How can we all better serve our diverse student body? UNLV’s Minority-Serving Institution Task Force will help you answer that question through the Equity Institute Online program.
Created by the office of Online Education in partnership with the Faculty Center, the course helps faculty and staff advance their thinking around core issues of diversity, equity and inclusion; understand the extent of diversity with UNLV’s student body; and find ways to address unintended biases or practices that could hamper student achievement.
Participants spend two to four hours a week working through modules over four weeks and will receive a $500 stipend for completing the course.
The next course will be offered asynchronously on WebCampus from Jan. 31 to Feb. 25. It is open to faculty, instructors, and others who work in student-facing areas, such as advising, libraries, and student affairs.
Registration is open through Dec. 17. For more information, contact Faculty Center Director Melissa Bowles-Terry.
Three past Equity Institute participants share their experiences throughout the program and how they plan to implement what they learned.
Hanna Andrews
Assistant Professor-in-Residence
Academic Success Center
What throughout the course has surprised (or challenged) you?
It's always uncomfortable to confront one's own areas for development, especially as they may pertain to potential implicit biases, but I think this is a necessary discomfort — and a responsibility — when it comes to serving all of our students! I was challenged to think more deeply about land acknowledgement and land use, inclusion and belonging, intentional language, and to breathe new life into boilerplate syllabus statements and assignment guidelines to foreground an ongoing commitment to an equitable classroom.
Why would you recommend this to your colleagues?
The lessons and materials in the course were directly applicable to course planning and design, both in-person and online teaching, and can help you create an environment where our UNLV students can not just learn, but thrive.
Eli Williams
Peer Mentoring Coordinator
Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
How has the course changed your learning habits, teaching, or work style?
Engaging with this course helped me better empathize with and understand the experiences some of our students are having with online learning: both because the coursework prioritizes learning about digital equity, and because it gave me firsthand experience as an online learner.
Why would you recommend this to your colleagues?
I think it's wonderful that we so often espouse equity and inclusion as core values of our departments and our programs. But beyond merely expressing those values, I believe putting them into practice means recognizing the limits of our knowledge and experience, committing ourselves to a growth mindset, and seeking opportunities to keep learning. I would recommend this course because it encourages participants to engage in a few meaningful hours of reflection each week about topics that critically impact student experiences and success. And it takes you on a self-guided journey of channeling that reflection into meaningful action.
Matthew Pusko
Assistant Professor in Residence
College of Engineering
How has the course changed your teaching and learning habits?
My syllabi will now forever contain a very inclusive diversity statement to help set the tone for a positive learning environment. I further realize that all students are not created equal and have very diverse and non-equitable backgrounds, some very challenging, which define who they are today. This requires a level of empathy on behalf of the instructor and requires the tailoring of courses to fit the needs of the individual student and the class as a whole. I have further adopted a "growth mindset." This form of mindset generally represents the way I normally think about challenges and failures but it is something I will begin teaching my students about. Failure is ok as long as you persevere.
What throughout the course has surprised (or challenged) you?
I was surprised how easy it is to use implicit biases unintentionally. This section of the course really helped me track down any implicit biases within myself to help me be a more equitable teacher and mentor.
