The UHP acknowledges that there have historically been, and still are, blindspots in making our program more inclusive for all of our students. We know there is work to be done and we are committed to ensuring that we cultivate a community in which everyone feels a true sense of belonging. More than ever now, we are actively listening to students about their experiences and what we hear motivates us to move urgently with intention to make the necessary changes to ensure that each and every student is well supported and able to thrive in the UHP and at GW more broadly.
Below is an update on D&I-related goals and outcomes for the program in Spring 2021. This work is ongoing, and we still have other areas which need to be considered in more detail in addition to continued work on the topics described below. We will provide additional updates at the end of Fall 2021.
- Learning/Training: On January 8, 2021, the UHP hosted a diversity and inclusion workshop for students led by Dr. Jordan West, Director of University Diversity & Inclusion Programs. The main focus of this workshop was on bias awareness, similar to earlier workshops which faculty, staff and UHP Peer Advisors had taken part in during the Fall. The workshop was mandatory for first-year students (and 74% attended live) and all UHP students were encouraged to attend. First-year students who were unable to attend the live workshop were required to complete a make-up module, which included watching videos and writing a brief reflection on how they could personally apply what they learned to their experience in the University Honors Program. This inaugural workshop will be integrated into annual first-year orientation activities. Students were asked to provide anonymous feedback and most (96%, out of 24 respondents) indicated that the workshop was “excellent” or “good” and that they had learned something new (79%). As part of the feedback, we asked students what additional topics were of interest for discussion and received a number of recommendations that will inform future programming. One suggestion was for more information about microaggressions, so we invited Dr. Jordan West to provide a workshop on recognizing and responding to microaggressions on April 12, 2021. All UHP faculty, staff and students were invited to take part in this workshop and the topic will also be integrated into future first-year orientation activities. Additionally, the UHP continues to focus on communicating to students via the NewsFlash, blog, and course syllabi the various campus offices and resources that all students can access as needed (such as GW’s online bias incident report system, Counseling and Psychological Services, DSS, Academic Commons and the Office of Advocacy & Support).
- First-Year Admissions: In selecting the incoming Fall 2021 Honors class, the UHP evaluated Honors Program applications with special emphasis on building a diverse cohort of students, with a range of intellectual curiosities, backgrounds (i.e., socioeconomic, racial, religious, political), perspectives, and strengths. Students who were selected for admission into the program all demonstrated their capacity to succeed academically in challenging, interdisciplinary courses through their high school records. Beyond this criteria of academic promise, our focus when shaping an incoming class was on whether or not an applicant demonstrated in their UHP essays a commitment to intellectual curiosity, the desire to explore a wide range of subjects, a commitment to critical thinking as opposed to memorizing facts, an eagerness to engage in a diverse community of scholars, and a willingness to actively participate in our first-year living and learning community on the Mount Vernon Campus. During our review, we explicitly recognized that each student is unique and had differing access to classes and extracurricular activities depending on the high school they attended. After acceptance, students received access to a UHP orientation module in which the importance of community, inclusivity, and diversity are emphasized. Additionally, we updated our admissions essay prompts for the 2021-2022 admissions cycle to help better elicit from applicants their views on diversity, community, and intellectual curiosity. This will aid us in identifying applicants who are eager to be pushed outside their comfort zones, to be challenged by their peers, and to learn from different perspectives.
- Sophomore Admissions: The sophomore admissions process had been critically reviewed during the Fall semester and the updated process was implemented this Spring. The updates to the process included more intentional advertisement and outreach to a broad range of potential applicants (i.e. MSSC, CUFR, advising offices), a prospective sophomore student webpage, info sessions with current UHP students, an opportunity for faculty, advisors and other students to nominate potential applicants, and the replacement of the required letter of recommendation with an evaluation form. Like with first-year applications, we also updated the sophomore admissions essay prompts for the 2021-2022 admissions cycle to better elicit from applicants their views on diversity and community. The applications were evaluated based on students’ intellectual curiosity, academic promise, and their commitment to active engagement in a diverse community of scholars. Specifically, we looked for students with unique interests and perspectives, from diverse backgrounds (i.e., socioeconomic, racial, religious, political), and who were seeking out both breadth and depth in their university experience. Our intention was to identify students who wanted to learn from others, who wanted to be challenged by different perspectives, and who wanted to be pushed out of their comfort zones within a collegial and supportive environment.
- Peer Advisor Program: A task force of students, staff, and faculty was created to generate actionable items to implement in the upcoming academic year with the goal of better fostering a sense of inclusivity and community in the UHP by further leveraging our existing peer advising program. Meeting topics included recruiting more diverse peer advisors, how to better match advisees to peer advisors, enhanced training for peer advisors, more support for students, and more inclusive engagement opportunities and events. The task force outcomes included clearly defining the role of the peer advisors and their impact, and increasing recruitment outreach for new peer advisors in the forms of nominations, social media, and informal info sessions. The task force looked at the findings from the current first year student survey, and the desire for more identity based support was a common theme. Other outcomes of the discussion included the creation of a form in which incoming first year students could indicate their preferences for peer advisors. Students will also have the opportunity to identify ways in which they need support throughout the summer and academic year to inform programming and small group discussions during the summer and academic year based on students’ needs and peer advisor experience. Additionally, peer advisor training related to issues of diversity & inclusion will be conducted throughout the next academic year. Peer advisors will also play an increased role in residential community building and the first and second year admissions processes to better promote community engagement and inclusion.
- Curriculum: Faculty continue to update syllabi with new material in individual courses and to discuss across sections the issue of representation in our syllabi and also to increase accessibility and inclusion for all students in our classrooms. The UHP is also beginning a detailed review of our program’s mission and curriculum and the goals and objectives of each of our course types. This academic program review is undertaken as an opportunity to reflect on the current state of our program, to ensure that our academic goals align with our student outcomes, and to identify areas that require modification and improvement.
- Upper-level UHP Courses/Faculty: The program continues to consider how to improve the diversity of upper-level course topic offerings and faculty. One particularly fruitful partnership has been obtaining adjunct faculty recommendations from GW’s Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program (directed by Prof. Kavita Daiya). Thanks to recommendations by Prof. Daiya, we are able to offer a course entitled “Black Feminist Theory – Writing for Social Justice” taught by Prof. Sabrina Curtis in Fall 2021. We will also be offering a course entitled “African Feminisms” taught by Prof. Meri Wimberly in Spring 2022. We solicited course/faculty recommendations from UHP students and, in particular, we received a number of requests for courses in Asian studies and psychology. As a result, we invited Prof. B. N. Hebbar to teach a course in Spring 2022 entitled “Hindu, Buddhist & Daoist Religio-philosophical Traditions in Comparative Perspective.” While, unfortunately, we were not able to secure a GW Psychology faculty member to teach a UHP-specific course for us in the coming year, given the interest in psychology we are able to offer Prof. Dennis Schell’s course “Humanistic Psychology” as a cross-listed option in Fall 2021. Other courses of note scheduled or cross-listed in the coming Fall include Prof. Dennis Schell’s course: “The Bible in the Qur’an” and Prof. Leo Chalupa’s course: “Reading Materials for Underprivileged Children,” which includes an element of community engagement as students will conduct a drive for children’s books and distribute these books to community partners within DC. Finally, as described below, students have the option to petition for an upper-level course substitution in the event that they have an interest in a course which we are not able to offer through the UHP but which may nonetheless conform to the ideals of an Honors course.
- Course Substitution Policy: This Spring, the program announced the implementation of a one-year trial of an upper-level course substitution option for the 2021-22 academic year. The option allows students to petition for one non-UHP course to count toward one UHP upper-level requirement (HONR 2047/2053) in order to provide additional flexibility in our curriculum requirements so that students can investigate topics that we are not currently able to offer within the program. After the trial run, this policy and its associated procedures will be reevaluated and modified as needed before potentially becoming a standard component of the UHP program.
- D&I Webpage: The new UHP website debuted in the Spring, including a page focused on diversity and inclusion within the program. This page will be updated regularly and will be the main avenue by which the program communicates our short, medium, and long-term D&I goals and progress toward those goals.
- First-year Student Survey: In order to better understand the 2020-2021 first-year UHP student experience thus far, we created and sent out a survey to all first-year students on November 23, 2020. With this survey, we hoped to gain insight into ways in which we can grow and better support UHP students, particularly as it pertains to issues of diversity, inclusion, and community. All first-year students were strongly encouraged to respond. We received 44 responses out of a class of 108, and about 66% of respondents identified as a member of a marginalized group (ex: person of color, LGBTQ+, neurodiverse). Poll results are provided on our website. We present the full numerical results and a summary of responses to each open-ended question (rather than direct quotes) to respect respondent anonymity. While we cannot know if the results are fully representative given the opt-in nature of the survey, the results are generally positive while also highlighting areas in need of continued work. A majority of respondents indicated comfort with contributing to class discussions and reaching out when they encounter academic challenges (though it is more difficult for students to reach out for support when encountering personal challenges). Most respondents also felt that UHP faculty, staff and peers respect their identity, though some peer-to-peer disrespect was reported, which indicates a continued need for the program to encourage respect amongst all participants. Most respondents provided positive responses when asked whether course topics, readings and discussion covered diverse perspectives and accompanying written responses also indicated student interest in continuing to have courses expand in this area, which the core UHP faculty are committed to doing and is one of our ongoing program goals. Not surprisingly, students also report feeling a significant amount of “Zoom fatigue” this year, which has impacted interest in and attendance at digital UHP events. We look forward to being back on campus during the 2021-2022 academic year and providing opportunities for community building that this first-year class unfortunately missed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These results are already informing UHP programming and will continue to do so in the future.
