Last winter, CBS relaunched a program to enhance DEI and inclusion efforts in the classroom with the Inclusive Excellence Fellows program. Four members of the college served as fellows, developing projects on topics ranging from resolving gaps in performance for non-biology majors in science classes to evaluating student feelings of inclusion in courses.
The program culminated with the college’s Inclusive Excellence Symposium on January 24, 2024, which highlighted those projects as well as work by DEIJ microgrant recipients and a departmental DEI committee. Dr. Anita Schuchardt led a discussion on equity-focused teaching practices.
“It was wonderful seeing a room full of people focused on this critical work of making our classrooms more inclusive,” says CBS Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Laurie Parker. “It is vital that we bring an inclusion-focused lens as educators to help our students succeed in the classroom. This work is just one effort we’re making as a college to build our capabilities and knowledge in this area.”
The 2023 cohort included Adam Engelhardt, Charlie Willis, David Matthes and Kristina Prescott. Six instructors have been accepted into the 2024 cohort: Dana Davis, Rachael Kaspar, Katie Krueger, Aryn Lipnicki, Christian Mohr, and Krista Redlinger-Grosse. A cohort of five trainees (four graduate students and a postdoctoral researcher) will also participate in a course titled the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project with facilitation by Barbara Billington, the CBS liaison from the Center for Educational Innovation and previously faculty in the STEM Education Center in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) and Irene Duranczyk (Associate Professor in CEHD).