- A Statement of Institutional Commitments
At the Marsal Family School of Education, our effort to study and improve educational practice is inseparable from our determination to develop more effective and socially just systems of education. This mission is grounded in our commitment to promote diversity and to advance equity and inclusion.
As an organization, we value and seek to increase diversity along many dimensions, including race and ethnicity, gender and gender expression, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, language, national origin, U.S. resident status, religious commitment, age, and (dis)ability status. We recognize the history in the United States of racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination and the intergenerational effects of poverty, and we commit to work assiduously to promote and extend opportunities and outcomes for members of those groups that have been historically marginalized by these profound inequalities. It is central to that mission to ensure that each member of our community has full opportunity to thrive in our environment, for we believe that diversity is key both to individual flourishing and to the advancement of knowledge. We know that without a vibrant community of people who identify as members of these groups, we cannot progress as a school. We also recognize that without building critical mass of these groups among our students, staff, and faculty, difference can be isolating rather than productive.
We commit to developing the institutional mechanisms and social norms necessary to ensure that differences are respected, welcomed, and used to support individuals’ flourishing and to advance our collective aims. The pursuit of equity entails institutionalizing policies and practices that facilitate the School’s ability to recruit a highly qualified and robustly diverse community of students, faculty, and staff. The pursuit of inclusion entails both removing barriers to, and providing support and encouragement for, full participation of all community members in our collective work.
- Principles of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The following principles guide the Marsal School's efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion:
- the diversity of our faculty, students, and staff should reflect the character and contours of our demographically diverse society and should be leveraged to develop the knowledge, interventions, and teaching and learning practices necessary for challenging entrenched educational and social inequalities;
- each member of our community (students, faculty, staff) should be recognized both as an individual with distinct talents, perspectives, and insights, and as a member of social groups who have benefited from or been disadvantaged by historical and contemporary power inequalities;
- our practices and policies must ensure the full inclusion and empowerment of persons who identify as members of historically disenfranchised groups, and must also cultivate among all community members shared competencies, sensitivities, and habits of mind fundamental to building an equitable and inclusive school environment;
- diversity of identity, culture, perspective, language, and mode of expression should be protected and actively cultivated in our research, curricular, pedagogical, and work activities;
- informal and professional interactions within the school or in relation to school business should enable courageous, respectful, and civil discourse across differences in opinion, perspective, identity, and power status;
- our institutional responsibility to enact these principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion requires that each of us—individual faculty, staff, and students—contribute to an environment that supports the learning and interactions necessary for the effective, socially-just education that we seek.
- Land Acknowledgement
Please see the Land Acknowledgment drafted by the dije Office. The Land Acknowledgment includes the following:
- A detailed history of the treaties involved in establishing the University
- Our action-oriented commitments to educational access
- Resources on creating and using your own land acknowledgment
- Information on the Michigan Indian Tuition Waiver ("MITW") and other resources
Strategic Plan
The purpose of the Marsal Family School of Education’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan is to provide faculty, staff, and students with a framework and charge to prioritize, develop, and implement actions necessary to realize the commitments outlined in the school’s diversity, equity, and inclusion statement.
- dije 1.0 Strategic Plan
- dije 2.0 Strategic Plan
View the Final dije 2.0 Strategic Plan (pdf)
dije 2.0 Year 1 Update
- Strategic Objectives
Objective (1): Where we have control over recruitment/admission, improve recruitment and retention of undergraduate students who are from diverse racially minoritized, LGBTQIA+, disability, economically disadvantaged, first generation, undocumented, and international communities.
Objective (2): Continue to improve recruitment and retention of graduate students who are from diverse racially minoritized, LGBTQIA+, disability, economically disadvantaged, first generation, undocumented, and international communities.
Objective (3): Continue to improve recruitment and retention of faculty who are from diverse racially minoritized, LGBTQIA+, disability, and international communities.
Objective (4): Improve recruitment and retention of staff who are from diverse racially minoritized, LGBTQIA+, disability, economically disadvantaged, and international communities.
Objective (5): Improve physical and digital accessibility throughout the Marsal School.
Objective (6): Build skills and tools so that we are all better prepared and equipped to intervene to prevent and disrupt exclusionary moments and practices in our respective spheres of influence.
Objective (7): Reduce the burden of responsibility on, and increase rewards and recognition for, Marsal students whose work makes the school more inclusive and equitable.
Objective (8): Reduce the burden of responsibility on, and increase rewards and recognition for, staff whose work makes the Marsal School more inclusive and equitable.
Objective (9): Reduce the burden of responsibility on, and increase rewards and recognition for, faculty whose work makes the Marsal School more inclusive and equitable.
Objective (10): Continue to improve inclusion of courses that address theory and research on antiracism, anti-Blackness, Indigenous epistemologies, LGBTQIA+ studies, disability studies, and/or the intersection of these fields.
Objective (11): Support and value public engagement and scholarship by Marsal School faculty.
Objective (12): Establish and integrate dije fundraising priorities within our overall Marsal strategic development priorities.
Action Items
Objective Sort descending | Area | Focus | Action Item | Responsible | Status |
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Objective 1 |
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Continue to identify and build innovative recruitment strategies that leverage resources in terms of people, time, and funding found within our institution, as well as within our community partnerships, to reach beyond our current application pool for EPP (Teacher Education), in particular. |
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Objective 1 |
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As a collaboration of the offices of admissions, financial aid, and dije, develop a list of experiences and activities that may help identify applicants' enactments of their commitment to dije and/or develop a question on the application form that points to this. |
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Objective 1 |
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In consultation with the Office of General Counsel as needed, all undergraduate programs (EdMinor, EPP, LEAPS) will outline key strategies to enhance the number of applications and matriculations of students from, in particular, diverse racially minoritized, LGBTQIA+, disability, economically disadvantaged, first generation, and international communities. |
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Objective 1 |
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Beginning in Y1, all undergraduate academic programs (EdMinor, EPP, LEAPS) will continue to implement at minimum 1-2 best practices/strategies to enhance the number of applications and matriculations of students from, in particular, diverse racially minoritized, LGBTQIA+, disability, economically disadvantaged, first generation, and international communities. |
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Objective 1 |
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Establish and implement system to track number and quantity of scholarships that are need-based and those that are designated to rewarding applicants’ enactments of their commitment to dije. |
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dije Team
Student Advisory Board
- Current Members
2024–25 Student Advisory Board Members Name Program David DeLaRosa Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education; Masters Maekayla Dimatulac Teacher Education Preferred Admit; Bachelors Gina Meimann Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education; Masters day parker Education Studies; Doctorate Viviana Velez Negron Combined Program in Education and Psychology; Doctorate
Calendar of Events
DIJE Resources
- Student Climate Support
- Centers, Departments, and Offices
- Mental Health Resources
- Student Groups, Organizations, and Programs
Connect with Us
CONTACT INFORMATION
[email protected]
(734) 647-4230
In-Person dije Office Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
LOCATION
Marsal Family School of Education
Room 1001
610 East University Ave
Ann Arbor, MI 48109