Inclusive Excellence and Making Excellence Inclusive In cooperation with Association of American Colleges and University, University of Wisconsin-System mandated that all campuses institutional practices with Inclusive Excellence (IE), in part, to widen diversity efforts beyond racial/ethnicity lines of Plan 2008. IE is a philosophy or worldview requiring major comprehensive organizational change. Therefore, creating and sustaining the UW-Superior campus as a community that personifies inclusion, equity and diversity is a strategic Priority. IE, in effect, is among breaths’ in all considerations and ‘first decision making processes across the UW-Superior campus. IE seeks to: Establish hallmarks of academic excellence and institutional effectiveness; Operationalize inclusion in campus functioning; Ensure academic freedom responsibilities are understood and practiced; and, Create an educational process that has diversity and inclusion at the center Four Guiding Principles are critical to IE: Shared responsibility; Diversity sits at the center of institutional life; Different students require different forms of support (as do faculty, staff, etc.); and, Implementation matters as much as strategy Making Excellence Inclusive (MEI) is the action-oriented process that is intentionally and persistently implemented in facet of campus culture, and by all community members. Although MEI action seeks to manifest the IE philosophy, the two are distinct ideas. We reframe much of the remaining ideas of this report, and therefore, the proposed goals, outcomes and action steps for UW-Superior in terms of MEI. At UW-Superior, conscientiously creating results that accentuate MEI requires: Engaging sustained, direct, open and honest discussion; Critically examining inclusivity, equity and diversity needs and issues on campus, rather than merely celebrating them and more generally; “culture” Rejecting the natural tendency to over-discuss and over-define concepts, needs and issues; Understanding and utilizing, but not being paralyzed by institutional history; and, Enacting creative, focused and persistent action-taking and implementation. A campus culture that personifies critical thinking must recognize that even Excellence “Making Inclusive” itself is an abstract phrase and concept. Indeed, it is how we, as a campus community, actively bring to life its mission and spirit—through courageous, creative and sustained planning and action—that matters most.
Inclusive Excellence and Making Excellence Inclusive In cooperation with Association of American Colleges and University, University of Wisconsin-System mandated that all campuses institutional practices with Inclusive Excellence (IE), in part, to widen diversity efforts beyond racial/ethnicity lines of Plan 2008. IE is a philosophy or worldview requiring major comprehensive organizational change. Therefore, creating and sustaining the UW-Superior campus as a community that personifies inclusion, equity and diversity is a strategic Priority. IE, in effect, is among ‘first breaths’ in all considerations and decision making processes across the UW-Superior campus. IE seeks to: Establish hallmarks of academic excellence and institutional effectiveness; Operationalize inclusion in campus functioning; Ensure academic freedom responsibilities are understood and practiced; and, Create an educational process that has diversity and inclusion at the center Four Guiding Principles are critical to IE: Shared responsibility; Diversity sits at the center of institutional life; Different students require different forms of support (as do faculty, staff, etc.); and, Implementation matters as much as strategy Making Excellence Inclusive (MEI) is the action-oriented process that is intentionally and persistently implemented in facet of campus culture, and by all community members. Although MEI action seeks to manifest the IE philosophy, the two are distinct ideas. We reframe much of the remaining ideas of this report, and therefore, the proposed goals, outcomes and action steps for UW-Superior in terms of MEI. At UW-Superior, conscientiously creating results that accentuate MEI requires: Engaging sustained, direct, open and honest discussion; Critically examining inclusivity, equity and diversity needs and issues on campus, rather than merely celebrating them and “culture” more generally; Rejecting the natural tendency to over-discuss and over-define concepts, needs and issues; Understanding and utilizing, but not being paralyzed by institutional history; and, Enacting creative, focused and persistent action-taking and implementation. A campus culture that personifies critical thinking must recognize that even “Making Excellence Inclusive” itself is an abstract phrase and concept. Indeed, it is how we, as a campus community, actively bring to life its mission and spirit—through courageous, creative and sustained planning and action—that matters most.