Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Land Acknowledgment 

We are honored to acknowledge that the Community Colleges of Spokane, and our main campuses for Spokane Falls and Spokane Community College, are located on the traditional and sacred homelands of the Spokane Tribe. We also provide services in a region that includes the traditional and sacred homelands of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Kalispel Tribe and Nez Perce Tribe.

We pay our respect to Tribal elders both past and present as well as to all Indigenous people today. This land holds their cultural DNA and we are honored and grateful to be here on their traditional lands. We give thanks to the legacy of the original people and their descendants and pledge to honor their stewardship and values.

CCS Equity Statement

CCS believes that access to high-quality education in a safe and inclusive environment is the right of all individuals and imperative for the continued advancement of a strong democracy and workforce. We also believe higher education institutions have an obligation to work toward and demonstrate progress in ensuring equity amongst their students, faculty and staff. Equity is grounded in the principle of fairness.  In higher education, equity refers to ensuring that each student receives what they need to be successful through the intentional design of the college experience. 

Black Lives Matter – Letter from President Brockbank
SCC Diversity, Equity, and Global Awareness Committee Statement
Chancellor’s Statement

Diversity, Equity, and Global Awareness (DEGA) Committee at Spokane Community College is a diverse committee connecting faculty, students, and staff that are committed to advancing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at SCC for all.

Committee members are volunteers and either self-nominated or nominated by their supervisor to serve for a two year term on the college wide committee.

The Diversity, Equity, and Global Awareness (DEGA) committee at Spokane Community College (SCC) presents this biannual Equity, Diversity, Inclusion Strategic Plan to the college as a path to becoming a more equitable and inclusive institution. The previous EDI Strategic Plan is available to view via the SCC intranet.

In January of 2022, the SCC executive leadership at Spokane Community College which includes President Kevin Brockbank, Vice-President of Instruction Jenni Martin, Vice President of Student Services Glen Cosby, and Senior Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Planning Roy Caligan received notice that all Community and Technical Colleges in the state of Washington were required to complete a campus climate assessment for faculty, staff and students. A report is to be submitted to the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges by July 1, 2022.

Dr. Caligan researched and purchased the CCSSE Race/Ethnicity Pilot survey to be conducted to students and put together a survey for faculty and staff based on his research of employee campus climate surveys. Consultation was done with the Diversity, Equity, Global Awareness (DEGA) co-chairs Michelle Wise-Gendusa and Guillermo Espinosa to share the survey with the DEGA committee which includes faculty, staff, and students. Feedback was received and the survey went out May 11, 2022, with three weeks for faculty/staff to complete the survey. The survey closed on May 27th, and we received 180 responses from SCC faculty and staff.

The purpose of this report is to share the results with all employees at Spokane Community College and the offer insight and direction to SCC’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan. Listening and Feedback sessions will follow this report with SCC’s constituents.

In May 2023, teams at Spokane Community College (SCC) and specific SCC subcommittees dedicated to the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative, partnered with Strategic Research Associates to conduct a qualitative listening and feedback collection project to evaluate current lived experiences among faculty, staff and students about racism, diversity, ethnicity, and equity topics experienced through their engagement with the college.

The college has been specifically tasked with conducting this research due to the requirements it faces in meeting the needs of Washington Senate Bill (SB) 5227 which requires annual listening and feedback sessions on DEI to be conducted at institutions of higher education (IHE).

For the full summary of these findings, click here.

Safe Campus Advocates

Safe Campus Advocates is a professional development training program offered to faculty and staff at SCC, SFCC, and the CCS district office every year.

At the exploratory levels, it aims to increase knowledge about the barriers faced by marginalized populations to raise the comfort, knowledge, and skill levels of to work effectively with these student groups. At the intermediate and advanced levels, it aims to train dedicated faculty and staff to serve as advocates and navigators for students from these groups.

Stand-alone workshop modules are taught by subject matter experts using interactive pedagogy, with the goal of having immediate relevance to each participant in their own job. Participants receive a date-stamped badge for each module completed, which they can choose to display as a signal of their status and to indicate the recency of their training.

Trainings have been offered with the following emphases: working students of color, students with disabilities, students from intergenerational poverty, first-generation students, veteran students, LGBTQIA+ students, international students, formerly incarcerated students, students with trauma/mental health challenges, accessibility in an online class, using data in advocacy work, and allyship.
 

Teaching and Learning Center

At SCC Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) we believe faculty success leads to student success.
Our mission is to facilitate an atmosphere of collaboration, collegiality, inclusivity, diversity, and recognition of peer excellence by providing space and resources for the SCC community to nurture teaching and learning strategies in support of student success.

The center offers events with one goal in mind: improving your work with students immediately. Professional development opportunities offered through book discussion groups, with books often offering insight into systemically marginalized populations and their experience. The TLC often partners with Safe Campus Advocates, the Center for Inclusion and Diversity, and the District Equity Council to bring trainings to faculty and staff at SCC.

Search Advocates at CCS

A Search Advocate is a volunteer who serves on our screening committees to assist us to meet our goals of conducting a fair, equitable, and inclusive selection process. We aim to select candidates solely on factors related to job performance, interrupting our unintentional bias and eliminating unnecessary barriers. While Search Advocates do not score application materials, they play a vital role in position description development, recruitment, screening, interviews, references, evaluation, and integration of the new faculty or staff member into the institution.  In partnership with the search chair, search committee members, and hiring official, the search advocate affirms SCC’s commitment to inclusion.

After our first Search Advocates training in 2015, each year we train additional volunteers to serve in this role. A trained Search Advocate has served on every screening committee at SCC since 2020. Search Advocates it is now a district-wide program, and approximately 33% of CCS employees have completed the training.

Diversity is a representation of individual identities, intersectionality, and differences that bring rich perspectives to the environment and conversations. Examples of diversity include, but are not limited to, differences in race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs or other ideologies.  

Equity requires the elimination of systemic barriers that have been deeply entrenched in systems of inequality and oppression. Equity achieves procedural and outcome fairness, promotes dignity, honor, and respect for all people. Equity ensures everyone has full access to the opportunities, power, and resources they need to flourish and achieve their full potential (Adapted from the WA 2020 Office of Equity Task Force).  

Inclusion involves engaging all individuals and groups through deliberate, consistent, and action-based decision making and transparent communication at SCC. For inclusion to happen, there must be space where the inherent worth and dignity of all people are recognized, systemic and institutional barriers are removed, and underrepresented populations feel supported, respected, and valued, resulting in equitable outcomes for all.

Culturally competent: The ability to successfully interact with people of different backgrounds and recognize differences in experience. Being culturally competent is a continual process that involves ongoing critical examination of one’s attitudes, awareness, knowledge, and skills in order to negotiate cross-cultural differences to complete tasks and/or create positive living, learning and working environments.

Culturally appropriate: Affirming culturally diverse individuals, families, and communities in an inclusive, respectful, and effective manner, including materials and instruction that are inclusive of race, ethnicity, language, cultural background, immigration status, religion, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and sexual behavior.  

Historically marginalized communities: Marginalization means to systemically exclude, ignore, or relegate a group of people to an unimportant or powerless position in society. Marginalized groups have restricted access to resources like education and healthcare for achieving their aims (See also: “Systemically Marginalized”).

Communities of color: Groups of people who are not identified as white (see glossary of terms for whiteness definition), with emphasis on common experiences of racism.

Low-income communities: Applies to an individual whose household's taxable income for the preceding year did not exceed 150% of the poverty line. This includes individuals with less disposable income than others, living paycheck to paycheck within a community, or simply those who struggle to pay bills or are affected by low job security.  

Community organization: Service agencies located in and aimed at making desired improvements to a community or neighborhood’s social health, well-being, and overall functioning. Community organization occurs in geographically, psychosocially, culturally, spiritually, and digitally bounded communities.