Academic Departments

Communication Sciences and Special Education

Tiered approaches

During 2020-21, faculty in the Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education actively engaged in multiple activities and ongoing improvements to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Most instructors reviewed class materials and made small, but important changes to various items, including pronoun use in class slides, showing a wider representation of people in class videos, and more. Additional changes in individual academic courses included, but were not limited to, the following:

• CMSD 6860 Acquired Cognitive Communication Disorders: Added discussion about social determinants of health and how socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and cultural/linguistic diversity impact health outcomes
• CMSD 6760 Fluency Disorders: Added more specific information about bilingual and multilingual practice
• CMSD 6600 Research Design: Expanded discussion about the shortcomings of science in DEI-related matters, including the unethical treatment of Black people in research, the omission of women and Black people from decades of medical research, and the absence of diversity in scientists
• Expanded communication and culture unit in diagnostics course to include additional or new activities on race, communication, microaggressions, language, and identity
• Expanded discussion about culturally dependent perspectives of parenting in child language courses
• Prepared clinical videos for new guided observation activities that were specifically selected to show clients, families, and clinicians with a wide range of personal characteristics

The department also worked with the College’s DEI Office to create a specialized version of the DEI Graduate Certificate for speech-language pathology master's students. Additionally, several faculty members in the counseling program collaborated with the department’s faculty and students on extending the student ambassadors' statement on pronouns.

Similarly, specific changes related to the clinical curriculum included, but were not limited to the following, all of which were then incorporated into discussions with student clinicians as a group and in individual student-supervisor conversations:

• Clinic director attended “Addressing Racism in Communication Sciences and Disorders Education” webinar
• Clinic paid for supervisor to attend a “Transgender Voice and Speech” course
• Actively increased representation of a wide range of people in clinic marketing and social media presence with respect to race, ethnicity, language, gender identity, and other characteristics
• Expanded collaboration with instructor of medical translation course for future Spanish translation projects, including educational materials, website, and social media
• Introduced National Student Speech Language Hearing Association members to volunteer opportunities with Oasis Católico Santa Rafaela, which provides tutoring for bilingual students in the community
• Faculty members attended "A Conversation with Chella Man,” a virtual interview with a transgender man with a cochlear implant, which was presented by UGA’s LGBTQ Resource Center.
• Faculty members read "How to Be an Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi during summer and fall semesters.

During the 2020-21 academic year, the special education program joined the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR) Center, a technical assistance center designed to help states create coherent professional learning systems that provide opportunities to learn for teachers and leaders.

Part of the process for member institutions of this nationwide organization is to establish annual goals by using a program blueprint for change. The program’s unit set two goals for the year. The first was to examine program syllabi for the substantive inclusion of content related to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of special education and to make course content changes based on the findings of that examination. The second was to undergo the same process in examining the coverage of issues related to social and emotional learning in special education.

To meet these goals, the department created a work group of special education faculty to gather program syllabi and—using the CEEDAR online tools for course review—analyze the program’s course content across 16 standards for culturally responsive teaching (CRT) practice. As part of this process, the faculty members reviewed their own practice and the training they provide related to CRT for teacher candidates in special education.

They found that while there were some strengths related to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion (e.g. emphasis on Universal Design for Learning and differentiated teaching practice, exploration of literacy needs of students with second-language learning needs, etc.), they also found specific areas for growth, including:

• Providing more scholarly resources developed by authors of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
• Displaying more instructional examples that include greater diversity in classroom and educator populations
• Substantive coverage of the systemic disproportional representation of culturally and linguistically diverse populations in special education

In the work group, specific courses were chosen for this work to be done, and individual instructors are currently making those changes for fall 2021 semester courses. Additionally, in the spirit of a tiered approach to educating all students where they are, the program developed a tiered approach to professional development in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Acknowledging that all faculty members in the special education program are in different places in their work in this area, this resource was developed to provide individual faculty with ideas for training supports from the most rudimentary level of understanding to a more sophisticated level of learning.

Kinesiology

Training, events, and outreach

On June 11, 2020, department head Janet Buckworth sent the following email to members in the Department of Kinesiology:

“This email comes at a time when many white people across the world are finally hearing the message, when is it enough? Enough discrimination. Enough systemic racism. Enough senseless loss of life. Enough inequity. Enough brutalization of the Black body. Like Dean Walcott in his message to graduate students, I write to express my solidarity. No longer will we allow our inaction to maintain this racist system. We are committed to action and want your voice to help shape our next steps. Dr. Rose Chepyator-Thomas, Dr. Chris Mojock, and I met to plan what we as a department can do now, in the fall, and in ongoing strategies to provide a way forward.
 
To these ends, please complete the Qualtrics survey, so we can hear from you and move our department forward with a culture of justice and equity."

On July 10, 2020, Buckworth sent an email stating the department’s commitment to making the climate in the department safe and equitable for everyone and to address systemic racism and discrimination. She asked people to respond to a survey about how they are doing and what can be done to make the department more inclusive. The department is grateful to those who responded and shared their thoughts and feelings with honesty and insight. Professor Rose Chepyator-Thomson took those responses and conducted a qualitative analysis, which she shared with the department.

The Kinesiology Leadership Team reviewed the report and discussed what they can and should do. One step will be to establish a task group in the fall to develop an action plan for promoting social justice in the department. They want this task group to include voluntary representation from a range of constituents, especially students.

On January 15, 2021, Buckworth sent the following email to the department:

 “The killings this weekend break my heart, yet again, and bring the violence against women and marginalized groups to the forefront of the national conversation, yet again. We are also reminded of how the radicalization of the pandemic has contributed to discrimination and violence toward Asian Americans. During these awful events remember that we firmly support all the international members of the kinesiology community and acknowledge that for Asian Americans this has been an especially stressful time. We reaffirm inclusion, equity, and justice as fundamental values we live by and that our department is a place for all to be accepted and supported. While heartbroken, this act of terrorism only strengthens my resolve to continue the necessary work ahead of us.”

Other DEI-related events and trainings offered by the Department of Kinesiology this past year include:

15th Annual Global Forum
Sport During Pandemic Times: COVID-19’s Impact on Businesses, Experiences, and Individuals Across Continents

Thursday, March 25, 2021
This important event put into perspective the effects of the pandemic on sports from an international perspective and how to move forward during these challenging times.

Department DEI Training
Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Training

September 30, 2020
Speaker: Kieran Morrow, affirmative action specialist, UGA Equal Opportunity Office
The department offered a Zoom workshop for around 25 faculty, staff, and graduate students.

The department aims to include best practices for work in kinesiology specializations through a social justice, anti-racism perspective. The goal is to see this theme throughout the curriculum. Efforts include:

• Promoting the Abolitionist Teaching Network
• Redesigning KINS 2010 Introduction to Kinesiology with an anti-bias and anti-racist lens, which will be launched fall 2021 to help students see their professional development and career through that lens
• Revising the exercise and sport science undergraduate admissions process to evaluate the whole student
• Working to align health promotion and physical education program curriculum across classes with an anti-bias, anti-racism thread
• Responding to the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education’s diversity requirements for the master’s in athletic training program
• Supporting new tenure-track faculty hires in sport management and policy to teach about diversity, equity, and inclusion using courses already in the curriculum, which aligns with the Commission on Sport Management Accreditation’s requirements

In terms of outreach, limited-term instructor Jason Edwards is working with the director of the Thomas Lay Community Center’s afterschool program for low-income students to make it the site for KINS 4750S Service Learning in Kinesiology, which will start spring 2022.

Additionally, associate professor Jarrod Call is developing a six-week, paid summer internship program that will offer scientific opportunities to minority high school students in the Clarke County School District. His accomplishments thus far include setting up a fundraising page, receiving approval for a logo, and receiving seed money from the department.

Lastly, the department aims to publish a bi-annual diversity initiatives newsletter in fall 2021 with one or two people from each program contributing content from their area. Possible elements include:

• Interviews
• Student highlights
• Shared experiences
• Alumni corner
• Field highlights

Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy

Engaging in racial justice

At the department level, faculty in lifelong education, administration, and policy are focused on strategic goal setting for the unit’s DEI work. Specifically, a collaborative effort of faculty and staff created what is now called the Anti-Racism Council, which will drive the department’s racial equity and justice efforts.

Through a series of data gathering and facilitated conversations, the department developed the following mission statement:

“The mission of the Anti-Racism Council of the Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy is to foster an anti-racist personal and professional culture and community of practice. We focus on initiatives, policies, and practices that challenge oppressive structures and ideologies within our department and the broader community. We unite LEAP faculty, staff, administrators, and students in the pursuit to end racism and to empower one another toward this collective goal. We acknowledge that bias exists and that racism is the combination of social and institutional power plus racial prejudice that produces systems and structures of power and privilege.”

The department’s goal is to establish an anti-racist academic community that is consistently engaged in racial justice and dismantling white supremacy through critical reflection and action in teaching, research, and praxis. Concurrent to the goal-setting work, the group engaged in a variety of efforts to begin the department’s journey to accomplishing its goal, including but not limited to:

• Drafting of department-wide learning outcomes related to racial equity and justice
• Statements to affirm community care and commitment to ongoing justice work
• Initiation of plans for intra-department communications and data collection about the state of the departme

The group plans to continue pushing these initiatives forward in the new year and to advocate for the institutionalization of the work and resources required to carry out this work.

At the program level, several faculty members in the educational administration and policy program collaborated with faculty from Michigan State University and the University of California, Berkeley to develop a new program for racial equity and justice.

The Just Education Policy Institute, which was held in the first two weeks of June, virtually hosted 43 graduate students from across the nation who are interested in conducting education policy research centered on racial equity and justice. The purpose of this initiative is to foster community among developing scholars, activists, and policy actors while also developing scholars’ skills in conducting, communicating, and putting into action racial justice research.

Sessions included networking opportunities with established scholars in the field, current policy research areas in educational justice, theoretical approaches studying racism, centering racial justice in research methodology, research use in advocacy and action, and more. The program was successful in bringing together students with over 30 current education policy scholars and policy actors across generations providing insight and guidance.

Initial feedback about the program both from participants and the larger education policy community has been very positive, and the program hopes to secure the resources to continue these efforts moving forward. This effort was supported by the University of Georgia Mary Frances Early College of Education, the Michigan State University College of Education, the Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley, the Civil Rights Project at UC Los Angeles, and the Penn State College of Education Center for Education and Civil Rights.

Supporting religious diversity

John Dayton, a professor in the Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy, created and taught a new course for UGA’s Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion program. The course, “Religious Diversity: Supporting an Inclusive Classroom and Community,” introduces students to religious diversity in the U.S., an overview of related laws and policies, and suggestions for supporting a religiously inclusive workplace, classroom, and community.