The Office of Inclusion & Belonging at Georgia College & State University (GCSU) hosted a two-day event Aug. 13-14 for its 8th annual Making Excellence Inclusive Day. This year's theme was 'Empowering Every Voice, Igniting Collective Success.'
Education and Outreach Coordinator Jennifer Cash Birch said the second day was added this year to include the Milledgeville business community and expand discussion on diversity and inclusion beyond Georgia College’s campus. On Aug.
13 a workshop was hosted for faculty and staff, while Aug. 14 talks were focused on businesses.
“The goal is to open the academic year by introducing new and returning faculty and staff to viewing higher education in the state of Georgia through an inclusive lens and to educate businesses on how focusing on diversity and inclusion benefits the current workforce,” said Birch.
Tuesday’s workshop began with an opening session welcoming new and returning faculty and staff and an open discussion on what diversity means and how diverse the campus community is. Participants were then separated into breakout groups to discuss more specific topics, such as inclusion in departments, restorative justice, empowering students through inclusive syllabi, and more.
“Diversity is not just focused on race and ethnicity but includes thoughts, identities, sexual orientation, and more aspects of one’s self that offer them a different perspective from their peers,” said Birch. “Each classroom has a different diversity of students that may bring varying perspectives and thoughts to campus. Making Excellence Inclusive Day aims to teach faculty and staff ways to open up discussion and be inclusive to these differences in their everyday work.”
Tuesday’s keynote speaker was Dr. Clyde Wilson Pickett, vice chancellor for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at the University of Pittsburgh. He spoke about the demographics of the United States and how the country has become so diverse it is unlikely the U.S. will regress.
Pickett examined this diversity not only by the depth of how different the population is but how that diversity spreads across the country and disperses and affects each area.
“Dr. Pickett offered an overview of diversity in our country and the varying groups and identities that reside in our communities, on our campus, and around us,” said Birch. “This gave faculty and staff a perspective on GCSU’s population and how that diversity affects education and other portions of our community.”
Wednesday’s workshop was titled “The Bottom Line: A Business Blueprint for Inclusion” and focused on how to make a business more inclusive. The day began with a panel discussion from business professionals from various industries, including small business owners, government and corporate positions, and a consultant. Participants then broke into four breakout sessions targeted to various positions, such as business owner, business professional, social media and marketing managers, and more.
“This was our first year hosting this workshop and it aimed to show businesses the value of thinking with an inclusive lens when it comes to developing and maintaining prosperous business by analyzing the bottom line, the money component,” said Birch.
“The current largest workforce is millennials and Gen-Z, who are characteristically used to diversity.
They prefer to work in places that value diversity and think inclusively and tend to spend their money at businesses who show those values as well.”
Sirnette Dickerson, an employee for UPS Capital in Atlanta, was the keynote speaker for The Bottom Line. She spoke about generations in the workforce, focusing primarily on millennials and Gen-Z. Through this discussion, she analyzed how a generation’s value on work may differ but how generations can work effectively together through proper communication, mindsets, and support.
“After reviewing feedback from both workshops, we determined the event was an overall success. Participants felt they learned a lot and were able to take away new perspectives and ideas after the day was over,” said Birch.
According to Birch, discussions for next year's plans and approach are underway and will be announced at a later date.