The Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) hosted the Activating Equity-Conscious, Data-Informed Institutional Effectiveness Efforts virtual summit on June 2, 2022. The half-day conference, made possible by support from the Illinois Community College Board, brought together institutional researchers, administrative leaders, faculty, community college scholars, policy analysts, and other expert stakeholders interested in advancing equity conscious cultures of inquiry that expand their work with critical theoretical, methodological, and analytic tools. The conference began with brief remarks from OCCRL Director, Dr. Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, welcoming more than 160 registrants. Participants then dispersed to attend their choice of two concurrent morning breakout sessions. One session was led by Dr. Amanda Latz, an Associate Professor of Higher Education and Community College Leadership at Ball State University. This session, titled, The Utilities of Photovoice in Advancing Community College Program Assessment and Evaluation introduced photovoice as a methodology and a form of critical participatory action research (CPAR); highlighted ways that photovoice can be integrated and utilized in traditional assessment and evaluation practices at community colleges; and offered several practical examples for participants to consider. A second morning breakout session was delivered by Dr. Asif Wilson, an Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and a longtime OCCRL affiliate. Dr. Wilson’s prerecorded session, titled, Socially Just Community Engaged Research, provided an overview of another important research methodology – socially just community engaged research – which centers justice and situates research participants as co-authors. This interactive session also engaged participants in dialogue and reflective activities around questions of what it means for institutions to center justice in public and community engaged relationships as well as what it means in theory and practice to be a justice-centered researcher and/or practitioner. After a short break, the summit resumed with a midday keynote panel titled Anti-racist Research and Policy: The Utilities of IR in Fostering Transformative Change. The panel was moderated by Dr. Frankie Santos Laanan, Associate Dean for Faculty and Student Affairs and Professor of Education, Culture, and Society at the University of Utah. The five panelists were: Ace Charette, an institutional researcher at Turtle Mountain Community College; Dr. Tina King, Assistant Superintendent and Vice President for Student Affairs (ASVPSA) at Southwestern College; Dr. Heather McCambly, Assistant Professor of Higher Education Policy at the University of Pittsburgh; Dr. Mayra Padilla, Dean of Institutional Effectiveness & Equity at Contra Costa College; and Nathan Wilson, Deputy Director for Research and Information Technology at the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB). This one-hour long moderated discussion was designed to offer participants an opportunity to learn from a panel of experts with unique experiences and perspectives on a range of topics related to anti-racist research and policy, creating inclusive campuses and equitable outcomes, and practical strategies for fostering transformational change at community colleges. OCCRL HOSTS 2022 INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH SUMMIT By Raina Dyer-Barr UPDATE - WINTER 2023
The summit was rounded out with two afternoon breakout sessions led by former OCCRL assistant director, Dr. Marci Rockey, and former OCCRL research associate, Dr. Colvin Georges. In her presentation titled, Moving Beyond the Numbers, Dr. Rockey emphasized the importance of advancing race-conscious institutional research and effectiveness in the rural Illinois community college context and highlighted specific ways for practitioners in these institutions to intentionally apply a race-conscious lens to their work. Dr. Georges’ session, Engaging Community College Student Activism: The Applicability of Critical Participatory Action Research, highlighted the various ways that anti-racist education and critical participatory action research (CPAR) apply to the community college context and introduced participants to specific tools they could utilize to center the voices of student activists and bolster institutional effectiveness. Ultimately, this half-day virtual convening, provided community college faculty, staff, administrators, and other stakeholders from across the state an exciting and accessible learning and professional development opportunity focused on increasing awareness of the need to advance cultures of inquiry at community colleges to achieve inclusive campuses and equitable outcomes. UPDATE - WINTER 2023 Raina Dyer-Barr can be reached at [email protected]