How can higher education foster equity while serving a variety of constituents, and what does it look like? These questions—among many others—will be on the table when UMass Amherst hosts the virtual Higher Education Equity Summit on Friday, April 24 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., EST.
Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to by Sunday, April 19.
The summit, funded by a grant from the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), is a part of a larger global initiative led by Chrystal A. George Mwangi on equity in higher education, with related events on campuses in Ghana, India, South Africa, Ireland and England.
Gerardo Blanco, associate professor and associate academic director at the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, will serve as keynote speaker. Blanco, who earned his doctorate from UMass Amherst, focuses his research on the intersections of quality, branding and position, taking in a context of global competition in higher education.
A panel discussion featuring Kalpen Trivedi, associate provost for international programs; Anna Branch, Rutgers University’s vice chancellor for diversity, inclusion and community Engagement; and Amer Ahmed, CEO of AFA Diversity Consulting, LLC; will follow Blanco’s address. The group will discuss and debate what “success” means in the university context, how it can be achieved given the myriad of local and global pressures impacting higher education, and how higher education improves or hinders equity (locally and globally) in its pursuit of success.
“In higher education we use the term ‘success’ a lot, but what outcomes are we really seeking to address? For campus administrators working in their specific areas, how are we really defining what it means? Is there a common understanding of it? Is it about serving the university or serving the community?” says associate professor for higher education Chrystal George Mwangi. Mwangi co-organized the event, along with professor Sangeeta Kamat and assistant professor Jonique Childs.
This event is co-sponsored by the ing Diversity, Inclusion and Student Success Project; Worldwide Universities Network; UMass College of Education; UMass International Programs Office; Center for Student Success ; and the UMass Undergraduate Student Success Office. Contact Chrystal GeorgeMwangi with questions.