Courageous Conversations Practitioner Certification Program

The College of Liberal Arts is working to build and extend institutional capacity by sponsoring 10 people (faculty and staff) to become racial equity practitioners through the Courageous Conversations Practitioner Certification Program. Please register here by December 2nd.

This opportunity grows out of the work and collaboration started between the University Office of Human Resources and Courageous Conversations—a consulting firm that provides training for racial equity leaders. 

This past year, Courageous Conversations has helped the HR Leads and HR community at the University to understand how to approach conversations about race by: 

• understanding themselves and empathizing with others;
• establishing a common language; and,
• enduring when faced with difficulty.

Through this program, participants will gain skills and confidence to engage in discussions about race and create action plans that examine and address institutionalized cultures and structures that promote racial disparities.

The Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the College of Liberal Arts is interested in building on these efforts and increasing our capacity to have these conversations and do this work. The timeline for this opportunity is quite quick.

We are seeking 10 interested members of our college (faculty and staff) who meet the following qualifications:

• have a demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (the application will ask you to upload a justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion statement of up to 750 words detailing your work and ongoing development in this space)

• can complete the required (all-day) Courageous Conversations Exploratory Course on December 8th or 16th (the $395 cost plus service fee will be split with your unit and CLA ODEI);

• can commit to a 5-month synchronous and asynchronous course (evening meetings) from January to May 2022 (with an additional 3 months of consultation and support);

• have department/unit support to do this work and bring back what you have learned to add capacity in this space to your unit and CLA (the application will ask you to submit a brief letter of support from your supervisor with respect to your participation and your shared vision for using the training to build capacity within your unit during FY 23);

• will commit to regular meetings with the CLA ODEI Courageous Conversations Cohort to identify ways we will work as a team to build capacity across the college;

• can get half of the cost of your participation ($2000 of the $4000 fee) covered by your department/unit (If you are from a department/unit with diminished reserves, please apply for a full scholarship. If your unit supports your participation, but simply does not have the matching funds, you will still be eligible for participation.)