As the country experiences policy shifts away from diversity, equity, and inclusion programming in academia, the University of California, Riverside and the University of Michigan have launched a national center to support governing boards of higher education stay focused on their missions of student success and equity.
The Center for Strategic and Inclusive Governance (CSIG) will be led by Raquel Rall, associate professor and associate dean of strategic initiatives in UC Riverside’s School of Education, and Demetri L. Morgan, associate professor of education at the University of Michigan.
Funded by $400,000 in non-governmental grants, the CSIG will focus on developing tools, training, and real-time support for college and university board members and administrators. Leveraging their expertise on federal policy, legal studies, and higher education, scholars at the CSIG will provide board members with curriculums focused on equitable student success, templates for policies and meeting agendas, and rapid-response toolkits to help address controversial issues.
“We want CSIG to be the Google of higher ed governance,” said Dr. Rall. “If a trustee at a small liberal arts college wants to know their role, we’ve got a primer. If a president wants model board policies, we’ve got templates. If a board needs help interpreting a new federal mandate, we have resources and real people they can talk to.”
She continued, “We’re not just trying to preserve programs. We’re trying to protect the future of higher education.”
