Inclusive Excellence Framework
The inclusive excellence framework came into higher education about twenty years ago from the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). It has been a valuable framework for the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion because it connects inclusion efforts to a university’s pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, student success, and campus culture.
Within inclusive excellence “diversity is no longer envisioned as a collection of static pieces—a programmatic element here, a compositional goal for the student body there… diversity is a key component of a comprehensive strategy for achieving institutional excellence (Williams et al., 2005, p. 3). The four areas of inclusive excellence that were outlined in the AAC&U paper were a) access and equity, b) diversity in the formal and informal curriculum, c) campus climate, and d) student learning and development.
The inclusive excellence framework:
- Affirms the ways people with different identities and experiences contribute to our campus community
- Affirms our commitment to DEI
- Allows us to see inclusion as a pathway to excellence
Our Office will operationalize inclusive excellence in the following areas:
