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With spring upon us, it is a good time to update the campus on the work the Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement (ODECE) is doing with communities and partners on campus to continue our progress toward making excellence inclusive.

Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement Bob Boswell

In February, we convened our busiest Spring Diversity and Inclusion Summit, hosting 30 sessions in a single-day event attended by more than 300 people for discussions on everything from new ways to have tough conversations about differences to learning how to make digital storytelling more diverse and inclusive.

We also have welcomed four nationally acclaimed scholars—Saundra McGuire, Kelly Mack, Ashley Finley and most recently Kimberly Tanner—for 18 workshops with 365 attendees in our series on inclusive pedagogy. These sessions are designed to be a resource for those who engage students in learning that is accessible.

We have coupled these workshops with ongoing bi-weekly (nine so far this year) Inclusive Pedagogy Community of Practice (IPCoP) sessions, where groups of campus members (averaging between 15–30 per session) have engaged in conversations about sensitive issues on personal differences. The outcomes create a sharper awareness that, in turn, help to improve teaching, learning, everyday work and mutual engagement.

Both approaches chip away at the attitudes, missteps and behaviors that marginalize students, faculty and staff. Our approaches have the potential for substantive and transformative cultural change that create a welcoming learning environment for everyone. We have five sessions remaining this year and urge you to attend one.

ODECE is also continuing outreach to and engagement with undocumented members of our community and their families, allies and coworkers, to do all we can to provide guidance and support for our valued members of CU Boulder at this uncertain time.

How can you engage? Beginning April 6, we are hosting a series of eight community update sessions where we will seek input to shape a working draft of the Campus Definition of Inclusive Excellence, provide a near-term outline for the work yet to be done on the campus’ Diversity, Inclusion and Academic Excellence Plan and discuss ODECE’s Diversity Planning Model for Cultural Change. Sessions are open to all members of the campus community. We invite you to attend.

The work ODECE does to help achieve cultural change on our campus depends upon vital partnerships with organizations and units across campus. Together, we work to transform our aspirations to be a diverse and inclusive community into realities for our students, faculty and staff. Our focus is on long-term change and transformation of our campus culture through actions large and small and, most importantly, through a firm belief in a definition of excellence that includes us all. 

If you have questions about our work or would like to talk, I encourage you to contact our office at odece@colorado.edu.

Bob Boswell,
Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement