What We Offer
Two of the largest college and university personnel categories critical to the educational process are Classified and Student Affairs staff. Custodial and maintenance, clerical and administrative, program coordinators, advisors, technology specialists, career service personnel, food and health service workers, student support, and other staff undertake work that contributes significantly and meaningfully to the educational process of students. In many respects, staff are engaged in a synergistic educational relationship with faculty, teaching, diversity, and students that can be characterized as educational, supportive, and caring. From the perspective of Inclusive Excellence (IE), the structural cultural transformation approach to campus diversity, Student Affairs and Classified Staff also play an important role because, even though they do not make policies, staff interpret, process, and implement policies. In order to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion into university policies, a major tenet of IE, we need trained staff who understand their important role and the issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Unfortunately, in spite of this significant cadre of talented employees, they are often excluded from diversity, equity, and inclusion training. In the end, non-academic staff are no different than faculty and students in that it is important for them to understand Inclusive Excellence, intergroup conflict, microaggressions, micro-affirmations, implicit bias, culture, personal identity, social identity, discrimination, intergroup cooperation, diversity terminology, and other dimensions of campus diversity and inclusion.
Equally as important is for staff to understand how they can influence policies, procedures, and processes and their role in interpreting, advising, and changing those guiding structures to be more inclusive. If you are interested in diversity, equity, and inclusion professional development training for staff as well as imparting the important role that they play on campus in promoting Inclusive Excellence, contact us to see about scheduling a workshop at jgt@thelindgroup.com or visit www.thelindgroup.com.
The Role of Student Affairs and Classified Staff in Advancing Inclusive Excellence
Importance of Student Affairs Staff
Staff Matter
The workshop is one to one and a half hours in duration, but can be shortened for different needs and venues. The presentation is perfect for Human Resources, staff retreats, professional development days, and on-campus conferences. The workshop is available in a virtual or in-person format and can be repeated to accommodate staff schedules.
We utilize an interactive, engaging, non-defensive, and hands-on approach to diversity and inclusion training of classified staff. Our presentations rely on simulation activities, stories, props, games, modeling, scenarios, and role playing designed to generate interest in, understanding of, and the practice of diversity and inclusion. The workshop and training are designed to assist and support individuals in understanding themselves more completely. The workshop and training are also created to determine and assess the groups to which individuals belong, the benefits of diversity, intergroup conflict, implicit bias, and multiple other crucial aspects of workplace diversity dynamics.
Learning outcomes for workshop participants include understanding: 1) the dynamics of personal and group identities; 2) the benefits of diversity; 3) the negative impact of intergroup conflict on workplace dimensions and interactions; 4) strategies for improving cross-cultural relationships and communication; 5) diversity terminology and 6) Inclusive Excellence.