Student Affairs

pic from kktv.com

20-21 Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Grant Recipients

The Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Committee is so excited to announce our inaugural awarding of the D&IE Grants.  The grants are for a program/project/resource etc. which will support the diversity and inclusion efforts in the campus community and/or student experience.  The proposals are from a student affairs campus-based entity and could not exceed a request of over $5,000.  There were some very competitive and thoughtful proposals which made it difficult in awarding. 

Please congratulate our grant recipients below:

• Restorative Justice for Bias Incidents and Historical Harm Training, Office of Student Conduct: "This grant requests funds for a virtual training on “Restorative Justice for Bias Incidents and Historical Harm Training” facilitated by the Center for Restorative Justice, which is housed in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES) at the University of San Diego. Specifically, the intent of the training is to assist the Office of Student Conduct in establishing a Bias Response Committee for Students in the Division of Student Affairs. This proposal will explain the philosophy of restorative justice, the training, and what it will accomplish."
• How to be an Anti-Racist book club for ACT students, Appalachian & the Community Together (ACT) office: "This grant will purchase 20+ copies of, How to be an Anti-Racist, for members of the ACT Team to read together in a book club format. Students will read designated chapters each week and then join together with their peers for discussion of the text. Students will talk about what they have learned, what they agree or disagree with, and the implications that the teachings from the text have on the work we do in community engagement."
• Celebration Garden, App State Child Development Center: "This grant will create a garden with colorfully decorated poles that have our tagline nurture hearts, inspire minds in different languages that are important to the staff and families of our Center.  The goal is to create a beautiful, visual representation of the diversity and rich languages embodied by our CDC community so that we can honor the home to school connection."
• Adaptive Climbing Wall, University Recreation: "This grant is proposing to launch a new adaptive climbing program at the Student Recreation Center. With this grant we will be able to buy the necessary equipment to adapt the climbing to different physical, cognitive, and social/emotional disabilities. The grant will also cover the expenses for a training for student and professional staff."
• Making the Invisible Visible, Counseling Center: "Making the Invisible Visible: Dialogues of Hope and Racial Healing in Brave Spaces Workshop series offered through the Counseling Center for students, staff, and faculty, presented by mental health professionals of color. This workshop series will focus on the intersection of psychological health and race, and it aims to address requests by students of color to have access to and support from mental health professionals of color. The content covered in this workshop series will support the diversity and inclusion goals established by the university and by Student Affairs to improve the culture of care and intercultural connection at AppState, while also providing guidance for white students, faculty and staff to more effectively engage in allyship and trauma-informed care."
• Justice-based Leadership Series, Offices of Leadership Education & Development, Intercultural Student Affairs and Appalachian & the Community Together: "The LEAD, ACT, and ISA offices have been collaboratively planning a virtual (Zoom) justice-based leadership series with Break Away, a non-profit focused on active citizenship within alternative breaks and beyond. Representatives from each of these areas have met to organize this series in coordination with Juan's ongoing communication with Break Away. The offices will collaboratively recruit students to create a maximum attendance size of 60 students per session. Break Away staff will coordinate all curriculum and facilitation, and each of the three offices will engage in follow-up programming in the spring semester."
• Career Representatives, Career Development Center: "Career Reps: A small team of involved students representing diverse identities will be hired to share valuable perspective with staff and further immerse Career Development offerings in campus affinity groups. Their role will be to provide the Career Development Center with advice and promotional support of all services, programs, and events offered by the Career Development Center. This team is an important component of a larger plan forming within the Career Development Center to educate on diversity & inclusion efforts."

Thank you to our committee of readers for their diligent work in reading each grant and providing feedback!  Thank you also to our Diversity & Inclusive Excellence committee for all of the backend work provided.  Last but not least, thank you to Vice Chancellor JJ brown for making this a priority!