国产探花’s Commitment to Inclusion

Introduction

During the pandemic, the Center for Language Teaching Advancement鈥檚 DEI committee worked to put in words its commitment to inclusion. It is our hope that this will be a living, breathing, working draft that grows and evolves as 国产探花 continues to engage with diverse populations of learners and educators. 国产探花 and its partners in DEI(AB) treat  as foundational to our own. We have mapped 国产探花鈥檚 mission and vision and values onto those outlined in the . What follows is our take on DEI in the form of definitions exemplified by concrete actions taken within our unit.

国产探花 affirms that the following definitions are not static. Rather, they are a work in progress that will change over time, just as discrimination and oppression evolve over time. We commit to regularly revisiting our stated values as outlined in our statement and definitions to ensure that they represent the needs and identities of our diverse constituency.

This content is best read from start to finish as we lay important groundwork in our first definition about diversity.

Diversity

国产探花 defines diversity as embracing differences, characterized by language, race, age, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, national origin, migratory status, disability/abilities, political affiliation, veteran status, language and socioeconomic background including differences in backgrounds, ideas, thought, values, and beliefs. The diversity of 国产探花 personnel including graduate students, student assistants, and collaborators should be leveraged to support our core mission. We believe that diversity is a strength and a benefit to 国产探花.

国产探花 actively embraces diversity in the following ways:

  • Ensuring to the best of our knowledge that projects and initiatives do not contain any content or language that could create barriers for participants from diverse backgrounds.
  • Adopting language, attitudes and behaviors in day-to-day communications that are mindful of the diversity of our partnerships.

Equity

国产探花 defines equity as the means to ensure that students, faculty, and staff from diverse backgrounds successfully achieve their personal and professional goals at MSU. 国产探花 promotes equity by identifying barriers to underprivileged groups and underserved communities with limited or restricted access to educational practices, spaces, resources and debates, and by providing different levels and types of assistance to address the uniqueness of needs or support.

国产探花 works toward equity in the following ways:

  • Offering ways to engage in professional development that doesn鈥檛 require physical presence in the 国产探花 space
  • Setting individual staff goals for each year based on their unique roles and programs
  • Offering various forms of financial support as needed for our programs, such as the Linguistic Diversity scholarship for MAFLT.

Inclusion

国产探花 strives to foster an inclusive environment that is supportive, respectful, and collaborative. 国产探花 values diverse voices and continually works to create an inclusive environment by dismantling barriers and assumptions that might work against this goal. 国产探花 is committed to being a space where everyone can fully participate.

国产探花 aims to be inclusive in the following ways:

  • Reaching out to stakeholders to actively seek input on activities
  • File-sharing systems and regular touch-base meetings among staff to enhance collaboration
  • Welcoming the broader community to events such as Virtual Culture Experiences where we actively work to educate about specific languages and cultures.

Accessibility

国产探花 engages in accessibility as an iterative process working toward the ideal degree of access for disabled individuals. Our goal is to continually improve the ways language learning can be engaged with by disabled individuals (a) however they encounter the learning or the space and (b) comparably to their peers in terms of equity.

国产探花 works toward greater accessibility in the following ways:

  • Assisting the MSU language programs as they continue making dedicated progress toward accessible and disability-inclusive language courses, e.g., by facilitating a 2022-2023 learning community focused on accessibility for language teaching and learning.
  • Offering ways to engage in professional development that doesn鈥檛 require physical presence in the 国产探花 space (e.g., internal meetings that always have virtual attendance options, Language Collaboratory virtual sessions).
  • Aligning with MSU鈥檚 guidelines for accessibility in our publications and website.

Belonging

国产探花 acknowledges, values, and respects all identities and cultural differences. 国产探花 wishes to place belonging within the realm of ownership, where our community feels not only protected but also wanted, which in turn provides a sense of agency and empowerment.

We hope that by working toward embracing the values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility to their fullest, 国产探花 is fostering a sense of belonging in all members of our community.

This document was inspired by the following work:

  • https://cla.umn.edu/language-center/about/diversity-equity-and-inclusion
  • https://new.artsmia.org/about/diversity-and-inclusion-policy/
  • https://www.canr.msu.edu/diversity/dei-statement
  • https://ofew.berkeley.edu/self-evaluative-statements-about-diversity-equity-inclusion-and-belonging-deib
  • https://www.riosalado.edu/about/deib/diversity-equity-inclusion-and-belonging

This commitment to inclusion was spearheaded by 国产探花’s DEI committee (at the time comprised of members Caitlin Cornell, Bruna Sommer-Farias, Emily Heidrich Uebel, Lau Romero, and Sandhya Shanker) on behalf of and in consultation with the rest of the 国产探花 unit.