UNC Launches First Stage of 10-Year Strategic Plan
The University’s mission is to empower people and communities to realize their fullest potential. To that end, the leadership team intends to take specific actions to make UNC a “Students First” university. The strategic plan outlines specific
actions and tactics the university will take in the first two years of the plan, including measuring results.
To support the strategic plan,
UNC Center for Urban Education Director Dr. Rosanne Fulton asked the Center’s faculty and mentors to help formulate ways they could create a student-ready campus and prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion—two of the actions the University promises to take in the next two years.
Creating a Student-Ready Campus
Two factors UNC has identified in creating a student-ready campus are fostering students’ sense of belonging and continually improving the quality of students’ engagement. One way the Center for Urban Education improves the quality of engagement is by incorporating students’ experiences into assignments and classroom activities.
Another way CUE faculty improve the quality of engagement is to use culturally responsive teaching strategies in courses, such as:
- Engaging students in deeper discussions, which helps them work through their ideas and improve their writing (known as “cognitive chewing”), and
- Giving students classroom time to think, talk, and listen.
Prioritizing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
A second key action the strategic plan specifies is prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Center commits to supporting this action by:
- Honoring students’ personal and community networks,
- Bringing real-world issues into the classroom,
- Using students’ homes, neighborhoods, passions, heritage language, and everyday activities as living laboratories, and
- Complementing course curriculum with articles, video games, and song lyrics that students can relate to.
In addition, the Center for Urban Education faculty and mentors strive to build strong relationships between faculty and students and facilitate strong relationships between students. Fulton said, “We’ve seen that those student-to-student relationships build students’ confidence and result in stronger academic achievement.”
“I am proud and excited to support UNC’s mission,” said Fulton. “The faculty and mentors at the Center strongly believe in empowering people and communities to achieve their full potential. We will do what it takes to foster a Students First environment."
