Tag: office of Diversity & Inclusion

Pronouns Now Available On Your Roster

adminLeave a comment

Learning students’ preferred pronoun (or perhaps more accurately their “correct” pronoun), such as she/he or him/her, can be just as important as learning their name. It is part of their identity and you can now see it on your class roster. This prevents you from having to request pronouns publicly while taking attendance, which can be embarrassing, stressful, or confusing to some students. Knowing pronouns even before a semester begins can help you learn a little more about your students thereby creating a safer and more inclusive atmosphere.

Here’s how it works: Students list their pronoun in their Student Center. This allows faculty to see it on their class rosters (see screenshot below). Only students can select their pronouns, and they can change it any time they want in their Student Center.

If you have questions about this new feature, contact the Office of Diversity & Inclusion or the Office of the Registrar.

Equality, Equity, or Both?

adminLeave a comment

Have you seen these images floating around educational social media that offer a visual comparison of equality and equity?

The first image shows how some people need more or different resources to reach a goal. The second image sends the same message but acknowledges that some people start out standing on lower ground. If being able to see the baseball game is a metaphor for graduating from college, the fence represents the myriad of challenges that students must navigate along the way. The different ground heights in the second image are similar to the range of advantage or oppression students experience in their lives before arriving at Chico State. Equality (i.e. accessibility) is offering equal access to the educational experience. Equity goes a step further and offers all students, including those with persistent disadvantage, the opportunity to be successful in college and meet course learning outcomes.

Many courses on our campus are both accessible and equitable. Some may be accessible but not equitable. Some may be neither. Chico State has multiple programs and departments to help make the Chico State experience both accessible and equitable such as the Office of Accessible Technology & Services, the Accessibility Resource Center, the Educational Opportunity Program, and the Office of Diversity & Inclusion. Faculty have perhaps the greatest potential to impact students and can strive towards both accessibility and equity in the classroom. Some pedagogical techniques, including “differentiated instruction”, can maximize students’ chances for success. Here are a few examples…

  • Adjust pacing, resources, and methods of engagement for individual learners
  • Empower students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically
  • Include readings from diverse authors
  • Use varied socio-cultural context in test questions and assignments
  • Encourage multiple perspectives in class rather than consensus
  • Include partner and small-group work to engage multiple learning preferences
  • Offer a variety of ways for students to earn points and participate in class

Might there be one pedagogical change could you implement this semester to help students see over the proverbial fence in your course?

Make Office Hours An Accessible Resource

adminLeave a comment

“Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement.” This is first of Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education at Chico State. One relatively untapped resource to increase student involvement outside of class is office hours.

In a low-stakes office meeting with you, students can learn about resources they need and ask questions in a safe environment without their peers present. Investing time with students can actually be a long-term time-saver if you can address problems before they get worse or help with initial drafts of papers before they’re submitted. So, why are office hours seldom utilized by students? Maybe they’re nervous. Maybe they don’t feel their reason for visiting is worth your time. Maybe they don’t want to appear to need extra help. Whatever the reason, helping students access your office hours is a great way to boost student engagement. Here are a few ways to help students access this valuable resource.

  • Prop your door open during scheduled office hours and warmly greet them. Display your Safe Zone Ally placard on your door if you earned one from the Office of Diversity & Inclusion. If students apologize for bothering you, remind them that office hours are devoted to them and you’re glad they stopped by.
  • Stagger office hour days and times to enable students with varied schedules to access you.
  • Post office hours on your syllabus, on Blackboard, on your office door, and remind students about the benefits of office hours at key points in the course when you know students will need them most.
  • Consider making an office hour visit an assignment with points attached to it. If necessary, you can give students a specific purpose for visiting (e.g. bring your most recent assignment and the single biggest question you have about the topics covered so far).
  • Consider occasionally holding office hours off-campus at a coffee shop, the library, or a park as long as the location is accessible to all your students. If you regularly hold some of your office hours outdoors, you could have a “walking meeting” which might be less intimidating to some students.
  • Offer some office hours online. Zoom is a great platform for this and you have a free account through Chico State. Contact TLP if you need assistance.
  • Consider offering some group office hours to be held in an empty classroom. Perhaps these could be theme-based office hours (e.g. test prep, participating in research, finding internships, applying to graduate school)

Faculty are partners with students in the learning process. The more resources students can access, the more successful the partnership.