Certificate Program – Equity and Inclusion Initiatives

The Augsburg University Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program is an optional program designed to help faculty and staff continue to grow in their intercultural competence and to build the awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary to create more inclusive campus spaces inside and outside the classroom.

The Certificate Program offers participants the following key benefits:

Increased Cultural Competency: Participants gain a deeper understanding of different identities, perspectives, and lived experiences, helping them interact more effectively and empathetically with diverse students, colleagues, and communities.
Bias Awareness and Disruption Skills: Through exploration of unconscious bias, microaggressions, and systemic inequities, participants learn to recognize and interrupt bias in real time, contributing to a more respectful and just campus culture.
Collaborative Problem Solving and Dialogue: The program provides a space for cross-departmental dialogue and collaboration, encouraging participants to share perspectives, troubleshoot challenges, and build community across differences.
Professional Development and Institutional Impact: Completion of the certificate program enhances participants’ professional credentials and supports institutional diversity goals, demonstrating a commitment to equity that can influence hiring, policy, and program development.

Completion Requirements

In order to complete the Certificate Program and receive the certificate, participants must complete 17 credits of specified inclusion-based training. The 17 credits of training consist of the following 7 requirements:

Complete Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Process, 4.5 Credits
- Complete the online Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI)
- Attend an IDI Group Profile Session
- Attend an IDI Individual Feedback Session
- Complete an IDI Intercultural Development Plan
Attend Intercultural Communication and Conflict Style Workshop, 3 Credits
Attend Working Toward Inclusive Spaces Workshop, 2 Credits
Attend Brave Space Training, 2 Credits
Attend Disability as Diversity Workshop, 2 Credits
Attend All About Bias Workshop, 1.5 Credits
Attend From Microinequities to Inclusion Workshop, 2 Credits

Scroll down to view workshop descriptions and to register.

Notes

Certificate Program participants will receive their certificate at the end of the academic year in which their program was completed.
Certificate Program completion generally takes two or less academic years.
Certificates will be presented to staff participants who complete the Certificate Program at the end of each academic year during the Annual Staff Appreciation Awards.
Certificates will be presented to faculty participants who complete the Certificate Program at the end of each academic year during the Annual Faculty Recognition Luncheon.
All Certificate Program Recipients will have their names added to the Certificate Recipients tab on the Equity and Inclusion Initiatives website.

Maintaining Good Standing

In order for individuals to maintain their good standing with the Certificate Program, they must attend no fewer than 3 diversity, equity and/or inclusion-based events (i.e. workshops, trainings, discussions, panels, etc.) every following academic year during their time at Augsburg University. After completing an event, individuals should email the event name, date, time, and location to inclusion@augsburg.edu so that the event can be recorded.

Obtaining Advanced Standing

Individuals who have completed the Certificate Program may also work towards an Advanced Standing designation. In order to achieve Advanced Standing, individuals must attend 6 diversity, equity and/or inclusion-based events (i.e. workshops, trainings, discussions, panels, etc.), each lasting at least 1 hour, within 1 academic year. Any event listed on the Equity and Inclusion Initiatives Event Calendar (that is not a part of the Certificate Program) can count towards the Advanced Standing designation along with any other off-campus events. To receive credit for event attendance and to have it applied towards the Advanced Standing designation, email the event name, date, time, and location to inclusion@augsburg.edu so the event can be recorded.

Maintaining Advanced Standing

After receiving the Advanced Standing designation in the Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program, individuals must attend no fewer than 6 diversity, equity and/or inclusion-based events (i.e. workshops, trainings, discussions, panels, etc.) every following academic year during their time at Augsburg University in order to maintain their advanced good standing with the Certificate Program. After completing an event, individuals should email the event name, date, time, and location to inclusion@augsburg.edu so that the event can be recorded.

Workshop Descriptions

Please Note: Workshop dates, times, and locations subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances and/or low registration numbers. Always remember to check the Equity and Inclusion Initiatives Events Calendar DAY OF for the most up-to-date information.

Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Process

The Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®) Process includes:

Completing the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), a 50-item online assessment that can be completed in about 20 minutes;
attending an IDI Group Profile Session led by an IDI Qualified Administrator;
participating in an Individual Feedback Session with an IDI Qualified Administrator; and
working on an IDI Intercultural Development Plan.

The IDI assesses intercultural competence, i.e. the capability to shift cultural perspective and appropriately adapt cultural behavior in order to effectively navigate intercultural goals. The IDI is based on the Intercultural Development Continuum (IDC). The IDC describes an individual’s knowledge, attitude, and skill sets (i.e. orientations) toward cultural differences and commonalities that are arrayed along a continuum from the more monocultural mindsets of Denial and Polarization through the transitional orientation of Minimization to the intercultural mindsets of Acceptance and Adaptation. This continuum is adapted by Dr. Mitch Hammer from the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) originally proposed by Dr. Milton Bennett and is considered the premier metric in the field of intercultural competency. To learn more about the IDI, click HERE.

Note: Augsburg University uses the Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®) Guided Development as our preferred guiding framework in our diversity, equity, and inclusion work.

For more information about the IDI Process, email inclusion@augsburg.edu.

Register for the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Process

Intercultural Communication and Conflict Style Workshop

This workshop makes use of the Intercultural Conflict Style (ICS) Inventory, which describes an individual’s preferred approach or style for resolving conflict by reflecting the individual’s culturally learned patterns for communicating and dealing with disagreements and expressing emotions. Additionally, this workshop will not only teach individuals about their own preferred approach and style, but also about the preferred approaches and styles of others. Finally, this workshop will give participants tangible skills that can be used when navigating communication and conflict across cultural differences. The increased understanding of intercultural communication and conflict styles and tangible skills participants will receive from this workshop can both enhance their overall intercultural competence, increase their effectiveness when communicating and resolving disagreements across cultures, and help them to create more inclusive campus spaces at Augsburg. To learn more about the ICS, click HERE.

For more information about this workshop, email inclusion@augsburg.edu.

Register for the Intercultural Communication and Conflict Style Workshop

Working Toward Inclusive Spaces Workshop

This workshop will highlight a common ideology, misunderstanding, and behavior that many well-meaning individuals frequently subscribe to that inadvertently sabotage their best attempts to create and maintain welcoming and inclusive spaces at Augsburg. Additionally, this workshop will provide participants with historical, current, and relevant examples connected to the ideology, misunderstanding, and behavior. Finally, this workshop will allow participants to engage in small group activities and discussions and large group share-outs all related to Augsburg-specific spaces.

For more information about this workshop, email inclusion@augsburg.edu.

Register for the Working Toward Inclusive Spaces Workshop

Brave Space Training

This workshop provides participants with the tools, skills, knowledge, and resources to be intentionally supportive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA) communities. Additionally, this workshop will cover definitions and terminology, tackle current issues and challenges facing LGBTQIA+ students, and provide practice through the use of skill-building scenarios. Finally, this workshop will help individuals to develop and grow their inclusive understandings of gender and sexuality while creating and maintaining Augsburg spaces that affirm the wholeness of all identities. Please Note: Those who attend Brave Space Training will receive a Brave Space placard that they may place on a visible surface near their Augsburg work area.

For information about this workshop, email inclusion@augsburg.edu.

Register for Brave Space Training

Disability as Diversity Workshop

This workshop allows participants will explore the concept of ableism and other various models of disability. Additionally, participants will examine disability through the lens of diversity and identify underlying sources of prejudice and discrimination commonly experienced by people with disabilities. Finally, this workshop will share tips and resources for creating spaces at Augsburg and beyond that welcome and include people of all abilities.

For more information about this workshop, email Kathy McGillivray at mcgillik@augsburg.edu.

Register for the Disability as Diversity Workshop

For information about CLASS/Disability Resources, click HERE.

All About Bias Workshop

This workshop provides participants with an introduction to understanding and responding to unconscious bias during workplace interactions and in workplace settings. This workshop explores the subtle, often unintentional attitudes and stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions. Participants will gain insight into how unconscious bias operates in everyday interactions and systems, and how it can impact workplace culture, communication, and decision-making. Through guided reflection, real-world examples, and practical strategies, participants will develop tools to recognize their own biases and foster a more inclusive, equitable environment at Augsburg and beyond.

For more information about this workshop, email inclusion@augsburg.edu.

Register for the All About Bias Workshop

From Microinequities to Inclusion Workshop

This workshop provides participants with a deeper understanding of the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights or indignities that, whether intentional or not, communicate hostile or negative messages to individuals based on their identities. Through real-life examples, interactive dialogue, and self-reflection, participants will learn to identify different forms of microaggressions, understand their cumulative impact, and explore strategies for addressing and interrupting them in respectful and effective ways to help create more inclusive and affirming environments.