This Issue of Expansions & SOE 2017-18 Highlights

During the 2017-18 school year, the dije leadership team collaborated with numerous students, staff and faculty members to advance several major goals. These goals related to: expanding our organizational infrastructure to support and sustain our dije initiatives; increasing efforts to recruit a more diverse pool of students; enhancing staff equity and inclusion; increasing dije-based curriculum development; enhancing our School-wide dije programming; garnering additional funds to support student-designed, dije-based professional development initiatives; and expanding and deepening our local K-12 partnership efforts. We have made important progress in each of these areas and remain dedicated to continuing our efforts. Collectively, SOE’s dedication to dije is evident in numerous ways. Some ways include: the leadership and creativity exuded by student organizations, as overviewed in this issue’s student life profile; ongoing efforts to integrate attention to dije in course instruction, as discussed in the profile of the instructional leadership efforts of Associate Dean Shari Saunders; and through faculty members’ scholarship and advocacy, as highlighted in the profile of Assistant Professor Christina Weiland whose work focuses on increasing access to early childhood education.

The innovation and equity-based efforts of SOE staff is a major asset too, as evident in this issue’s profile of The Center for Education Design, Evaluation, & Research (CEDER) staff member Darin Stockdill, and in the feature of TeachingWorks postdoctoral fellow and SOE dije Assessment & Reporting Coordinator Carla Shalaby. Additionally, the educative events that the SOE dije leadership team has hosted to address pressing dije matters affecting youth and society are important, which is discussed in our feature of the SOE film screening and panel discussion on gender diversity and hypermasculinity. Another essential part of SOE dije efforts is the fostering of meaningful, mutually beneficial partnerships in the local community. This issue’s profile of SOE’s Ann Arbor Languages Partnership (A2LP), which teams our faculty, teacher education students, and staff with language programs throughout Ann Arbor Public Schools is a significant example of our inclusive collaborations and educational reach. Moreover, the 2017-2018 SOE dije student, faculty, and staff award winners highlighted in this issue exemplify the type of dije-driven dedication that is crucial to the remarkable qualities of SOE.

In addition to what is featured in this Expansionsissue, we hope that a myriad of other dijeactivities and programming have enhanced the SOE community this academic year. Indeed, it has been a pleasure to have many community members attend the SOE dije Community Conversations that Dean Moje and I have hosted, along with the SOE dije Meet & Greet gathering co-sponsored by SOE’s Education Diversity Advisory Council (EDAC), plus the town hall discussions on free speech, the dijedevelopment workshops presented by Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni, the dije Book Club discussion, a fireside chat with international students, and the Black Male Roundtable discussion group. Dean Moje and EDAC have also offered opportunities for SOE faculty to engage in discussions and professional development related to decentering Whiteness. Students, faculty, and staff members in our academic departments and operational units have organized numerous other dije activities too. For instance, Dr. Maren Oberman taught several sections of the new course EDUC 719: The Pedagogies of DIJE for graduate student instructors. All of the activities described have been significant to our dije work! Plans are now underway to set objectives for SOE’s 2018-19 dije agenda, and diversifying curriculum across SOE academic programs will be a major goal.

In addition to what is featured in this Expansions issue, we hope that a myriad of other dije activities and programming have enhanced the SOE community this academic year. Indeed, it has been a pleasure to have many community members attend the SOE dije Community Conversations that Dean Moje and I have hosted, along with the SOE dije Meet & Greet gathering co-sponsored by SOE’s Education Diversity Advisory Council (EDAC), plus the town hall discussions on free speech, the dije development workshops presented by Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni, the dije Book Club discussion, a fireside chat with international students, and the Black Male Roundtable discussion group. Dean Moje and EDAC have also offered opportunities for SOE faculty to engage in discussions and professional development related to decentering Whiteness. Students, faculty, and staff members in our academic departments and operational units have organized numerous other dije activities too. For instance, Dr. Maren Oberman taught several sections of the new course EDUC 719: The Pedagogies of DIJE for graduate student instructors. All of the activities described have been significant to our dije work! Plans are now underway to set objectives for SOE’s 2018-19 dije agenda, and diversifying curriculum across SOE academic programs will be a major goal.

As I conclude my term as SOE dije’s Implementation Lead, I am grateful to have been inspired and to have learned much by working with the School’s devoted administrative leadership and wonderful students, faculty, and staff. I hope this issue of Expansions honors our community’s successes and motivates us to continue making significant dije strides!

SOE’s 2017-18 dije Leadership Team 
The SOE dije leadership team includes: Dean Elizabeth Birr Moje, Dr. Camille Wilson the U-M Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion/dije Implementation Lead for SOE, Drs. Matt Diemer and Henry Meares who co-chair the SOE Education Diversity Advisory Committee (EDAC), members of EDAC, Associate Dean Shari Saunders who also serves as the faculty liaison for inclusive teaching, Dr. Philip Bowman, CSHPE dije Implementation Coordinator, and Dr. Carla Shalaby the dije Assessment & Reporting Coordinator. SOE dije Graduate Student Staff Assistant Eloise Reid and SOE Educational Justice Intern Dexter Moore, Jr. have also been integral to our dije implementation efforts. Please feel free to contact any of these team members with your feedback, questions, concerns, and ideas. A full list of EDAC members can be found online. Additional information about SOE dije efforts, including our calendar, strategic plan, and official reports can always be found on the SOE Diversity page.