Continuing the tradition of the Equal Opportunity Institute, the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity recently launched the Inclusive Excellence Certificate (IEC). OIED’s Inclusive Excellence and Strategic Practice unit worked to expand on the success of EOI by developing a comprehensive certificate program that could not only have more participants but also be facilitated in the currently necessary virtual environment.  

In this thoughtful and empowering new program, participants will examine several aspects of diversity and inclusion as well as gain skills that will increase their effectiveness in creating workplaces and classrooms that exhibit inclusive excellence.

To achieve and earn the IEC, participants must attend four workshops within the academic year. Three of the workshops are required:

• Unconscious Bias: Insight for Inclusivity 
• The Fundamentals of Equal Opportunity
• The Macro of Microaggressions

The fourth workshop is chosen by the participant from an approved list that is made up of a variety of diversity, equity and inclusion topics.

The response to the launch was overwhelmingly positive, with 200 participants registering in less than 24 hours. While this unfortunately brought the IEC program to its capacity for the current year, it is more than double the participants OIED was able to accommodate in the previous iteration of the Equal Opportunity Institute.

• Look for an opportunity to sign up for the certificate in the spring semester.   
• For more information please see Inclusive Excellence Certificate.

Dave Johnson is interim director of education and campus engagement in the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity.