Normandale Community College received an Excellence in Equity award as part of Minnesota State’s Academic and Students Affairs Leadership Awards. These awards recognize faculty, staff, and administrators from around the state for their exemplary achievements in equity, innovation, and collaborative practices that promote student success.
The Excellence in Equity award is presented as a result of advancing an innovative idea, method, or technique that results in improved educational experience, developmental activity or service for a college or university community that has a measured impact on closing the opportunity gap. The programs or activities must have been in operation for at least two years and must be funded directly by the college or university.
The award was centered around Normandale’s investments to achieve the college’s Big 3 Goals and Minnesota State’s Equity 2030 goals. Efforts were centered around training and development, engagement opportunities, communications on a shared vision, data democratization, and the clear application of the college’s strategic framework to decisions (financial, personnel, infrastructure).
The innovation was comprised of many coordinated and intentional investments to build a sustainable culture that embraces our strategic goal to “build a culturally responsive and service-oriented culture” that serves the individual (I), the institutional units (we), the college and our students (WE).
Several specific efforts were cited, including some of the following initiatives.
The IREPO grant, which ran from Fall 2022 through July 2024, and made improvements to Normandale’s dual enrollment (DE) processes, developed student-facing supports for DE students, and developed and launched a pilot academic pathway with one rural and one opportunity zone high school.
Diversifying the Special Education Teacher Corps through supporting building and strengthening pathways for traditional and non-traditional students, particularly, BIPOC students, into our teacher education programs, and creating seamless pathways to four-year universities upon transfer.
Siritfy®, which has the mission to recruit and support Black, African American and African men into elementary and secondary education pathways.
SpedUP recruits and supports BIPOC students as they pursue the first two years of a special education degree.
Title III: Strengthening the Institutions Grant, which is capacity building grant for Normandale to become a student-ready college. Through this grant, Normandale has revised the academic advising model, reimagined the first-year experience for students, while shifting the overall campus culture to be student ready.
These examples are part of a longer list of other initiatives that have helped Normandale focus on being a more student-ready campus and achieving the Big 3 Goals and Minnesota State’s Equity 2030 goals.
Many of these efforts and initiatives helped shape the student-centered atmosphere that led to a 15% increase in enrollment this fall at Normandale. The college continues to strive to do everything it can to be student ready, and a welcoming college where Normandale can see limitless human potential realized.
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