The Equity Center is committed to equity centered community-engaged teaching and learning through the promotion of courses that seek to structure community partnerships and train students for engagement in ways that advance the following:
- Co-production: practicing power-sharing, self-reflection, and genuine collaboration
- Responsibility: beginning with an ethic of “first, do no harm" and ending with accountability to community partners in order to contribute to the equal and basic rights of all members of society
- Equity: producing knowledge that advances social justice through the fair and equitable treatment of community experts.
- Authentic Partnership: respecting, centering and honoring local knowledge and priorities, and approaching our own expertise with humility
- Mutuality: promoting reciprocal learning and mutually beneficial outcomes
As each faculty member endeavors into community identified goals, Equity Center staff is able to support in the following ways:
- Logistics and Operations
- Coordinate calendars.
- Provide zoom logistics or access to Equity Center meeting space.
- Identification of Community goals
- Faculty who teach these courses will most likely already have strong partnerships but given the EC is immersed in this work full time it might be helpful to connect different community initiatives or goals.
- Program Evaluation or Report Writing
- Provide reports to stakeholders (Provost, College, community groups, etc) on the impact/progress of each.
- Fellowship and Cohort Building
- Help to facilitate the meetings between faculty who are engaged in this work.
- Working with youth
- Work with youth orgs and/or schools to coordinate the logistical aspects of working with students to include volunteer protocols, background checks, etc.
- Help with coordinating trips with schools.
- Capstone Projects
- Help students and faculty identify community partners for any final projects.
- Communications
- Host work on The Equity Center's website.
- Help to get course descriptions out to students who want to do this work.
- Highlight work of the co-designed work of students, faculty, and community partners through social media.
- Thought Partnership and Strategic Planning
- Coordinate guest speakers for classes and ensuring they are paid an honorarium for their time .
- Help in seeking funding to support more classes and faculty.