptions to embed required DEI skills and knowledge.
  • Integrate DEI goals into staff performance reviews.
  • Coach supervisors on developing DEI performance review goals for their teams.

Metrics

  • Increase the percentage of staff directly involved in DEI work (through Council and committee participation, event planning, and other programs).
  • Increase percent of staff job descriptions that incorporate DEI responsibilities.
  • Increase percent of staff who report (via CCAPS DEI Staff Survey):
    • participating in DEI activities and events.
    • having a DEI goal as part of their performance review.
    • making progress towards their DEI goals.
    • that their unit is doing “very well” in its DEI efforts.

Implementation Plan

FY22: Establish council, create strategic plan, gather data, determine metrics, establish baseline, recruit student members, and design processes.

FY23: Implement plan, evaluate the effectiveness of the processes, gauge accuracy of the metrics, create new resources and connect to existing resources, and collect data on additional historically marginalized identities.

FY24: Continue executing the plan, measure progress, adjust process as needed, and create next three-year plan to include other marginalized identities.