Institutes + Centers
The Center of Diversity and Inclusion advances the institutional mission of graduating socially responsible practitioners by delivering quality programs, trainings, services and resources that support the success of all community members on Adler University’s three campuses. We also critically review existing policies to assess for equity and inclusion and develop new policies to create a more inclusive environment.
Our work addresses fundamental areas of Inclusive Excellence – access and success, institutional climate and intergroup relations, education and scholarship, institutional infrastructure and community engagement. In collaboration with administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni and community partners, we strive to integrate the Inclusive Excellence framework into the fabric of the University.
Confidential consultations and advisement are available for faculty, staff, students and other University affiliates. Our services cover a wide range of topics, including transforming curricula, enhancing diversity recruitment efforts, managing difficult/sensitive conversations with colleagues and students and sustaining inclusive classroom practices. We also facilitate dialogues among individuals and small groups and support departments with developing diversity and inclusion plans for their respective areas.
In collaboration with the Offices of People and Culture and Institutional Research, we analyze data on the recruitment, success, and retention of Adler’s historically underrepresented students, faculty, and staff to develop appropriate action plans. Additionally, we research best practices on a range of topics and provide individuals and departments recommendations based on the current literature. Bi-annually, we launch a diversity climate survey for faculty, staff, students, and administrators to ensure we are making progress towards our goals.
We coordinate the selection of scholars and experts to address a range of topics, such as implicit bias and managing difficult conversations in the classroom. We also provide internal training sessions, such as Safe Space (focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer populations), Inclusive Language, Principles of Inclusive Pedagogy, and Generational Diversity. Upon request, we design customized presentations to meet unique departmental needs.
We deliver programs that bring an increased awareness of equity, diversity and inclusion and/or events that represent underserved communities, often in collaboration with our Campus Diversity Committees. Our programming promotes a learning community that values varied ideas and experiences that reinforce pluralism, one of Adler’s institutional values.
We offer a range of resources to support Adler community members. Examples include an Inclusive Pedagogy website, a flowchart that identifies where to report incidents (e.g., biased incidents, discrimination, sexual assault, etc.) and diversity recruitment and hiring materials. Our office also maintains queery.org, a website that lists LGBTQIA+ resources for faculty, students, staff and the greater Chicagoland area.
The Center regularly works with the University’s Diversity Committee, student, academic, and student affairs leaders to design, develop, facilitate, and assess programs and resources.
The Diversity Scholars Program provides an opportunity for undergraduate students from underrepresented/underserved backgrounds to learn more about graduate study in psychology at Adler University. It is designed to increase diversity among graduate students in various areas of psychology.
More specifically, this program is designed to:
Students who attend the Diversity Scholars Program that decide to apply to Adler University, will receive an application fee waiver. Additionally, those that are accepted into one of Adler University’s academic programs will also receive a Diversity Scholars Scholarship that provides a 50% tuition waiver! Please note, participants must attend and participate for the entire time of the program to qualify for any scholarship opportunities.
Students must meet the following eligibility requirements:
Please submit the following application materials:
Students must submit all application materials by Friday, September 10, 2021 to [email protected]. Please feel free to email us with any further questions about the program.
The Diversity Leadership Program (DLP) at Adler is sponsored by the Center for Diversity and Inclusion to provide opportunities for Psy.D.-level students of color to find community, develop a sense of belonging and receive academic support, resources, and advisement.
For more information about D.L.P please contact [email protected] with subject line Diversity Leadership Program Information request
The DFI Fellowship Program’s goal is to increase the number of minoritized full-time tenure track faculty and staff at colleges and universities in Illinois.
Admission
Applicants must be admitted to a Master’s or Doctoral program at Adler at the time of application. If awarded, the applicant must enroll as a full-time student (12 hours). DFI Fellowship Program Applications must be submitted to La’Shawna Anderson.
The 2024-2025 application is available now.
Illinois Residency
To be classified as an Illinois resident, an applicant must have received a baccalaureate degree from an accredited educational institution in Illinois or received a baccalaureate degree from an accredited educational institution outside of Illinois and has lived in Illinois for a period of at least three years prior to applying for a grant.
Underrepresented Groups
African American, Hispanic American, Native American, Asian American, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. “Traditionally underrepresented minority group” means any of the minority groups designated in the Act which are represented in Illinois post-baccalaureate enrollment at a percentage rate less than the percentage of the minority group’s representation in the total Illinois population. The Illinois Board of Higher Education shall determine annually which groups are underrepresented based upon census data and annual graduate enrollment reports from Illinois institutions of higher education.
Academic Ability
Academic Pursuit
Applicants in all academic disciplines are eligible. Applicants must be pursuing a doctorate or master’s degree. Applicants must plan on pursuing a career in teaching or administration at an Illinois post-secondary institution or Illinois higher education governing board.
Financial Need
Applicants must demonstrate financial need. Applicants must have a financial need of at least $10,000 for eligibility. Please complete the Federal Applications for Student Financial Aid (FAFSA) must be filed each year to maintain eligibility. Information regarding the student’s Total Direct Expenses minus the Expected Family Contribution [EFC] determines financial need [Need].
Terms of the Award
Upon graduation or separation from the DFI institution, an award recipient must agree to actively seek and accept when offered a teaching or non-teaching full-time appointment at an Illinois post-secondary educational institution or accept a position as an employee of this state in an administrative, educational-related position equal to the number of years for which he or she receives the DFI fellowship. Students failing to fulfill this condition of the award shall be required to repay 20 percent of their cumulative award amount, subject to revision by the DFI Program Board.
The DFI Award is available for a maximum of four years:
Doctorate Degree – Four (4) Years
Master Degree – Two (2) Years
Master’s degree holders funded through DFI are eligible to apply for additional years of support for doctoral study; total DFI funding is not to exceed four years
Contact:
DFI Fellowship Program Institutional Representative, La’Shawna Anderson [email protected]
In addition to the programs listed here, we can also customize programs on a needs basis.
Adler University promotes the development and maintenance of inclusive, socially just pedagogy as part of its commitment to graduating socially responsible practitioners. To this end, the Center for Diversity and Inclusion offers numerous opportunities and resources for learning, practicing, and gaining feedback on inclusive pedagogy.
Workshops, teaching circles, and other training for faculty are developed to meet faculty members’, departmental, academic program, and campus goals. Resources – such as the Inclusive Pedagogy Website – are collaboratively created with partners like Disabilities Services and the Library to provide self-paced guidance and ready to access suggestions for inclusive teaching practice.
The Director for Inclusive Teaching Excellence, Cheryl Richardson, also provides observations, conversations, and consultations on inclusive, antiracist, and/or social justice teaching, creating a welcoming syllabus, equitably engaging and assessing students, universal design for learning, and other teaching concerns.
What is inclusive, socially just framework for teaching?
Teaching inclusively means embracing student diversity as an asset to student learning and designing and teaching courses in ways that foster talent in all students.
Adler University’s mandate to nurture socially responsible practitioners means that fostering talent in all students adds an orientation towards social justice. Inclusive, socially just teaching therefore builds on our understanding of inclusive teaching because it requires a recognition of socially oppressive barriers and a commitment to dismantling them.
An inclusive, socially just educator thus understands how learning works and the fundamentals of their discipline, embraces diversity, designs courses that address the needs of students who are historically and continuously marginalized in higher education, actively challenges the processes and structures of oppression that have shaped our institutions of learning, and prepares students to challenge these systems in the world.
Educators aim to correct historical and contemporary inequality in educational practices by destabilizing power, bias, and privilege in the classroom. They intentionally create structures that integrate marginalized experiences and knowledge and interrogate inequality with students. Both educator and students act as equal agents of social change.
Why is this kind of teaching important?
Inclusive, socially just teaching responds to moral, civil, and learning imperatives.
It is morally justified to work to eradicate educational structures and processes that reified hierarchies of human value. Higher education normalizes white, cis-male, heterosexist, middle and upper class, ableist ways of being in its approaches to student engagement, assessment of learning, and evaluation of knowledge claims. Inclusive teaching with a social justice lens works against this tendency.
Our civil society and classrooms are composed of various groups of people who once had no voice in our democracy or status in our schools. Current students are more racially, ethnically, and gender diverse and have more diagnosed disabilities than ever before, and they deserve adequate engagement and excellent opportunities to learn. Inclusive teaching embraces this diversity and uses it to help student thrive.
Intentional inclusion improves learning by improving students’ sense of belonging as well as increasing innovative thinking and cognitive complexity.
What does inclusive, socially just teaching at Adler University look like?
Our educators cultivate a respectful classroom climate that engages student diversity, challenges problems, and dismantles known barriers to student learning. Our faculty regularly:
Adler University is expanding its Office for Diversity and Inclusion with additional staffing and resources to form the Center for Diversity and Inclusion. The Center will lead efforts to create an equitable, diverse, and inclusive community that supports the success of students, faculty, and staff across campuses.
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In February, the Adler University Vancouver Campus, with support from the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, began an Elder-in-Residence program as part of an initiative to build connections and increase education and awareness of the experiences of First Nations communities.
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The Adler University Center for Diversity and Inclusion recently launched the Chicago Campus Black Author Series to elevate Black voices and bring community members together across lines of difference to discuss diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice.
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