Responding to the Call from our Students

Welcome

Background November 2015 A group of students craft a letter at the request of Avelino. It expresses their feelings of being unheard, unvalued, and underserved at MCTC. It also offers a list of approaches to foster the dignity, self-worth, and success of every student.

Background February 2016 A panel of student signatories address faculty and staff, expressing some of the pain and frustration they feel as they try to negotiate their academic path here at MCTC

A TIMELINE OF THE FACILIATION OF THE STUDENT LETTER November 15th, 2015 Shooting of Jamar Clark November 16th- President Avelino Mills-Novoa Calls for Facilitated Student Conversations November 16th-22nd Series of Student Meetings leads to the Crafting of the Student Letter November 23rd President Avelino Sends the Student Voice Email to All MCTC Faculty & Staff December 2015 City College News Prints the Student Letter February –March 2016 Student panel presented at MCTC, system office and Saint Paul College May 6th, 2016 President Avelino distributes Response to the Student Letter May, 2016 Faculty Development Day and All-College Meeting Focus on the Letter Late May, 2016 Document of the Process Prepared and submitted to thedemands.org

MCTC STUDENT VOICE EMAIL MCTC STUDENT VOICE EMAIL Sent to all Faculty and Staff November 23rd by President Avelino Mills-Novoa Dear Colleagues, The past week has been extremely difficult. Local and international events are pressing on the hearts and minds of our community. In response, I wanted to follow up the letter that arrived on our campus last week from the MnSCU system office. The System office letter was a message of solidarity against racism on MnSCU campuses. I expressed my concern that it did not address the specific experience of MCTC students. As a result, I was invited to write my own letter to the MCTC community.  I decided that rather than talking to the community from my vantage point, I would turn the blank page to MCTC students. Individuals who facilitated the writing of the letter gathered groups of students several times last week to talk about their experience of what is happening around them and to begin crafting a message to MCTC staff and faculty. The end result is the letter titled, A message from MCTC students, that is attached.  It is my hope that this message will serve as a call to action, personal and collective, a catalyst for campus conversations leading to change, and causes a shift in our campus narrative of who we are, who are students are, and what our students want from their MCTC education.  Sincerely Yours, Avelino --  Avelino Mills-Novoa, Ph.D. Interim President  Minneapolis Community and Technical College

Student Panel

Background May 2016 Interim President Avelino Mills-Novoa offers a summary of efforts completed and underway to address the concerns students raised in their letter. He ends his response with a call for long- term sustained effort to make equity and inclusion the centerpiece of all our strategic efforts to improve retention and close educational opportunity gaps.

Adding in our Voices

A core question from the student letter: What do I do each day to make our students feel welcome and supported?

How do I support and welcome students? Take a moment to reflect. Talk around your table. Help each other brainstorm techniques, mindsets, practices…of inclusion Have a recorder note them on the handout

A core call from Avelino’s letter: What can we do collectively to bring about greater equity and inclusion?

How can we support greater equity? Take a moment to reflect. Talk around your table. Help each other brainstorm systematic changes to promote equity and inclusion. Have a recorder note them on the handout

Initial Audience Feedback

What next? Each participant: put a star next to the item(s) on your 2nd list which they think is the most critical in the short-term

Moving forward

Who you can collaborate with Mindset Meetup (contact Rebecca March) Center for Teaching and Learning (contact Lisa Bergin) Starting Fall 2016: Inclusion Committee

What’cha Gonna Do?