Commitment to the Commonwealth鈥檚 Equity Agenda
NSCC鈥檚 Vision for Transforming the Future with Our Community is closely aligned with the Commonwealth鈥檚 Equity Agenda, New Undergraduate Experience, and the Strategic Plan for Racial Equity.
These MA Board of Higher Education and Department of Higher Education initiatives frame what is at stake for the majority of students of color in the Commonwealth served by our community colleges.
The framework for NSCC鈥檚 Support Services for Student Success outlines an approach that looks at students holistically in order to address this failure. NSCC鈥檚 plan aligns strategic planning priorities with these key state-level initiatives to diversify and support Massachusetts college students.
Alignment and Advocacy
A crosswalk of how NSCC鈥檚 Transforming the Future with Our Community priorities align with state equity and student support initiatives is broken down below.
Expand AllCollapse AllAlign the college with regional needs to spur academic innovation and holistic student support.
STUDENT BILL OF RIGHTS
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Students have the right to clear, accessible, and understandable financial information, as well as affordable and predictable education costs Inclusive, anti-racist, and culturally responsive curricula and pedagogies
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Equitable access to experiential learning opportunities, in and out of the classroom
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Diverse and supportive faculty and staff who are equity-minded higher education practitioners
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Welcoming, inclusive, and safe campus environments, and timely and relevant pathways to graduation and employment
NEW UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE (NUE)
Crosscutting Recommendations:
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Make racial equity and justice the guiding paradigm of Massachusetts鈥� curricular and co-curricular undergraduate experience.
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Prioritize the access, success, retention, persistence, and graduation of Black, Hispanic, Asian, Indigenous, and other racially minoritized students.
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Partner with students, cultural and community-based organizations, and industry leaders.
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Offer ongoing racial educational equity professional development for all public higher education trustees, leaders, and employees to ensure they have the competencies needed to translate the values of the Equity Agenda into action.
NUE Category #1: Admissions, Enrollment & Transfer
NUE Category #2: The Curriculum
NUE Category #3: Equity-Minded Teaching, Learning & Assessment
NUE Category #4: High Impact Practice and Co-Curriculum
NUE Category #5: Hiring, Supporting, and Retaining Faculty of Color
NUE Category #6: Holistic Student Support
STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR SUPPORT SERVICES FOR STUDENT SUCCESS
Implementation Pathways:
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Focus on Talent and Professional Development
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Expand Access and Accelerate Early Momentum
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Strengthen Institutional Connections with Communities
Promote Social Justice at NSCC and in the Community by delivering Equitable Student Outcomes.
STUDENT BILL OF RIGHTS
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Inclusive, anti-racist, and culturally responsive curricula and pedagogies
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Diverse and supportive faculty and staff who are equity-minded higher education practitioners
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Welcoming, inclusive, and safe campus environments and timely and relevant pathways to graduation and employment
NEW UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE (NUE)
Croscutting Recommendations:
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Ensure that data is both disaggregated and intersectional at both the campus and system level.
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Prioritize the access, success, retention, persistence, and graduation of Black, Hispanic, Asian, Indigenous, and other racially minoritized students.
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Offer ongoing racial educational equity professional development for all public higher education trustees, leaders, and employees to ensure they have the competencies needed to translate the values of the Equity Agenda into action.
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Institutionalize equity-based policy and program audits at every level of the system.
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Create accountability structures to ensure that progress toward racial equity and justice is being made at every level of the institution.
NUE Category #3: Equity-Minded Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
NUE Category #5: Hiring, Supporting, and Retaining Faculty of Color
NUE Category #6: Holistic Student Support
STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR SUPPORT SERVICES FOR STUDENT SUCCESS
Implementation Pathways:
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Cultivate Campus Climate & Belonging
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Focus on Talent & Professional Development
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Expand Access and Accelerate Early Momentum
Build a transformative, future-focused environment for and with the NSCC community.
STUDENT BILL OF RIGHTS
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Diverse and supportive faculty and staff who are equity-minded higher education practitioners
-
Welcoming, inclusive, and safe campus environments and timely and relevant pathways to graduation and employment
NEW UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE (NUE)
Croscutting Recommendations:
-
Prioritize the access, success, retention, persistence, and graduation of Black, Hispanic, Asian, Indigenous, and other racially minoritized students
-
Institutionalize equity-based policy and program audits at every level of the system
-
Create accountability structures to ensure that progress toward racial equity and justice is being made at every level of the institution
NUE Category #1: Admissions, Enrollment, and Transfer
NUE Category #5: Hiring, Supporting, and Retaining Faculty of Color
NUE Category #6: Holistic Student Support
STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR SUPPORT SERVICES FOR STUDENT SUCCESS
Implementation Pathways:
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Cultivate Campus Climate & Belonging
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Focus on Talent and Professional Development
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Create a Data Enhanced Student Success Ecosystem
Measures of 鈥渆xpansive excellence鈥�
The metrics through which NSCC tracks progress towards achieving strategic planning priorities are also aligned with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts鈥� equity initiatives.
The Strategic Planning Metrics Team reviewed the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education Strategic Plan for Racial Equity and New Undergraduate Experience (NUE) metrics guidance as well as PMRS key indicators to develop plan metrics that were also aligned with state reporting systems and equity guidance.
NUE encourages institutions to collect qualitative data from racially minoritized students and to disaggregate quantitative student outcome data by race and to consider 鈥渆xpansive excellence鈥� when defining outcome measures, noting that:
[NUE] recommendations will push institutions to redefine measures of success, moving beyond completion, retention, and graduation rates to measure student engagement, belonging, post-graduate success, and individual and community impact; and above all to move into expansive excellence that increases racially minoritized students鈥� success鈥攁nd thereby the success of all students including all racially minoritized groups and White students and with consideration for intersectional identities.
NSCC strategic planning metrics seek to center equity by focusing on 鈥渆xpansive excellence鈥� measures of student life outcomes that go beyond college completion and include successful employment beyond college as well as four-year college completion rates.
NSCC鈥檚 student access, retention, and completion metrics will also be disaggregated by race/ethnicity in order to better track the outcomes achieved by NSCC鈥檚 racially minoritized students. Further, plan metrics
incorporate qualitative data collection through student surveys and focus groups to center student voice in the planning process and to help NSCC staff better understand differences in how historically minoritized students and populations access, engage with, and complete college.
These data collection techniques give a fuller picture of how well the college is engaging with students holistically by exploring where and how historically minoritized NSCC students experience a sense of belonging on campus and how NSCC can better support these students to achieve their goals inside and outside of the classroom.
These bottom-up data collection techniques will also be critical to the development of the NSCC Tactical Plan in Fall 2022.