The Innovation in Diversity and Inclusion Grant Project Team is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s IDI Grants! It is important to note that this year we received more submissions than all the previous years combined. All the projects examined dynamic aspects of LLCC with creative problem solving, but alas, we can only fund a few.

In partnership with the LLCC Foundation, we are pleased to be able to fully fund the Might Minds, Heart and Hands, service-based learning project proposed by Yvonne Cosentino, program director, occupational therapy assistant, in the areas of Training, Teaching and Learning, Recruitment and Retention, and Other Innovation Strategies. This collaborative and innovative project promotes OTA health care education through the creation of a community-based, service-learning program for at-risk youth. This project will give our students the opportunity to work directly with community children in need.

We are pleased to be able to fully fund a LLCC Diversity & Equity Fellowship Initiative project in the Recruitment and Retention strategy, proposed by Leigh Giles-Brown, program director diagnostic medical sonography. This project will aim to address the lack of diversity of LLCC Health Professions faculty and to provide positive representation to attract a diverse student body to health professions (and sonography in particular). The DMS program will use the funds to attract participation of a minority echocardiographer who will help develop the curriculum for a new cardiovascular sonography AAS degree program. The LLCC DEFI project will be used as a faculty recruitment tool with the goal of increasing the diversity of the Health Professions faculty pool.

Last, but not least, we are pleased to be able to partially fund the Hip Hop and Higher Education project submitted by Kimberly Williams-Wilson and written by Dr. David Leitner on behalf of Black Student Union club. This project falls under the Other Innovation strategies, but is aligned also with Recruitment and Retention. This project seeks to address the problem of retention, specifically the existing gap between the number of African-American students who enroll and the number who graduate. A series of activities will be created that align with significant cultural events that begin with Black History Month in February 2023. These events will continue through March and April to reinforce the spring semester drive to register students. Ultimately these events will be designed to close the retention gap by creating a sense of cultural and academic inclusion within African-American students enrolled at LLCC.

Congratulations to the winners again. We are excited to see these projects come to fruition.

The IDI Grant Project Team
Laura Anderson
Michelle Pulce-Flynn
Sonja Spencer
Jamil Steele
Adam Watkins

The window for applications will soon be closing! The application deadline for LLCC’s Innovation in Diversity and Inclusion Grant, which began in 2020-21, is this Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. It is an internal opportunity for any LLCC faculty, staff, department, student or student club, and can be used to address a need and/or to promote and celebrate diversity.

IDI Grant application

There is $3,500 available to be awarded in fall 2022. More information and helpful resources (standards of evaluation, project samples and more) are available on the Innovation in Diversity & Inclusion Grant SharePoint page (be sure you’re logged in to Office 365 to access).

Have an idea? Don’t hesitate to reach out to adam.watkins@llcc.edu with any questions.

IDI Grant Project Committee:
Adam Watkins
Laura Anderson
Michelle Pulce-Flynn
Jamil Steele

Applications for LLCC’s Innovation in Diversity and Inclusion Grant, which began in 2020-21, can still be submitted through Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022! It is an internal opportunity for any LLCC faculty, staff, department, student or student club, and can be used to address a need and/or to promote and celebrate diversity.

IDI Grant application

There is $3,500 available to be awarded in fall 2022. More information and helpful resources (standards of evaluation, project samples and more) are available on the Innovation in Diversity & Inclusion Grant SharePoint page (be sure you’re logged in to Office 365 to access).

Have an idea? Don’t hesitate to reach out to adam.watkins@llcc.edu with any questions.

IDI Grant Project Committee:
Adam Watkins
Laura Anderson
Michelle Pulce-Flynn
Jamil Steele

On Wednesday, Oct.26, Dr. Charlotte Warren sent an email to all faculty and staff regarding completion of the PACE survey. The PACE survey is a climate survey used to capture perceptions of the college environment and inform us on what we are doing well and what could be improved. PACE survey results are critically important in the work of the Campus Climate Team (CCT). This data provides CCT members insight as to areas that need further research and attention. After research and assessment, CCT may pass information collected along to a unit of the college who isbetter suited to address the needed improvement. In other instances, CCT may create a project charter and assemble a group of internal stakeholders to review and recommend action to improve.

One example of how PACE data was used by CCT for institutional improvement is the Professional Development Project Charter. In reviewing previous PACE data , CCT discovered that a disproportionate amount of classified and professional staff, as compared to all other classifications, were not satisfied with the availability of professional development and training opportunities. A representative group of campus stakeholders conducted further research and made recommendations for change that resulted in the following:

• Included professional development plans as part of employees’ overall performance management plan to encourage intentional conversations between supervisors and employees about their professional development.
• Created designated professional development funds of $5000 each year for the Classified Professional Advisory Committee and the Professional Advisory Committee to provide professional development and training opportunities for their membership.
• Ultimately led to the approval through the planning and budgeting process to fund a full-time position dedicated to the professional development of staff employees.

The CCT strongly encourages all employees to complete the PACE survey starting Nov. 1 and ending Nov. 23.  Robust participation will ensure that CCT has quality data to continue their work of improving the climate and environment at LLCC.

LLCC’s Innovation in Diversity and Inclusion Grant, which began in 2020-21, is currently open for applications! It is an internal opportunity for any LLCC faculty, staff, department, student or student club, and can be used to address a need and/or to promote and celebrate diversity.

The IDI Grant application process is open through Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. There is $3,500 available to be awarded in fall 2022. More information and helpful resources (standards of evaluation, project samples and more) are now available on the Innovation in Diversity & Inclusion Grant SharePoint page (be sure you’re logged in to Office 365 to access).

Have an idea? Don’t hesitate to reach out to kyle.roughan@llcc.edu with any questions.

IDI Grant Project Committee:
Kyle Roughan
Laura Anderson
Michelle Pulce-Flynn
Jamil Steele
Adam Watkins

LLCC’s Innovation in Diversity and Inclusion Grant, which began in 2020-21, is once again available! It is an internal opportunity for any LLCC faculty, staff, department, student or student club, and can be used to address a need and/or to promote and celebrate diversity.

The IDI Grant application process is open through Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. There is $3,500 available to be awarded in fall 2022. More information and helpful resources (standards of evaluation, project samples and more) are now available on the Innovation in Diversity & Inclusion Grant SharePoint page (be sure you’re logged in to Office 365 to access).

Have an idea? Don’t hesitate to reach out to kyle.roughan@llcc.edu with any questions.

IDI Grant Project Committee:
Kyle Roughan
Laura Anderson
Michelle Pulce-Flynn
Jamil Steele
Adam Watkins