2019 Continuums of Service Conference

We contextualize a theoretical commitment to inclusivity as a process from articulating mission, investigating program practices, collecting and analyzing program data, and tackling aspects of program design that are taken for granted – applications. We offer a case study of how approaching how students applie for experiential programs as being pedagogical and how, as we determined the potential barriers for access in those processes, we were better able to create a vision for programming that foregrounded access and student development aligned with our center’s mission. The process involved strategic meetings to generate shared understandings and goals around access and inclusion with multiple institutional partners. Initial qualitative data analyses of applications propelled further conversations about their curricular and gateway role in our experiential programs. Further quantitative data analysis of program participants along with mission-centered conversations resulted in the development of a revised program vision and application materials with intentional design, and the development of curriculum for student leaders to foreground questions of access as they selected student-participants for programs they lead. After presentation of this case study, we will facilitate workshopping strategic program design and best practices in the application processes. Participants are encouraged to bring program application materials to workshop.