SIS staff and grad students make up 45 percent
of the nearly 40-person AU Connects facilitators teamYou are here: American University School of International Service Diversity & Inclusion Get Involved
Contact Us
Contact:
Rebecca Coughlin
Director, SIS Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives
School of International Service, Room 112 on a map
4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, DC 20016 United StatesAU Connects: On Campus Facilitators
AU Connects is a university-wide inclusion initiative with roots in SIS. This group of trained facilitators supports the campus community in engaging in challenging conversations related to race, equity, and inclusion.
Request AU Connects facilitators to
- Debrief a race-related incident.
- Promote community building among a diverse team or organization.
- Develop skills in awareness-raising and ally-ship.
- Offer a space for a conversation about race/equity/inclusion that centers on participants’ own lived experiences.
Professional Development
Students in some SIS graduate programs hope to enter careers in which the facilitation of group processes is key. AU Connects facilitators benefit from a 2-day intensive training on facilitation in the context of race/ethnicity and by joining a community of on-going professional development. More importantly, these facilitators hone their facilitation skills by helping constituencies all around campus engage with each other to become more inclusive in everyday interactions.
Share your ideas
SIS wants to hear from you! Share your ideas for additional diversity and inclusion initiatives with Rebecca Coughlin, SIS Director of Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives.
SIS Dean's Advisory Council on Diversity & Inclusion
MISSION, VISION, AND VALUES
The Advisory Council’s mission is to assist the school in building an increasingly diverse and inclusive community, culture, and curriculum. We envision an SIS community that embodies and cultivates an inclusive and antiracist pedagogy across all programs and student levels as well as an antiracist approach to our planning and programming.
We believe that the values of intercultural competence and inclusive excellence are critical not only to fulfilling our mission of educating and preparing students to wage peace and serve humanity but also to our collegial interactions that model navigating difference with respect and empathy.
We will continue to work toward a community where students, faculty, and staff are empowered to risk honesty and express themselves freely in a supportive environment that fosters curiosity and self-awareness while valuing difference. With a commitment to equity, we will build a community where everyone feels welcome and thrives.
Current Members of the Advisory Council
- Co-Chairs
- Rebecca Coughlin
- Steve Silvia
- Faculty
- Susanna Campbell
- Carolyn Gallaher
- Maria de Jesus
- Gina Lambright
- Michael Schroeder
- Staff
- Kay Agoston
- Alison Corbett
- Lee France
- Students
- Barbara Taylor (graduate)
- Elena Hoffman (graduate)
- Olivia Olson(undergraduate)
- Alumni
- Deon Woods Bell