Diversity, Inclusion, & Equity

Program and Department Commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, & Equity

The Student Affairs Administration (SAA) program and Counseling, Family Therapy, and Higher Education (CTH) department seek to educate practitioner-scholars who serve with humility, reflect on their own identities and positionalities, embrace equity and inclusion, and navigate the complex realities of doing social justice-based work. We are committed to creating a learning environment among students, staff, and faculty that fosters critical consciousness, values diverse identities, and engages in purposeful action toward dismantling systemic oppression in our fields. We also recognize the tension between diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts and the practices, policies, and systems within our institution and broader society that are barriers to cultivating this kind of environment. As such, we strive to be transparent and responsive, reduce our role in perpetuating injustice, and work towards equity and justice with and on behalf of the students in our programs and in the communities that we serve.       

SAA faculty and educational partners (e.g., supervisors of GAs, practicums, & Internships) infuse critical theory and social justice content across the program curriculum and applied learning experiences. Specific ways we do this include but are not limited to: incorporating readings from scholars with minoritized identities, inviting in guest speakers/lecturers who hold different identities than our faculty, creating assignments which require students to examine their own identities, power, privilege, and positionality and reflect upon how identity impacts their work as student affairs educators. Further, we have a specific course on social justice that employs critical social theory and invites systemic analyses, and we strive to recruit a diverse cohort of master's students.

University Commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, & Equity

Appalachian State University is committed to developing and allocating resources to the fundamental task of creating a diverse campus culture and achieving and sustaining inclusive excellence for its campus community. Learn more about this commitment through the university strategic plan, particuarly goal four, and diversity and inclusion webpage.

App State Diversity, Inclusion, & Equity Affinity Groups & Resources

Graduate students can explore their own identities and learn how to advocate for others by engaging with the following university affinity groups and resources: