Creating an inclusive and socially just college community

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NWTC’s Executive Leadership Team believes in the importance of applying an equity lens to center the College’s work toward closing student equity gaps and becoming a socially just organization. In pursuit of social justice, NWTC must take action to ensure that all behaviors, policies, procedures, and practices produce and sustain racial equity. The College is committed to:

  1. Creating racially inclusive, high-performing teams and work climates where all are respected, valued, feel a sense of belonging, and can contribute to their full potential.
  2. Developing racially inclusive products and services.
  3. Continually deepening our self-awareness, knowledge, and capacity to effectively engage in meaningful dialogue about racism, privilege, culture, equitable and inclusive organizations, etc.
  4. Recognizing implicit bias, attitudes, behaviors, and microaggressions in ourselves and others.
  5. Effectively interrupting and recognizing implicit bias, attitudes, behaviors, and microaggressions in the moment. 
  6. Responding effectively to feedback about the impact of our comments, actions, and/or inactions.
  7. Recognizing and shifting dynamics of privilege in the moment.
  8. Using an equity lens in all planning and decision-making processes.
  9. Using an equity lens to analyze all current policies, programs, practices, and services and revise, as needed, to eliminate negative differential impact on people of color and create racial equity and inclusion.
  10. Recognizing and shifting unproductive cultural dynamics in our organization to create a more inclusive, socially just organizational climate and culture.
  11. Implementing a system of development and accountability to ensure accelerated progress towards becoming an inclusive and socially just organization.
DEFINITIONS

Equity Lens introduces an equity-minded improvement process (set of questions, activities, etc.) into a decision to help the decision makers keep equity top-of-mind.

Equity Gap is a disparity in educational attainment (course completion, graduation rates, etc.) between different groups of students.

Social Justice is the condition in which all members at NWTC have the same basic rights, protections, opportunities, obligations, and social benefits. Tourse, Robbie (et al.) (2018)

Learn more about NWTC’s commitment at nwtc.edu/Diversity