Committees and Initiatives

Student Equity

A general definition of Student Equity is parity in the achievement and success of all student populations. Equity also includes open access to college courses and programs for all members of our service area. The idea is that the student population of a college should be representative of the population of its service area and that success for the various groups of that student population should be equitable. We may think of age, gender, ethnicity, national origin, language experience, disability status, military service, socio-economic status, sexual orientation and gender identity, or other relevant identities as we examine issues of equity at our college. Where there are discrepancies in outcomes among identifiable groups, the institution has the obligation to seek remedies for those discrepancies.

Faculty Recruitment and Retention

TMCC's Faculty Recruitment and Retention Plan, developed by a task force comprised of faculty and administrators, was a response to the Board of Regents' call to develop a faculty recruitment and retention plan which specifically addressed the lack of diversity in the recruitment and retention of full-time, tenure-track faculty. In summary, there are two main goals of the Faculty Recruitment and Retention plan are:

To attract full-time tenure-track faculty reflective of the available qualified labor pool when tenure-track positions are available;
To develop successful strategies to retain full-time tenure track faculty.

Curriculum

Diversity in the curriculum enhances critical thinking by raising new issues and perspectives, by broadening the variety of experiences shared by confronting stereotypes on social, religious, economic, and political issues, on issues of gender, sexual orientation, and race/ethnicity, on substantive issues, on personal experiences and exposes students to different perspectives by allowing a broader variety of experiences to share, and by raising new issues and perspectives specific to an array of courses. Research shows that student and faculty benefit from developing a diverse curriculum.

Student Cultural Diversity Center

The Cultural Diversity Center strives to enhance the college experience for students of diverse backgrounds by providing programs, activities, and services that support the academic and social success for all students at TMCC.

Supplier Inclusion

The Supplier Inclusion Initiative strives to diversify the base of suppliers and subcontractors that TMCC engages and to enhance the utilization of local vendors whenever possible.

Community Building

The Community Building Initiative is examining ways to develop a student mentoring program, outline and identify possible programs or events to increase opportunities for student interaction outside of the classroom and to become involved in the campus.

Community Engagement

"Community Engagement describes the collaboration between higher education institutions and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity."

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Carnegie Classification Project, 2005

Community engagement represents broad thinking about collaborations between higher education and the community and intentionally encourages important qualities such as mutuality and reciprocity.

Committees

Committees work closely with the TMCC Equity and Inclusion Office and play a vital role in the operational aspects of the unit. The committees provide coordination, expertise, opportunities for participation, transparency, and information and assistance in support of the functions of the Equity and Inclusion office. The committees serve to assist with continual improvement in the selected service areas and provide feedback loop to constituent groups.

College Resource Center

The Equity and Inclusion Office is responsible for providing a holistic and integrated vision on all major equity, diversity and inclusion efforts at TMCC. The desired outcome of these efforts is to achieve a TMCC environment that it is welcoming and supportive for students, faculty, and staff, regardless of personal experiences, values, and worldviews that arise from differences of culture and circumstance including race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, language, abilities/disabilities, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geographic region and more.

TMCC currently has many active diversity programs and initiatives, which the Equity and Inclusion Office is charged to support, infuse, help shape, and transform. Additionally, the Equity and Inclusion Office will have the opportunity to develop and implement new initiatives and programs to provide focus and accountability for equity, diversity, inclusion and outreach across all parts of TMCC.