The recent wave of anti-DEI legislation in the United States misrepresents the aims of DEI in higher education and requires prioritizing compliance with state laws over the needs of students and the institution. By connecting institutional DEI to international Human Rights and U.S. Civil Rights activism, educators can maintain our commitment to inclusive and equitable education for all students in the face of rising political pressure. Beyond our collective commitment to DEI as WSCUC-accredited schools, our institutions benefit from the innovative power of multicultural learning communities and our students excel when they can bring their full selves into the classroom. This session presents strategies for continuing this important work.

Ella Frazer, Director of Accreditation and Assessment, San Francisco Bay University

This presentation will discuss the value of using a Community of Practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991) perspective in establishing a GenEd Task Force at UPAEP, a private university in Mexico. The GenEd approach is foreign to Mexican universities; thus, as professionals from different fields, we experienced a need to negotiate with foreign standards while fostering our local academic traditions. The presentation will focus on creating an identity built on contextual paradigms to bring about engagement, innovation, and a learning culture that fits our goals and fosters the General Education tradition. It will emphasize the stages of a Knowledge Initiative (Wenger, et al., 2022): creation, sharing, and preservation. Participants will benefit from the experience of adaptation and innovation with international peers who went from a feeling of imposition to a sense of belonging.

Abigail Villagrán-Mora, Writing Center Director, UPAEP University
Florence Grolleau, Director of the School of Language and Culture Studies, UPAEP University

Students’ sense of belonging plays a critical role in their academic success, retention, and well-being. This session presents findings from qualitative data collected from graduate students at Concordia University Irvine, focused on understanding their personal sense of belonging. We will explore how various factors, i.e. institutional support, faculty engagement, program structure, and peer interaction impact their perceptions of belonging. Join us for a dialogue about best practices for fostering a sense of belonging in classroom interactions and on campus. This session is aimed at generating actionable strategies that support students' success and institutional outcomes while also identifying areas for future research. 

Barbara Howard, Assistant Professor of Education, Director of Assessment and Accreditation| School of Education, Concordia University Irvine
Timothy Young, Assistant Professor of Education, PPOHA Grant Director/ Ed.D. mentor, Concordia University Irvine