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The Student Experience

Co-curricular Programming and Faith Experience

  • Expand the development of new programmatic, co-curricular, and service opportunities and increase student participation in existing programming.
    • Overseen by: Daniel Cosacchi, Vice President for Mission and Ministry; Michelle Maldonado, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs; Lauren Rivera, vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students
    • Item Status: Work in progress.
    • Update:  
      • Ongoing collaborative discussions between Academic Affairs and Student Life related to Passport and Tapestry, and Residential Learning Communities to encourage student participating in programming.
      • Academic Affairs, Student Life, the Library, and OED, along with Clubs, Academic Programs, Deans and other programmatic participants are collaborating to plan events, programing, and other co-curricular events that do not overlap or saturate the community. This collaboration has resulted in the planning, marketing, and encouraging attendance at programing, events, education, and activities for heritage and history months. This has resulted in many events having higher participation and attendance than in the past.
      • THR1VE’s peer mentorship program known as GU1DE continues. In coordination with the Cultural Centers, GUIDE has been expanded to invite first-generation students to participate. Through one-on-one and small group meetings with students, upper division GU1DES helps to ease the college transition by helping first year students with questions or concerns, sharing tips and tricks about the college experience, and connecting students to on-campus resources.
      • Partners in Learning, Leadership, and Reflection (PILLAR) is a pedagogical partnership program that pairs students with faculty to create, support, and enhance inclusive learning environments that encourage and value all learners, which is in its third year and expanding.
      • In 2021-2022, the Cultural Centers partnered with the First-Year Seminar program and the College of Arts and Sciences to develop an action-oriented workshop to continue racial justice lessons from FYS courses and developing a new and more interactive microaggressions and implicit bias workshop for the College of Arts & Sciences. While neither of these workshops actually ran, the partnerships fostered may lay a good foundation for the future.
      • ROCK (Royals of Color Kickoff), now MOSAIC, early arrival program expanded. This program for new students was a key aspect of efforts to positively impact retention, persistence, and sense of belonging for these students. The feedback from both new students and mentors has been positive, with students sharing that the program helped them feel more connected and comfortable on campus. The Multicultural Center also led an effort to check in with students throughout the year, including MOSAIC reunions throughout the semester.
      • The Assistant Dean of Students and Assistant Director of the Cultural Centers (Multicultural Center) meet regularly to review programming and strive to fill additional needs for celebratory months.
      • The Assistant Dean of Students collaborated with the Cultural Centers in Fall 2022 to expand the GU1DE mentoring program to include students of color as another avenue to ensure continued support.
      • The Cultural Centers continue expanding programming outreach and offerings. In 2022-2023, the Assistant Director of the Cultural Centers engaged in conversations to explore the possibility of bringing services to the Multicultural Center with the Office of Student Support & Success, Financial Aid, Center for Career Development, and the Writing Center. These collaborations came to fruition in 2023-2024 with the Office of Student Support & Success, Financial Aid, and the Counseling Center hosting workshops or sessions in the Multicultural Center. The Center for Career Development also partnered with the Cultural Centers to develop and offer a successful new program, “Major Mingle.”
  • Better understand and identify desired competencies for student learning and development with respect to diversity and inclusion, such that may be assessed through student participation in co-curricular programming. Gather, share and reflect on these outcomes assessment data.
    • Overseen by: Michelle Maldonado, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs; Lauren Rivera, Vice President, Student Life, and Dean of Students; Kathryn Yerkes, Assistant Provost of Planning and Institutional Effectiveness
    • Item status: Year 2.
    • Update:
  • Implement a comprehensive plan to include educational opportunities regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout a students’ time at the University, including both curricular and co-curricular experiences. This should involve collaboration between both Academic Affairs and Student Life and include existing and new programming linked to the first-year experiences, Royal Reads, Passport and Tapestry.
    • Overseen by: Elizabeth Garcia, Executive Director, Office of Equity and Diversity; Michelle Maldonado, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs; Lauren Rivera, Vice President, Student Life, and Dean of Students;
    • Item Status: Work in Progress
    • Updates: 
      • Academic Affairs, Student Life, and OED continue to meet to discuss DEI programing and education between academics and student life, including TAPESTRY and Passport programs, Residential Living Communities. Preliminary ideas were discussed at the Dean Retreat related to the TAPESTRY and Passport programs, living learning communities and other collaboration opportunities with Student Life and other Divisions. The three meet monthly to discuss co-curricular programs and ideas.
      • In 2023-2024, Student Life in partnership with Academic Affairs piloted four residential learning communities. The THR1VE community (geared toward first-gen students) and The Latin Thing community (geared toward exploration of Latinx culture and language) were among the communities. Community engagement was encouraged, but not required. The Latin Thing community was relatively small engaging less than a dozen students, but conversations were vibrant among those involved with Dr. Yamile Silva. 
      • In 2022, New Student Orientation included a session on the meaning of community, implicit bias, and microaggressions. The session continues to be offered and was recently offered to the Class of 2028.
      • In Summer 2023, Student Life launched a new, mandatory online education module for the Class of 2027 focused on Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging. This workshop provides a baseline of information for all students to have a common language and to understand the expectations of our University community. Data suggests the module helped students to understand more about creating inclusive environments and increased their interest in learning how to do so. The module is again required for the Class of 2028.
  • Develop and require a diversity and inclusion orientation module for new students that includes topics such as allyship, identity, imposter syndrome, identity privilege, oppression bias, unconscious bias, bystander intervention and/or self-care.
    • Overseen by: Lauren Rivera, Vice President for Student Life, and Dean of Students
    • Item Status: Work in progress.
    • Updates: 
      • In 2022, New Student Orientation included a session on the meaning of community, implicit bias, and microaggressions. 
        The session continues to be offered and was recently offered to the Class of 2028.
      • In Summer 2023, Student Life launched a new, mandatory online education module for the Class of 2027 focused on Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging. This workshop provided a baseline of information for all students to have a common language and to understand the expectations of our University community. Data suggests the module helped students to understand more about creating inclusive environments and increased their interest in learning how to do so. The module is again required for the Class of 2028.
      • The Center for Student Engagement included a two-hour training session for the Orientation Assistant team regarding Community and Inclusion, which focused on mattering and marginality, privilege, and inclusive language.
  • Engage with the local Â鶹´«Ã½ community identify and expand off-campus community resources and support for students.
    • Overseen by: Gerald Zaboski, Senior Vice President, Office of the President
    • Item Status: Work in progress.
    • Updates:
      • The University launched a new “Location” page that is available through the “About Us” section of the website. Future updates to the site will increase information about DEI-related resources in the regional community.
      • Zaboski connected with DiscoverNEPA to explore ways that the broader community resource might provide more easily accessed or categorized information on DEI events and services. DiscoverNEPA is in the midst of a technical overhaul but was open to working on the project later in the spring of 2023.
      • Community Relations staff and interns organized the annual Downtown Scavenger Hunts in the Fall, linking hundreds of students and more than 30 downtown businesses.
      • The Office of Community Relations works regularly in ways that promote diversity, equity and inclusion in the Â鶹´«Ã½ community including through ongoing partnerships with diverse community organizations and leaders. The Â鶹´«Ã½’s Story, Our Nation’s Story oral histories project highlighted underrepresented stories in collaboration with the Black Â鶹´«Ã½ Project and immigrant and refugee leaders and with events that highlighted the Black voices of the oral histories project and through ongoing collaboration with the Lenape Center.
      • Community Relations staff are regularly involved in programs that take place during heritage months such as Black History Month and Hispanic/Latinx History month and during Juneteenth.
  • Increase opportunities for both Catholic and non-Catholic students to explore their faith traditions, and expand programming and education to support them in understanding different faiths.
    • Overseen by: Daniel Cosacchi, Vice President of Mission and Ministry
    • Item Status:  Work in Progress
    • Updates: The Division of Mission and Ministry sponsored or co-sponsor several student related events including Day of the Dead Night, Byzantine Liturgy, Jum’ah Services, Sukkot, Divinely Designed Retreat and a Speedfaithing event where a variety of faith traditions were invited to campus and represented their communities.
NEXT SECTION: The Student Experience: Resources and Support

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