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 [...]

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 [...]

Q&A with Paul Schantz, California State University, Northridge

We recently had an opportunity to talk to Paul Schantz, Director, Web and Technology Services, Division of Student Affairs, California State University, Northridge, about how the university is using NameCoach to provide a more inclusive learning experience for its students. Can you tell me about CSUN? We’re a large institution with 40,000 students in the heart of the San Fernando Valley. Close to half of our enrollment is Hispanic. [...]

A Community in Your Classroom

Creating a community in your classroom is so much more than just pronouncing names correctly. But if that is where you are most comfortable beginning, then that is a good place to start. Community. It sounds easy, but you know it will be more challenging. One of the reasons creating community is so complicated is that the definition of community changes for each class, each semester, and each [...]

NameCoach and Stanford at AACRAO 2017: Respect and Belonging (Part 2)

This post is a continuation of a previous post, What we learned at AACRAO 2017: Part 1. At this year’s American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) conference, we had the opportunity to partner with Thomas Black, Associate Vice Provost and Registrar at Stanford University.  In part of 1 of this post, we learned about the role administrators like Black are playing in meeting students’ calls [...]