Equity at Cuyamaca College

Staff development is essential to enable faculty and staff to generate and implement individual, departmental, and divisional equity efforts. A cohesive and thematic training program will be made available via collaborative efforts from the Professional Development Coordinator and PD Committee, Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Success and Equity, and Student Affairs/Engagement.

To support our framework, trainings will address issues such as:

• Equity Mindedness

• Race Consciousness

• Gender and Sexuality Consciousness

• Historically Underrepresented Groups

• Social Justice

• Unlearning Prejudice

• Learning Styles

• Collaborative Learning Techniques

• Cross-Cultural Dialogues

• Culturally-Responsive Curriculum and Pedagogy (Discipline-Specific)

• Growth Mindedness

Curriculum and Pedagogy:

In order to foster a sense of belonging and inclusivity for our diverse student population, our framework encourages the following activities in relation to curriculum and pedagogy:

• Aid departments in self-assessment processes examining existing curricula to ensure they are culturally responsive.

• Aid departments in self-assessment processes examining curricula and current teaching practices to determine if they adequately address the variety of learning styles and needs of all students, especially those from historically underrepresented groups.

• Aid departments in self-assessment processes identifying ways to modify curriculum and/or pedagogical practices to better serve disproportionately impacted students and providing professional development activities for those who are interested.

• The Student Success and Equity Faculty Coordinator and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Success and Equity will serve as resources for faculty interested in making curricular or pedagogical changes in their departments.

Student Support:

Working with instructional departments and student services, aid in the following:

• Define core indicators of student success

• Provide guidance on how equity is assessed and addressed in measures of student success

• Facilitate discussion of disaggregated student success data

• Identify resources needed to close equity gaps

Working with instructional departments and student services, aid in a self-assessment process to:

• Determine the level of cross-cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills of staff members within each department and what training is needed

• Identify the service delivery strategies adapted to accommodate different ethnic, cultural, learning and behavioral styles

• Determine how well service delivery strategies accommodate different ethnic, cultural, learning and behavioral styles and to what extent these strategies are integrated into operations and services

• Determine the culturally-responsive atmosphere of facilities and the extent to which they are welcoming and inviting to students across lines of language, culture and physical ability

• Determine faculty and staff accessibility to students

• Identify major barriers to achieving student equity goals and list greatest needs in achieving those goals in terms of training and resources

Student validation and engagement integrates culturally appropriate theoretical and practical foundations to effectively address the needs of our diverse student population. These curricular and co-curricular opportunities are designed to validate and engage students and create a meaningful connection and sense of campus community. It is vital that students see themselves and their communities represented in course offerings and content and on campus in a variety of ways. Aid departments in developing a culture and learning environment that supports student success through validation and engagement via:

• Advancing culturally relevant curricular and co-curricular opportunities for students and facilitate connections with students, staff, and faculty

• Strengthening student support service and campus activities that validate students’ social and cultural experiences

• Providing robust professional development opportunities focused on culturally competent curriculum and cultural awareness

• Promoting and fostering a campus culture of student validation and engagement

Aid the department(s) in the following:

• Identify existing courses and programs that have diminished or eliminated equity gaps

• Identify other discipline-specific courses and programs offered locally, statewide or nationally that address equity issues (e.g., Puente, MESA, UMOJA, FYE)

• Define the core components (high-impact practices) of successful programs which increase academic success and student equity for those groups of students who have historically been poorly served by the institution. Examples of core components may include collaborative learning models, interdisciplinary course linkages, culturally-responsive perspectives, etc.

Determine the variety of ways that these core components can be utilized in departments, identify which courses and programs incorporate these core components, and what the desired outcome(s) will be.

College equity efforts will be implemented and assessed at various levels, including institutional, program, and practitioner level. At the institutional level, equity efforts will be assessed by disaggregated key performance indicator data, with the Student Success and Equity Committee serving as the primary group facilitating this analysis and making broad recommendations to the College on ways in which equity gaps may be eliminated at the institutional level. At the program or service area level, through the College’s established program review process, each department will analyze their equity data, identify equity gaps, set goals and describe action steps to eliminate equity gaps, and re-assess their equity data after implementing those action steps. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Success and Equity will support and offer professional development for programs and service areas in analyzing, interpreting, and using equity data for program and service area improvement and equitable student achievement. At the practitioner level, individual practitioners will have the opportunity, on a voluntary basis, to examine their own course outcomes through an equity lens. Department chairs, coordinators, and other campus leaders may support this work through coordinated efforts and with data collected in collaboration with the Institutional Effectiveness, Success, and Equity Office. It should be noted that at each of the above levels, equity assessment may include quantitative and/or qualitative data. This evaluation will provide invaluable data in the ongoing process of assessing and increasing our successes in achieving student equity and understanding the institutional barriers to the success of specific student populations.