Welcome to the National Organization for Student Success
HISTORY of EAI NETWORK
EAI Committee Adopts a New Mission
ADMIN OCTOBER 23, 2020 UNCATEGORIZED 0 COMMENTS
First, I want to thank those network members who contributed to the intensive drafting of the EAI Mission Statement. The statement has been approved by the board by the NOSS Equity, Access, & Inclusion Committee. The statement and other recent additions to the website are just a few of the more recent examples of the hard and meaningful work stemming from this network. I am so honored to work with you all.
NOSS Equity, Access, and Inclusion Mission Statement:
The NOSS EAI Network is a beloved professional community dedicated to elevating unheard voices, advocating for diverse perspectives, and promoting an openness to growth for educational practitioners and the communities we serve.
Who are we?
We are practitioners, learners, and visionaries engaged in reshaping our educational institutions to better serve diverse communities of students and educational professionals.
Who are the members of our community?
Our professional roles include the NOSS Equity Access and Inclusion Network, NOSS Leaders, developmental educators, adult educators, postsecondary educators, postsecondary learning support educators, and K-16 administrators, faculty, staff, and students.
What do we do?
We seek to create a beloved professional community in which members:
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Advance justice and equity-oriented principles and policies within our organization and our educational institutions
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Provide resources and opportunities for conversation and work centering equity and inclusion at our members’ institutions
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Promote leadership reflective of the diversity of our students, communities, and collegial community
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Explore opportunities for increasing EAI in our field
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Serve as a resource (conduit) to help members meet the NADE Guiding Principles for Cultural Competency
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Agitate through vital conversations around Equity/Access/Inclusion
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Collaborate among educators, institutions, and other stakeholders to enhance EAI
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Critically engage in our practice and our assumptions about how our practice within various institutional contexts can honor our students and their goals
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Transform our academic communities into spaces where all will thrive and grow as they recognize each person’s value in an ever-changing global community
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Establish a platform for culturally-based discussion, policy critique and review, and networking opportunities amongst our beloved professional community
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Embrace and lean into the discomfort that often accompanies discussions of race, equity, access, and inclusion
Why do we do it?
We believe it is imperative that educators no longer remain silent in response to direct and covert forms of exclusion within our organization and institutions. To that end, we are committed to providing resources and connections that enable practitioners to create equitable, diverse, and inclusive educational environments, including our professional organization. We engage in this work because we are committed to facilitating difficult conversations in order to enact meaningful and sustained change.
For whom do we do it?
We engage in this work by humbly acknowledging our own growth edges and potential for positive transformation in:
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Our students and stakeholders
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Our profession, communities of practice, and institutions
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Our organization and its past, present, and future leaders, change makers, and innovators
Changes to Cultural Diversity Committee
When they were first created, committees provided support for the mission and focus of the National Association for Developmental Education. Unlike Special Interest Networks (our present-day Networks), which focus on supporting members, committees advised the board and worked to strengthen the organization as a whole. The Cultural Diversity Committee was tasked with mentoring diverse leadership and planning diversity and inclusion events for the national conference. Although our commitment to strengthening the organization remains the same, the function and goals of the committee have shifted over the five years during which I have served as chair, and I am excited to announce that we have received board approval for a change which represents a more current understanding of our work.
Following the 2020 conference in Nashville, we have transitioned from the Cultural Diversity Committee to the Equity, Access, and Inclusion Network. The change from “Cultural Diversity” to “Equity, Access, and Inclusion” foregrounds our focus on inclusion (or increasing access for all) rather than acknowledging diversity (or difference).
In addition, we have transformed from a “Committee” to a “Network.” This shift reflects our expanding focus: Whereas our committee work was inward-facing and focused on sustaining and developing the organization, as a network, we will also address outreach and meeting the needs of members, for example by providing resources related to assets pedagogy.
In this transition, however, it is essential that NOSS not lose sight of the committee’s original charge of fostering diverse leadership and advising the board on issues related to diversity and inclusion. We continue to take that charge seriously.
Over the past year, the committee increased visibility of our sponsored strand on Diversity and Social Justice. The Social Justice/Cultural Diversity strand for the national conference was initially proposed to increase the visibility of cultural diversity within NADE; however, we soon realized that the strand provided a relevant forum for encouraging interdisciplinary discussions of how developmental education is social justice work. During at the conference in March, strand presenters discussed topics related to supporting multilingual students, increasing access for students with disabilities, developing social and cultural skills in online learning environments, and much more. The strands’ variety of topics and contexts speaks to the powerful way in which issues of inclusion and access resonate with NOSS members.
The committee also featured a panel discussion of diverse leaders within NOSS entitled “We Make the Road by Walking.” Panelists included NOSS Secretary Glynnis Mullins, Retention Network Chair Johari Barnes, and former TADE President and Reading SPIN Chair Tammy Francis. Panelists shared their personal experiences seeking and creating leadership and mentorship opportunities at the national and regional level. Joined by long-time ally and mentor, Hunter Boylan, the panel offered recommendations for increasing the visibility of equity and access as issues which not only affect our students but also our organization as a whole. As Dr. Francis explained, “It [Beginning inclusion and access work] is as simple as just a smile.”
But the work for increasing inclusivity within NOSS cannot end there.
Panelists and audience members spoke about the need for increased openness to conversations about diversity and ways to bring this work to the forefront of NOSS’s mission and practice. Panelists discussed the need to increase diverse representation within NOSS at multiple levels, including chair positions, board service, and chapter leadership.
Following the panel, the committee meeting outlined ways to continue the committee’s advisory role in supporting the board and the organization in centering our student success work within a framework of equity, access, and inclusion. This coming year, the committee continues to focus on recruiting and mentoring diverse leaders. We are proposing that individuals running for board positions provide a statement about how they envision their service supporting NOSS’ commitment to equity and social justice. We are beginning work on a strategic plan for identifying and implementing key initiatives to increase the visibility of equity, access, and inclusion as central to our organization. and invite members to join us as we expand our focus to also support NOSS members engaged in equity work within their own educational contexts.
Guiding Principles
1. Advocate for our institutions’ commitment to support access to higher education for all diverse groups of students.
2. Support students’ intellectual development to learn and excel within a diverse educational community.
3. Support students’ social and interpersonal skills needed to interact effectively within a diverse educational community.
4. Facilitate students’ understanding that knowledge and personal experiences are shaped by context (e.g., social, political, economic, historical, etc.) and how their voices and ways of knowing can shape the academy and their lives.
5. Encourage professional development for our instructors, staff, and administrators to promote our students’ cultural competence.
6. Assist our educators to use multiple culturally sensitive techniques when teaching and assessing student learning.
7. Encourage our educators to use person-first language (e.g., students enrolled in developmental coursework and avoiding terms such as underprepared students, at-risk students, and remedial students, as these terms have become shells for incorrect assumptions).
In the coming year the committee has focused on increasing diversity and inclusion within our national organization. The rebranding of NADE provides an essential opportunity for NOSS members to consider the values of their organization and their own efforts to support those values. In response to growing requests from NOSS members for more diverse leadership, the committee will be presenting a panel discussion at the upcoming conference in Nashville. The panel will bring together emerging minority NOSS leaders and longstanding allies to a Q&A session discussing panelists’ past NADE/NOSS leadership experiences, current efforts, and future hopes for fostering diversity within the national organization. In addition to a brief historical review of the organization’s efforts to diversify leadership, the panel will provide opportunities for audience members to ask their own questions about becoming engaged in NOSS leadership and panelists’ recommendations for diverse NOSS members interested in taking active leadership roles and allies committed to supporting their fellow members. We welcome all members to join us at the panel discussion and in our work supporting NOSS as our organization transitions in response to changes within our evolving field.