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Cynthia Eaton
We've been working hard over the past year, our JEDI Institute program is officially ready to launch and the good news is that it's not too late to get on board. Before Thursday, June 16, simply complete this JEDI RSVP form. Read on to learn more and join us! You heard our call for participants last June (and over the course of the year, 41 colleagues participated in JEDI in some way!), read about our $35,000 grant and learned ways to make your workspace more JEDI last September. You followed along as we talked about managing hot moments in the classroom and in our nonclassroom environments. And you learned from nearly a dozen colleagues from last January's winter JEDI meeting about yet more ways to be more JEDI at SCCC. Now, thanks to our pilot participants and lots of dedicated work from our executive board members, we're officially launching the JEDI Institute. The JEDI mission This union-administration collaboration resulted from a suggestion by Cynthia Eaton during an intense, thought-provoking book group discussion hosted by Christina Vargas and Patty Munsch in April 2021. A few brainstorming sessions later, and JEDI was born. A fuller history and overview of the JEDI Institute can be seen in this April 2022 video of our presentation for the CUNY Graduate Center/Hunter College National Collective Bargaining Conference (NCBC). The mission of the JEDI Institute is to make Suffolk County Community College more just, equitable, diverse and inclusive for minoritized students, which we understand to give primacy to race, ethnicity, country of origin and documentation status and to be inclusive of socioeconomic status; gender identity, expression and orientation; religious beliefs; and physical, mental and intellectual ability. This summer, our JEDI participants will attend three sessions that provide the space, time and resources to reflect on their work and develop individual plans for how they can make their work more "JEDI" in fall 2022. A January workshop will provide time for reflection, revision and re-implementation for spring 2023. Summer sessions We are excited to announce the restructuring of our three summer sessions. As noted in our NCBC presentation, we were building a lot on the fly last summer and our pilot participants' feedback was invaluable. Below are summaries of each session's agenda, which—as with all things in life—are also subject to change. Session 1: Why JEDI Matters
Session 2: Building Toward Individual JEDI Plans
Session 3: Becoming JEDI
Again, please join us this summer as we work to make our college more welcoming to all students and to better ensure each and every one has equal opportunities to succeed. SCCC, like many community colleges, are facing a number of challenges, as noted in this June 4, 2022, Newsday article. |
