Center of Community Engagement and Civic Learning CECiL

The Inclusive Teaching and Curriculum Initiative seeks to foster a more welcoming atmosphere for all students to increase learning

John Hollis — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 15:09:04 +0000

The Inclusive Teaching and Curriculum Initiative seeks to foster a more welcoming atmosphere for all students to increase learning John Hollis Fri, 08/26/2022 - 11:09

The Inclusive Teaching and Curriculum Initiative seeks to foster a more welcoming atmosphere for all students. Photo by Cristian Torres/Strategic Communications

Christopher A. Carr, chief diversity office in ��ӽ紫ý’s College of Engineering and Computing (CEC), sees the new Inclusive Teaching and Curriculum Initiative as a natural response to President Gregory Washington’s call for exemplars in combating systemic racism and the marginalization of underserved groups in academia.

The two-workshop program, which was developed by the college’s Office of Diversity, Outreach, and Inclusive Learning (DOIL), is an acknowledgement that the increase in diverse student populations entering higher education has not been met by a corresponding increase in resources for faculty to teach those visible and often invisible entities, Carr said.

The team piloted a short course for CEC and College of Science faculty, offering them tools and techniques for fostering inclusion and making them aware of university resources available to them.

Three faculty enrolled in a longer five-module course on “in-depth inclusive curriculum practices that are designed around identity, power, positionality and privilege and their system effects in higher education,” Carr said.

The initiative is part of efforts to heed the call of President Washington’s Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force (ARIE), which joined the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning and the Office of Community Engagement and Civic Learning in funding curriculum design, teaching strategies and pedagogical resources supporting anti-racist and inclusive teaching. Supporting the integration of ARIE throughout the Mason curriculum was one of the three areas recommended for funding by the task force’s Curriculum and Pedagogy Committee.

Short-course topics covered introduction to tools/techniques needed to foster inclusion, and introduction to inclusive assessment tools and course resources. Long-course workshop modules included topics surrounding the current state of inclusive pedagogy in engineering education, student-centered course design, and course activities and appropriate space needed for more inclusive classrooms.

Inclusive classrooms are settings in which the instructors/faculty and students work together to create and sustain an environment where all feel safe, supported and encouraged to express their views and concerns.

“We hope that, in these classrooms, content is deliberately viewed from multiple perspectives and the varied experiences of a range of groups,” said Carr, who noted the critical assistance of Christi Wilcox, his diversity associate, in putting things together.

Faculty members who took part in the summer’s long-course workshop were Mihai Boicu, an associate professor and associate director at the Learning Agents Center Information Sciences and Technology School of Computing within the CEC; Eugene Kim, an assistant professor of bioengineering in the CEC; and Katherine (Raven) Russell, an assistant professor of computer science within the College of Engineering and Computing.

“We want to ensure that faculty are able to present content in a style that reduces all students’ experiences of marginalization and, whenever possible, helps students and faculty understand that their individual experience, values and perspectives influence how they construct and evaluate knowledge in any field or discipline,” Carr said.

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President's Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence

Mason welcomes its largest, most diverse freshman class to date at New Student Convocation

Colleen Rich — Fri, 19 Aug 2022 20:30:51 +0000

Mason welcomes its largest, most diverse freshman class to date at New Student Convocation Colleen Rich Fri, 08/19/2022 - 16:30

In This Story

Gregory Washington

President Gregory Washington at the 2022 New Student Convocation at EagleBank Arena. Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

��ӽ紫ý President Gregory Washington welcomed thousands of new students Friday by informing them they had already made two of the most important decisions of their lives—whether and where to go to college.

“I contend to you, these are great choices!” Washington told the newest Patriots at a spirited New Student Convocation at EagleBank Arena. Mason this fall welcomes the largest (about 4,200) and most diverse freshman class in its history.

Washington rattled off several points to support his contention—the opportunity to work alongside world-class faculty at a top research university, diverse student demographics that resemble what the country will soon look like, bountiful internship and job opportunities in the Washington, D.C., region, and a host of others.

“They’re all keys to your success,” Washington said, with special shout-outs to first-generation students and community college transfers. “Just take a key and open a door…. Mason is a place where the only limits are the limits you place on yourself.”

Students learn the Fight Song at New Student Convocation. Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

Provost Mark Ginsberg posed a question to the students, asking, “Do you know what time it is? It’s Mason’s Time,” he said to cheers. “It’s also another time. It’s your time. It’s your time to explore. It’s your time to meet new friends. It’s your time to learn new things. And it’s your time to push yourself to new heights.”

Faculty keynote speaker Karen Akerlof, assistant professor in the College of Science, encouraged the students to engage in “good trouble” by determining what social changes they would like to see on campus, in their hometowns, or even nationally or internationally, and what actions they can take to help achieve them.

To spur opportunities for student impact, Akerlof said the Office of Community Engagement and Civic Learning (CECIL) will host monthly hour-long “community conversation circles” throughout the fall semester.

Mason student body president Sophia Nguyen told students to be open to new experiences. Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

“You don’t have to wait until you come back here for graduation in your robes to start thinking about and acting on the ways in which you want to make an impact on the world,” Akerlof said. “Both in and outside of the classroom, this university is a place where you can explore these questions, work with others, and make your voices heard.”

Doc Nix and the Green Machine surely got the students to make their voices heard in a different context—by teaching them the university fight song and making a date to meet back up at EagleBank Arena on October 14 to kick off basketball season with Mason Madness.

Mason student body president Sophia Nguyen recalled feeling confused and overwhelmed, yet eager, as a first-year Mason student, but said she soon busied herself in various campus activities.

Students show off their new Mason hoodies. Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

“You’ll find that there’s always something every day for everyone here at Mason,” said Nguyen, who held a White House internship this summer. “You just have to be open to finding it.”

Washington emphasized to the incoming students to be mindful of their mental health and to take advantage of the many resources available to help them.

“Remember one thing,” he said. “You are not alone. You are never alone—even if you might feel that way sometimes. This is indeed a family, and you are a part of that family.

“Our faculty, staff, students and alumni—we all take care of each other. And we’re going to take care of you, too.”

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Meet the Class of 2026

Mason takes important step in accreditation process

Colleen Rich — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 16:46:40 +0000

Mason takes important step in accreditation process Colleen Rich Wed, 04/27/2022 - 12:46

In This Story

Gregory Washington

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

��ӽ紫ý passed an important step in the process of reaffirming its accreditation, when the Southern Association of College and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) found the university to be in compliance with its 72 standards of accreditation.

Accreditation reviews occur every 10 years and are an investigation of everything related to the university, including academic programs, student services, and finances.

A finding in which there are no issues of noncompliance is considered highly unusual and will be a positive consideration when the SACSCOC board meets in December to vote on Mason’s accreditation.

“I am proud that this extensive accreditation process, which included input from many stakeholder groups, confirmed ��ӽ紫ý is successfully carrying out its mission of inclusive excellence as Virginia’s largest and most diverse public university,” Mason President Gregory Washington said.

The two-and-a-half-year reaccreditation process has multiple components, starting with a self-evaluation Mason submitted to SACSCOC that included 471 single-spaced pages and more than 2,500 pieces of evidence, said Matt Smith, Mason’s director of accreditation.

A new Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP)—a five-year initiative SACSCOC requires that outlines an institution’s plan to maximize student outcomes—was also submitted. Titled “Transformative Education through Anti-Racist Community Engagement,” it can be read here.

Finally, a nine-person SACSCOC review committee, made up of administrators and staff from peer institutions, was at Mason the week of April 11, visited Mason campuses and interviewed faculty, staff, and students. It also held virtual meetings and interviews with faculty, staff and students from Mason Korea.

Mason Provost Mark Ginsberg said the accreditation process is an important way to affirm the quality of academic programs and operations, and also provides an opportunity to identify pathways for improvement.

“I am very grateful to our entire community—faculty, staff, and students—for their work and participation in the process,” Ginsberg said. “We are also grateful to and respectful of the SACSCOC review teams. Indeed, we are very proud of Mason and very pleased with the favorable perceptions and positive report prepared by the site team.”

“It’s an indicator,” Smith said of the site visit process, “that Mason is on the right track.”

Mason’s internal reaffirmation leadership team included Smith; Gesele Durham, vice provost for the Office of Instructional Effectiveness and Planning; Kim Eby, vice provost, faculty affairs and development; Janette Muir, vice provost, academic initiatives and services; Bethany Usher, associate provost, undergraduate education; Doug McKenna, university registrar; and Justin Sutters, associate professor of art education and the SACSCOC faculty fellow.

Also integral to the process: Kristen Wright, director of Mason’s Office of Community Engagement and Civic Learning, who led the preparation of the QED, and Nancy Dunham, an academic program analyst in Smith’s office.

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Mason’s Quality Enhancement Plan helps launch new office

Colleen Rich — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 17:19:21 +0000

Mason’s Quality Enhancement Plan helps launch new office Colleen Rich Tue, 03/01/2022 - 12:19

��ӽ紫ý has submitted its Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), "Transformative Education through Anti-Racist Community Engagement," to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), as part of its upcoming reaffirmation of accreditation. The plan, which focuses on student learning and student success connected to community engagement, civic learning, and anti-racism, has led to the launch of the Office of Community Engagement and Civic Learning (CECiL).

CECiL reflects the strengths of civic engagement by organizing and engaging academic and co-curricular opportunities across Mason and with the surrounding community. The office will help position students and faculty to respond to current social issues through the development of programs for undergraduates, graduates, faculty and community partners. Other goals include expanding students’ understanding of anti-racism through community and civic engagement and increasing opportunities for students to participate in anti-racist community engaged courses and experiences.

CECiL will provide central coordination of engagement projects and infrastructure support for community work—all of which will align with the efforts of the Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force.

“We are excited to formally launch CECiL and build upon the great work already taking place at Mason and in our communities,” said Kristen Wright, director of civic engagement.

Shauna Rigaud has been named the office’s associate director of student programs. In this role, she will focus on developing and implementing high-impact student community-engaged experiences in collaboration with community partners.

“With a centralized office in community engagement, Mason can make a greater impact across the university and the wider community,” Rigaud said. “We have the opportunity to set the stage and be the model for what sustainable, equitable and reciprocal relationships look like between the community and a university.”

For the next several months, the office will host information sessions for faculty, community partners, and students regarding how to get involved with CECIL. The first faculty information sessions will be held Tuesday, March 8, at 3 p.m. and Monday, March 28, at noon via Zoom.

An event for graduate and professional students, “Community Engagement: The Why and How for Mason Graduate Students,” will be held at noon Tuesday, March 31, in Fenwick Library Main Reading Room.

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Quality Enhancement Plan

Center of Community Engagement and Civic Learning CECiL