Concurrent Session II
Facing Unconscious Bias in the Classroom: What We Don’t Know About Ourselves Can Hurt Our Students
Room 201
Courtnea Rainey, Durham Technical Community College
Implicit bias (unconscious biases in favor of or against certain groups) in the classroom can create significant barriers to student success. As faculty and staff, we strive to make our classrooms a place where all students feel welcome and valued. Unfortunately, even those who intentionally support diversity and inclusiveness can harbor implicit bias against the very group(s) they seek to support. This workshop will engage participants in an evidence-based discussion of the costs of implicit bias and will present the free, online Implicit Association Test as a tool to privately assess your own potential bias. By the end of the session, participants will be able to devise strategies to measure and counteract their own implicit bias in the classroom.
A Few of Their Favorite Things: Engaging Students in ACA 122
Room 111
Amy Gustavson, Central Carolina Community College
Students identified their favorite learning activities at the end of two ACA 122 sections at Central Carolina Community College in 2019. Their favorite activities included a “snowball fight” to combat and address exam anxiety, a visit from a financial literacy expert, and diversity speed dating. Attendees of the session will actively participate in CCCC students’ favorite activities, learn how to prepare these activities at their home institution, and receive materials to quickly implement the activities. In the last portion of the session, attendees will share their favorite ACA activities and brainstorm solutions to any challenging lessons.
So You Think You Know What You Want to Do: Guiding Students through Career Exploration
Room 112
Kerry F. Cantwell and Shana Curl, Durham Technical Community College
We’ve all met the student who came in to the college in one program and switched to another one after doing more research. Durham Tech’s venture into guided pathways provides new opportunities for students to explore credit and non-credit options for future careers. Why should students make their career decisions early in their college experience? How can we ensure that this soul-searching is of significant quality to keep students from wasting time and money in a program from which they won’t graduate? How do we connect them to quality resources? How do we get them to ask the hard questions?
The State of Transfer in North Carolina: Updates and an Open Forum with the Transfer Advisory Committee
Room 103
Tracy Mancini, Carteret Community College
Denettia Shaw, North Carolina Central University, and
Laura Bilbro-Berry, Transfer Partnerships at The UNC System
With a statewide attainment goal of two million 25- to 44-year-olds with a high-quality credential or college degree by 2030, transfer from community colleges to senior institutions is more relevant than ever. The Transfer Advisory Committee (TAC), the eight-member committee that interprets and enforces the 2014 Comprehensive Articulation Agreement, will share highlights from its 2019 Report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee and site visits to UNC partner institutions as well as resources available for advising transfer students. TAC members will respond to questions about UGETC courses, Baccalaureate Degree Plans, ACA 122, and all things related to the CAA.