Oregon State University health faculty are using grant dollars to help create a culture of belonging and to ensure teaching practices are rooted in equity.
In the past two years, OSU’s College of Health has received grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation totaling $475,000 to work on “Transforming Academia for Equity.”
The 10-person guiding team leading the grant has developed two components for the college to focus on to become a more accessible and welcoming place for people of all backgrounds.
“We try to engage communities in work that provides resources in an equitable way and addresses disparities, either in health outcomes or the way that families and communities are able to access learning and education and well-being across the state,” said Jonathan Garcia, associate professor and director of OSU’s on-campus Master’s in Public Health program. “It’s an integral part to who we are both as a college and a land grant university.”
Garcia is co-leading the grant with Kate MacTavish, associate professor in Human Development and Family Sciences and the college’s director of equity, diversity and inclusion.
First-generation graduate students at a panel and pizza party co-hosted by Transforming Academia for Equity and the Pride Center.
Component 1 is centered around nurturing a culture of belonging for students, faculty and staff. As part of this, the College of Health now has Latine, LGBTQIA2S+, first-generation and disability affinity groups for members of the college to find community with others who share aspects of their identities.
The affinity groups have also partnered with the OSU Pride Center, Dreaming Beyond Borders and the local nonprofit Casa Unidos Latinos to extend their outreach and community-building, Garcia said.
Another feature of the belonging component is the new JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) Hub, a physical space in Waldo 305 with a lending library of books focused on equity. The hub recently added a collection of children’s books, with the hopes of creating an affinity group for parents and kids that will have a reading focus, Garcia said. The hub also offers free printing services for students.
Books in the lending library are available for adults and children in the Waldo 305 JEDI Hub.
Later this year, the Transforming Academia for Equity guiding team will engage in training about gender diversity and trans experiences.
Component 2 focuses on advancing equity-based curricula and involves the formation of an “Equity Matters” community of practice. Led by College of Health instructor Ashley Vaughn, the group will meet throughout winter term to plan specific actions the college and individual instructors can take to advance anti-racist curricula in their teaching and learning. Revised curricula may receive an “Equity Matters” badge indicating they met goals to elevate equity and identifying those courses to students.
“Equity is integral to all aspects of our work, not just an added checkbox or a component that creates more work,” Garcia said. “We’re looking at it as a core part of our mission as stewards to the rest of the state.”
The 22 participants of the community of practice will include College of Health faculty, graduate teaching assistants, community college instructors and high school teachers, aiming to improve the high-school-to-college pipeline for historically underrepresented students.
The grant guiding team met through summer and fall terms with a group of students to discuss the training modules the community will engage in.
The community of practice will also be able to provide ongoing support to those teaching Difference, Power and Oppression courses, so the group can participate directly in some of the big changes the college is undergoing.
These curricular changes will not only make the college more welcoming and accessible, but also more desirable for prospective health students, MacTavish said
“The more we center equity as a public health issue, the more attractive our college is going to be for the students that are out there today looking at programs,” she said.