The FA is co-sponsoring a new summer JEDI Institute with the college that's focused on making SCCC a more just, equitable, diverse and inclusive space. After a pilot project this summer, the full institute will kick off in summer 2022.

You've been even more keenly attuned to the news since last summer and you've been thinking deeply about racism in America.

You've been reading lots about the protests and various reactions to them. You see articles in Newsday and The New York Times about local incidents involving things like critical race theory. Maybe you're among the colleagues who joined us in the Journey to Allyship book discussion group this past year.

You've asked for advice about how to teach some of the more sensitive topics within your discipline so they're not misunderstood—intentionally or otherwise—and what your rights are with regard to being recorded during class or having your intellectual property shared without your permission. You've asked us in the FA if we have some pedagogy toolkits, websites or resources you can consult.

You've asked what more you can be doing in your work at SCCC to make our college more just, equitable, diverse and inclusive for our students.

I've been fielding such inquiries for over a year now, especially from FA members who want to take action, who want to interact with students in a more supportive way, but who also fear being covertly surveilled or recorded by students—especially worrisome in remote classes—and having their comments taken out of context and splashed all over the media.

This is why, during one of the Allyship book group's Zoom meetings, I popped a suggestion in the chat for a summer institute to help address such concerns, to which Christina Vargas, chief diversity officer and Title IX coordinator replied, "That's my dream!"

Fast forward to today, and the FA is working hard to help make Christina's vision a reality... because it's our dream too. Dante Morelli and I have been trying to get a DEI project like this off the ground for over five years. But now the following people have been meeting weekly to develop a pilot program this summer and a formal program that will start in summer 2022:

As with other educational institutions, we are calling our program the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, or JEDI, Institute.

Let's JEDI our workspaces

The purpose of the JEDI Institute is to help SCCC employees develop specific, concrete ways to make our daily workspaces more just, equitable, diverse and inclusive for students.

While the Journey to Allyship book group—which plans to continue, of course—is focused on understanding why this needs to happen, the JEDI Institute will focus more on how to make it happen.

We envision a three-part series of meetings in the summers, with a follow up meeting in January. Participants will apply, and cohorts of about two dozen at a time will be assembled with an eye, naturally, toward diversity (based on demographic factors as well as campus, employment status and role at the college). Successful JEDIs will receive certifications and special recognition from the college as well as perhaps opportunities to help facilitate future institutes.

The three summer sessions are currently being envisioned as addressing three big questions:

1. What area of your work do you plan to revise? If you're classroom faculty, which course will you focus on to make it more JEDI? If you're a nonclassroom employee, which specific aspect of your daily work will you work on to make more JEDI? The first session will focus on brainstorming and planning, so participants can think through where they need help and what resources they'll need.
   
   
2. How is it going? After a break of a week or so, the second session will ask participants to check in and share a progress report with their cohort. JEDIs will indicate what progress they've made so far, provide an overview of their plans and which resources they've accessed which have been most useful at this point. Plans for completion will drafted.
   
   
3. How will you bring your plans into practice? At the third summer session, participants will present their final plans for how they'll be making their chosen course or workspace more JEDI for the fall semester. Presentations will be brief but will need to include specifics so that fellow participants can complete a rubric designed to encourage each presenter by identifying the strongest points and offering additional advice and suggestions.
   

Goals

I've broken down the overarching goals for the JEDI Institute into five areas.

• Examination of assumptions Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their own assumptions and implicit biases as we all work in education and to consider the assumptions that students may be making about us too. In addition, work will be done to help participants move from bemoaning the lack of the “ideal” student toward understanding and embracing the students we actually have in front of us—and to be committed to helping students navigate from wherever they are and to where they want and need to be.
  
  
• More inclusive course outlines and course content Classroom faculty will have access to resources for and discussions about how to revise their course outlines to be more inclusive. This might include information and advice on more equitable grading approaches (e.g., Asao Inoue’s labor-based grading); identifying SCCC and local student support services; integrating the SCCC diversity statement, student handbook statements; and more. They'll also have access to resources for and discussions about how their course content might be revised and improved to be more JEDI.
  
  
• More inclusive nonclassroom student interactions Nonclassroom employees (and classroom faculty who are in other settings, such as club advisor) will have access to resources for and discussions about how to revise their daily practices to be more inclusive. This might include becoming more knowledgable about our students' backgrounds, managing confidential conversations, trauma-informed interactions, and more.
  
  
• Antiracist pedagogy and work principles The core of this JEDI institute will center on antiracist pedagogy and work principles, giving participants the opportunity to foreground issues of race and racism in their pedagogical and daily work practices. Topics will include but not be limited to embedding learning how to learn into your interactions with students, connecting the known to the unknown (valuing students’ current knowledge), teaching about growth mindset, understanding stereotype threat, integrating student writing/reflection time, etc. 
  
  
• Managing difficult dialogues Learning how to manage what the Derek Bok Center at Harvard refers to as “hot moments” during class conversations—whether they come during on-campus or remote interactions—is critical. Participants will have opportunities to explore how pointing to their discipline’s scholarship as well as institutional expectations (SCCC and SUNY) can help navigate this. Participants will review case studies, practice appropriate responses and learn about faculty and student rights and responsibilities when it comes to recording class or other conversations. 

Interested? Let us know!

If you've read this far and are interested in learning more, contact me and I'll add your name to the list of interested individuals. The pilot program this summer will operate mostly by invitation, as we are still in the planning stages. If we can't loop you in this summer, however, we'll certainly keep you on the mailing list for the big program kick off next year.

And if you aren't already doing so, you can participate in the Journey to Allyship book discussion group by contacting Christina Vargas or Patty Munsch.

We look forward to having many JEDIs walking around SCCC in the very near future!