Creating a Sense of Belonging in the California Community Colleges

Fresno City College is one of the many California community colleges that makes consistent efforts to create and maintain student equity on campus. Be it online, in-person or hybrid classes, they have successfully been creating an equitable environment for their racially and socio-economically diverse students coming from 45 different countries.  NameCoach was adopted at Fresno City College earlier this year as a way of strengthening their inclusion and [...]

Inclusion by the Numbers in CSU-Northridge Classrooms

Institutions committed to improving diversity & inclusion have always faced an interesting challenge. As efforts to promote diversity grow increasingly and measurably successful, the need to create inclusive environments for those diverse populations becomes more acute. How do we even start to measure progress towards that goal? Below is a snapshot of NameCoach usage at California State University, Northridge, as students and teachers met each other during the first [...]

Belonging, Student Success, and Persistence: the Simple Power of Names

In a previous post, we learned how the Xavier University Center for Teaching Excellence has deployed NameCoach to help address the most important element in student success: sense of belonging. “According to Terrell Strayhorn (2012), the number one key to student success in college pertains to the concept of belonging. A basic human need, students’ sense of belonging has been associated with positive outcomes in college, including academic [...]

Freezing Summer Melt

As colleges gear up to enroll a whole new class of excited students, we start thinking about how to combat the thorny phenomenon of “summer melt”: college-intending students who take a step towards enrollment - such as accepting admission or putting down a deposit - but don’t show up. According to research by Lindsay Page et al., published by Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research, between 10% and [...]

Xavier Center for Teaching Excellence on Names, Belonging, and Success

A Campus Climate Survey at Xavier University highlighted the concept and importance of belonging to student success. A letter from the Xavier Center for Teaching Excellence summarized: “According to Terrell Strayhorn (2012), the number one key to student success in college pertains to the concept of belonging. A basic human need, students’ sense of belonging has been associated with positive outcomes in college, including academic achievement, satisfaction, and [...]

Setting the Bar Higher for Inclusion on Campus

We’ve had the good fortune to be on the front lines of the fight to create inclusive learning environments in higher education. But we haven’t been in that fight alone. We’ve had the honor of working alongside a number of schools doing amazing, if sometimes unnoticed, work to improve life in the classroom and on campus for their students. Institutions like Stanford, Northwestern, and California State University-Northridge. And [...]

Xavier University: People’s Names are a Central Part of Their Identity

As told to NameCoach by David Mengel, Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, Xavier University Xavier University works hard to create a community of individual learners. Our mission is to care for students as multifaceted individuals. Our challenge is making all of our students feel welcome, secure in their individual differences and effective in living and learning together as a community. Again and again we’re reminded that people’s [...]

Wellesley College: Creating an Inclusive Campus Environment Through Correct Name Pronunciation

As told to NameCoach by Ravi Ravishanker, CIO & Associate Provost, Wellesley College We are small, residential college for women. We try to provide the best education and overall experience that paves the way for young women to become world leaders. Our challenge is that we are a very small, liberal arts college. We take pride in knowing our students and giving them the best experience we can. [...]

2018-04-13T16:06:57+00:00February 27th, 2018|Case Study, Commencement Ceremonies, University Systems|

University of San Francisco: Preventing the Last Memory of College Being Someone Pronouncing Your Name Wrong

As told to NameCoach by Peggy Takahashi, Associate Professor and Undergraduate Programs Associate Dean, University of San Francisco Our job is to prepare our students for engaging careers in business. We’re a Jesuit school, so social justice is an important part of our mission. We look at our students’ education not just as a step to their career, but in terms of their whole life. That starts by [...]

2018-02-28T00:57:14+00:00February 26th, 2018|Case Study, Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Belonging|

University of Dayton: Using NameCoach to Create an Environment of Inclusivity and Respect for Every Student

As told to NameCoach by Jennifer Creech, Registrar, University of Dayton Like most institutions, University of Dayton has an increasing population of international students. At graduation, we read every single name in alphabetical order. In the past, we would ask each student how to pronounce their name when they came to pick up their cap and gown. Then we’d hand write it on a piece of paper for [...]