Below is an update on D&I-related goals and outcomes for the program in Fall 2022. This work is ongoing, and we will provide additional updates at the end of Spring 2023.
- Honors Diversity and Inclusion Committee: The D&I Committee – composed of students, faculty, and staff – met several times in Fall 2022 to discuss programming priorities and possible tasks/initiatives for the year. The Committee welcomes new members at any time and welcomes ideas and suggestions for programming from anyone in the UHP community.
- Learning/Training: Diversity and inclusion topics were integrated into our first-year orientation during Fall 2021 and the successful aspects of that orientation were repeated in our Fall 2022 orientation (August 22 & 23). These included a presentation about microaggressions during our first-year student welcome session, topical breakout discussion sections led by Peer Advisors, and a required orientation workshop led by Dr. Jordan West, Associate Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement. Incoming first-year students had the opportunity to self-select which breakout discussion session to attend, with Peer Advisors opening up the space for students to share concerns. In this way, students had the chance to begin building support networks with Peer Advisors and one another. Dr. Jordan West’s interactive workshop focused on building a welcoming community and provided space and time for students to have open and honest conversations with one another as they began the process of developing an Honors community. Additionally, the UHP continues to focus on communicating to students via the NewsFlash, blog, and course syllabi about the various campus offices and resources where students can access on-campus support including but not limited to Title IX, bias reporting, and the Student Code of Conduct.
- First-year Student Survey: In Fall 2022, first-year students were asked to complete a short survey related to their experiences within the program and the greater GW community. The results have been considered by UHP staff, peer advisors, and the D&I Committee and help to identify initiatives that have been successful as well as those that could be created or improved upon. A number of concerns related to housing and dining came up in the survey. While the UHP has no jurisdiction in these areas, all student concerns were relayed to the proper authorities in Campus Living and Residential Education. Recently, Roslyn Gowens became the acting director of the Mount Vernon Campus. The UHP has been working closely with her and others in her office to advocate for our first-year students.
- Programming: In alignment with the UHP’s goal of building and sustaining a welcoming community through various events and programs, the UHP partnered with the Women’s Leadership Program to host a dinner and presentation/conversation on “Dealing with Imposter Syndrome” (October 2022). The UHP chose to focus on this topic because imposter syndrome had been a major concern in the 2021 first-year student survey. The event was facilitated by Dr. Jameta Barlow, a community health psychologist who is an Assistant Professor of Writing in the University Writing Program and a faculty member in the WLP. Dr. Barlow’s research – including her “Saving Our Sisters Project,” utilizes “decolonizing methodologies to disrupt cardiometabolic syndrome and structural policies adversely affecting Black girls’ and women’s health, intergenerational trauma and perinatal mental health” (see her full bio here). The imposter syndrome presentation/discussion was centered around how imposter syndrome can impact students inside of and outside of the classroom. Additional topics such as concerns with confidence, how to combat negative feelings, and resources on campus were presented in an open dialog format allowing anyone to share their experiences and to learn from one another. While a significant number of students RSVPed for the event, less than half of those who RSVPed actually attended. Unfortunately, lack of attendance follow-through from students limits our ability to offer similar programming in the future.
An additional program that was carried out as a direct result of a student suggestion from the Fall 2022 first-year experience survey was a therapy dog event. Director Kung and the UHP Program Managers hosted this “Therapy Dog Day” immediately before Fall 2022 final exams (December 13). The UHP partnered with the Alliance of Therapy Dogs and were able to provide a space for students to spend time with trained therapy dogs to destress before exams began. Unfortunately, one of the dogs was not able to come at the last minute, but the two dogs that did make it were doted upon by a combined 65 UHP students. We look forward to hosting more events like this in the future.
- Peer Advisor Program: This year, the Peer Advisor Program made intentional efforts to connect UHP first-year students with their Peer Advisors both before and after they arrived on campus. As implemented last year, our standard policy is now to provide incoming students the chance to match with a Peer Advisor based on identity, interests, academic school, and/or major.
During first-year orientation, the Peer Advisors hosted breakout rooms discussions about topics such as being a first-generation student, balancing academics and social life, queer life at GW, and more. The goal of these discussions was to foster community within the UHP and to assist first-year students in making connections with one another.
Throughout the semester, Peer Advisors hosted a variety of events on the Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon Campuses with the continued goal of fostering community. These events included museum trips, cookie decorating, scavenger hunts, and community visits. Also – for the first time – Peer Advisor held “drop-in office fours” weekly, providing students with the opportunity to stop by with any questions or concerns.
We are extremely thankful for our Peer Advisors and wanted to recognize their hard work at the end of the semester. First-year students were given the opportunity to share their gratitude by submitting personal shoutouts with our “Peer Advisor appreciation form.” We received responses from 26 students expressing appreciation for the work of their Peer Advisors and passed their kind words along to their Peer Advisors.
- Upper-level UHP Courses/Faculty: The program continues to work closely with the GW administration to give excellent faculty from around the University the opportunity to teach a unique seminar within the Honors Program. There are, of course, many faculty who would love to offer a course within the UHP but who cannot be spared by their departments. We are delighted that Dr. Sharon Hill, Associate Professor of Management, will be joining us in Fall 2023 to teach a course focused on preparing students to lead and collaborate in contemporary teams. In the next few semesters, we are hoping to offer courses focused on Africa and Latin America and are also pursuing the possibility of offering an upper-level course taught entirely in Spanish. Our upper-level course substitution option remains available for students interested in course topics that we cannot currently offer within the program. Director Kung will be holding a “focus group” discussion in early Spring 2023 to hear from students about what other topics they would like to learn about.
