From Minnesota State Glossary of Terms – Diversity and Equity Toolkit

 

 

 

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

There may be many definitions of the words or phrases below, but the definitions provided indicate how the Minnesota State Strategic Inclusion Committee has defined them

 

Academic Success- The demonstration of student achievement in higher education through a series of indicators including, but not limited to, grade point average, rigorous coursework, acceptance to program major, persistence towards graduation, and graduation.

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Access(ible)- Refers to a student's opportunity to participate in all of the education-related offerings provided by an educational Institution. Traditional access-related initiatives in higher education seek to remove barriers and provide support for historically underserved or underrepresented students. 

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Affinity Groups- Groups or programs that connect individuals based on interests, identities, and circumstances. Such programs can be especially helpful to first-year students and students from underrepresented backgrounds.

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Campus Climate- The cumulative and continuing perception of the context in which the current attitudes, behaviors, and standards of faculty, staff, administrators, and students concerning the level of respect for individual needs, abilities, and potential are felt. 

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Co-curricular Learning- Learning that takes place outside of a traditional classroom model (or curriculum) that directly relates to or enhances one's understanding of the targeted content area. Examples of co-curricular programs include study abroad, internships, symposia, conferences, and lectures. 

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Cultural Competence- Cultural Competence is the policies and practices of an organization, or the values and behaviors of an individual, that foster effective cross-cultural communication. It is a point on a continuum that ranges from cultural destructiveness to cultural proficiency. A culturally competent organization values the people who work there, understands thee community in which it operates, and embraces its clients as valuable members of that community. This means that the culture of the organization promotes inclusiveness and institutionalizes the process of learning about differences. Cultural competence suggests a willingness to expand the organization's paradigm for culture. 

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Members of an organization with cultural competence as a goal examine their own cultures to understand how they, as cultural entities, impact the perception and interaction of those who are different. This means identifying the dynamics of difference caused by historical distrust. Clearly understanding who we are and accepting how others perceive us is one of the first steps towards cultural competence. The next step is the same underlying, non-defensive examination of the organization's culture. 

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Culturally Relevant/Responsible- Recognizing, understanding, and applying attitudes of practices that are sensitive to and appropriate for people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.

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Culture- Denotes the way of life of a group of people, encompassing their ideas, values, beliefs, norms, language, traditions, and artifacts. 

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Diversity- Minnesota State Colleges and Universities recognizes and respects the importance of all similarities and differences among human beings. The system and its institutions are committed, through their programs and policies, to fostering inclusiveness, understanding, acceptance, and respect in a multicultural society. Diversity includes, but is not limited to, age, ethnic origin, national origin, race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, disability, religious beliefs, creeds, and income. Minnesota State Colleges and Universities is committed to confronting prejudicial, discriminatory, or racist behaviors and policies. 

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Domestic/Local Multicultural Experiences- Off-campus engagement opportunities with diverse communities (racially, culturally, socioeconomically, religiously, etc.) within the state of Minnesota or within the United States. This distinction was made in response to traditional immersion activities outside of the United States or what is more commonly referred to as study abroad. 

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Early Alert- A system which faculty can log student behaviors that have been deemed strong indicators for dropping out or stopping out of college. Such systems have become more popular in higher education as institutions seek to improve their abilities to identify high-risk behavior. 

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Equity/Equitable- The proportional distribution or parity of desirable outcomes across groups. Sometimes confused with equality, equity refers to outcomes, while equality connotes equal treatment. Where individuals or groups are dissimilarly situated, equal treatment may be insufficient for or even detrimental to equitable outcomes. An example of equity is individualized educational accommodations for students with disabilities, which treat some students differently in order to ensure the equitable access to education. 

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Ethnicity- The shared sense of common heritage, ancestry, or historical past among an ethnic group. Ethnicity is a distinct concept of race, as illustrated by the fact that Hispanics, designated as an ethnic group in the United States may nevertheless be of any race. In accordance with the Office of Management and Budget definition of ethnicity, the U.S. Census Bureau defines ethnicity or origin as "the heritage, nationality group, lineage, or country of birth of the person or the person's parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States." 

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First-generation Student- A student whose parent(s)/legal guardian(s) have not completed a bachelor's degree at a four-year college or university 

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Inclusion- Organizational strategies and practices that promote meaningful social and academic interactions among persons and groups who differ in their experiences, their views, and their traits. Expanding upon efforts that promote diversity on the basis of demographical differences. 

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(Inter) Cultural Competence- An ability to learn about and interact effectively with people of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. This competence comprises four components: (1) awareness of one's own cultural worldview, (2) attitude towards cultural differences, (3) knowledge of different cultural practices and worldviews, and (4) cross-cultural skills

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Intercultural Engagement- Refers to educational opportunities, events, and programs that invite individuals to step into new cultural contexts with the intent of developing greater cultural competence. 

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Intergroup Dialogue- A facilitated, face-to-face discussion with the objective of creating new levels of understanding, relating, action between two or more social identity groups. 

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Interreligious Engagement- Events, projects, and curriculum designed to support activities related to the study and practice of religion in comparative and cross-cultural contexts. 

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Learning Communities- A group of people actively engaged in learning together, from each other, and by habituation. Learning Communities often consist of two courses linked together to explore common themes and encourage partnerships with professors and peers. 

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Multicultural- Refers to a collective variety of cultures that can be defined along racial, sex, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, language, religious, and education lines. Goals for multicultural education vary along a continuum that includes demographic inclusion, student empowerment, intergroup understanding, educational equity, and social transformation. 

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minnstate.edu/system/equity/glossary.html