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IUPUI Equity Champions Program

IUPUI Equity Champions Program

Connecting with Colleagues, Engaging in Personal and Professional Growth

The last three years have been very challenging times for faculty and staff on our campus. The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted learning environments, research agendas, and personal and professional lives. Calls for action around racial and social justice in our society, and especially in higher education, have forced a critical examination of how the work, policies, and processes of our institution create unequal and unjust outcomes for our students and colleagues and for many in our society.

Are you interested in connecting with colleagues, to discover, learn, share, and support one-another in a professional learning community during the semester? Are you curious if changing a few small things in your course could improve student success, especially for students from historically underserved groups? Would it be empowering to have access to student feedback on the small changes you were making?

IUPUI Equity Champions Program

The IUPUI Equity Champions Program is built upon a foundational element: we cannot expect faculty and staff educators to serve our students, and create inclusive and equitable environments, until we create welcoming, comfortable, safe, supportive and organic spaces for learning, sharing, and personal and professional growth for ourselves as educators.

The IUPUI Equity Champions Program, led by a team of faculty, the Institute for Engaged Learning, and the Center for Teaching and Learning provides faculty and staff educators with small, easy adaptable and modifiable strategies and resources that support students and their success throughout a semester. Our model relies on Communities of Transformation as a cornerstone of this work, bringing faculty and staff educators together on a regular basis to discover, learn, share, and support one-another.

Participants meet on Zoom weekly for 1-hour in a Community of Transformation, exploring evidence-based strategies that enhance equity and inclusion, sharing successes and challenges of implementation, and reflecting on feedback provided by students via a validated survey instrument to discuss and plan next steps. The program strives to:

Provide a safe and supportive space for faculty and staff educators to discover, learn, share, and support one-another in these uncertain times.
Discuss small, simple strategies for creating more inclusive and equitable experiences for students enrolled in their courses (in-person, online, and hybrid).
Encourage faculty and staff educators to share successes and challenges, reflect on personal and professional growth, and collectively support one another.
Stimulate a professional development framework that is (1) centered on 6 evidence-based constructs that can enhance one’s own personal and professional growth as an educator, (2) relies on student input and feedback, gathered throughout the semester, to make small adjustments and enhancements to the overall teaching and learning experience.
Empower faculty and staff educators to develop, enhance, and document their work and efforts to create more equitable and inclusive experiences teaching and learning environments.

The IUPUI Equity Champions Program is based on a model developed by colleagues at the University of Toledo. The Program draws upon resources, strategies, and practices developed by the Student Experience Project, a collaborative of university leaders, faculty, researchers and national education organizations committed to innovative, research-based practices that build equitable learning environments and fostering a sense of belonging on campus.

The Equity Champions Program focuses on six research-based constructs that have been shown to enhance inclusive and equitable experiences for all students:

Belonging Certainty

Confidence that one belongs in the learning environment.

Institutional Growth Mindset

Perception that instructor and institution believes students' abilities are malleable and can be improved with effort, feedback, and use of effective learning strategies.

Trust & Fairness

Concerns about whether one will be treated fairly in interactions, grading, and other forms of evaluation.

Identity Safety

Students from diverse identities and backgrounds feel welcome, valued, respected and recognized as having the potential to succeed.

Self-Efficacy

Confidence in one's abilities to do well in the domains required by the learning environment.

Social Connectedness

Feelings of connectedness to others (instructor, peers, TA's) in the learning environment.

Prior research shows that a sense of belonging is essential in the student experience, and students from historically underserved groups are more likely to experience stereotypes related to their identity, making them more likely to experience belonging concerns and weaker learning outcomes. As educators, we have the power to change learning environments, and make these spaces more welcoming and inclusive for our students and rewarding for ourselves.

Program participants will explore these six key constructs in their weekly Community of Transformation meetings during the spring semester, implement small, simple strategies to create a more welcoming and inclusive learning environment for their students, get regular feedback from students throughout the semester, reflect on their own learning and next steps, and receive support and encouragement from their colleagues.

IUPUI Equity Champions Program Participants will receive a small stipend ($300) for their engagement in this program. Program expectations include:

Submission of an application (available here). This opportunity is open to all full-time and part-time faculty who teach introductory courses at IUPUI. Introductory courses include courses within the IUPUI General Education Core and Gateway Courses (e.g. an introductory course that enroll at least 100 first-year students each year). Applicants must identify at least one general education or gateway course where they can implement ideas and constructs presented in the Communities of Transformation (more below).
Orientation Session: Attend a 2-hour orientation session (tentatively scheduled for Thursday, January 5 from 10:00am to Noon on Zoom).
Community of Transformation Weekly Meetings: Engage as a full member of one’s Community of Transformation by participating in weekly meetings on Zoom, sharing ideas and supporting the group. Each Community of Transformation will be capped at 10 participants, and will also have 2 co-facilitators. Spring 2023 sessions will meet weekly on Zoom on the following days/times of the week (excluding spring break and university holidays)
- Community # 1: Mondays from 3:00-4:00pm
- Community # 2: Tuesdays from 2:00-3:00pm
- Community # 3: Wednesdays from 9:00-10:00am
Implement Evidence-based Change Ideas: Learn about research and evidence-based change ideas that can be implemented in one’s course. These change ideas are designed to promote a sense of belonging and enhance support for student learning. Equity Champions will have access to a variety of evidence-based practical resources developed by the Student Experience Project. Some resources will be presented in weekly Community of Transformation meetings; others will be provided as an asynchronous resource for exploration.
Use of the Ascend Survey Tool. Ascend is a brief, validated survey that assesses students’ experiences in your course on key constructs such as social belonging, identity safety, and institutional growth mindset. Equity Champions use this survey at several points in the semester to gather real-time, actionable data that can improve student outcomes.
Reflection: Submission of a 1-page Final Reflection at the conclusion of the program

Each Community of Transformation meets on Zoom for one-hour each week and is limited to a maximum of 12 participants, including two co-facilitators. Each session will:

Utilize a semi-structured format
Provide some time informally to chat and connect
Revisit what happened last week. (e.g. Did participants try to implement something new? If so, what and how? How did it go? Share successes and challenges.
Sharing of a new resource that connects to one of the six key constructs
Initial conversation about new strategy, ideas for what might be implemented and how.
Provide participants with meaningful reflection time

Important Dates

Orientation Session (on Zoom)

Thursday, January 5 from 10:00am to 12:00pm

Weekly meetings (on Zoom)

Meet weekly with your Community of Transformation between January 9 and April 21. Three day/time options will be offered during the spring semester of 2023. Option is selected during registration process and confirmed when officially admitted into program.

Community # 1: Tuesdays from 2:00-3:00pm
Community # 2: Wednesdays from 9:00-10:00am
Note: there will be no community meetings the week of the IUPUI Spring Break (March 13-17) or during University Holidays

Final Discussion (on Zoom)

Monday, May 15 from 10:00am to noon; submit final reflection

Meet Your Co-Facilitators of IUPUI Equity Champions Program

The IUPUI Equity Champions Program is a collaboration between the Institute for Engaged Learning (and specifically, the Gateway to Graduation Program) and the Center for Teaching and Learning. A team of faculty and IEL and CTL staff worked with a team of external consultants who developed the Equity Champions model at the University of Toledo. The IUPUI team worked with these external consultants to adapt the University of Toledo model for the IUPUI context. Each Community of Transformation at IUPUI will be co-facilitated by members of the IUPUI team who helped develop the model for our campus, and includes: