Excel Education, part of the VCU Office of Institutional Equity, Effectiveness and Success, is scaling up its operations. Many prominent diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) leaders across VCU’s enterprise helped to conceptualize IExcel Education. A program founded in 2019, IExcel Education brings innovative educational courses to the VCU community. Today, the program offers an Inclusive Leadership Certificate, interactive seminars, Rammalogues sessions and mentoring opportunities aimed at building a more equitable and inclusive climate at VCU and beyond.
“IExcel Education is a visionary program built by a diverse group of DEI leaders,” said Archana A. Pathak, Ph.D., special assistant for programs and initiatives for the Office of Institutional Equity, Effectiveness and Success. “We’d like to honor the longstanding DEI leaders who have been doing this work for decades at the institution. Now, we finally have the structural infrastructure to support the program the way it’s always deserved.”
This summer, IExcel Education introduced a new calendar and registration process that allows participants to directly sign up for the sessions they are interested in. Sessions are offered in both in-person and virtual formats.
This fall’s seminars tackle topics such as ageism, neurodiversity, gender, religious diversity, navigating difficult conversations in the workplace and more. The seminars, open to all VCU faculty, staff and employees, will help participants foster more inclusive climates in their classrooms and workspaces. The learning outcomes range from knowledge acquisition to systemic application.
IExcel Education will continue to offer the VCU Inclusive Leadership Certificate. The certificate, open to university leaders, hosts one cohort per semester. Combining both asynchronous and synchronous cohort experiences, it is the first program of its kind in the region. Designed by scholar experts and rooted in cutting-edge research, it serves as a gold standard for this kind of work. At the program’s completion, leaders receive a certificate and a digital badge identifying them as leaders who are capable of fostering diversity and inclusion across various environments.
Rammalogues, a facilitated dialogue series, offers a braver and safer space for faculty, staff, employees and students to discuss topics related to social identity. The series reflects VCU’s commitment to creating space and providing skills that enhance the lived experiences of all VCU community members. The goal of these conversations is for participants to experience feelings of connection to their peers, being seen and heard as their most authentic selves and becoming more confident engaging with difficult topics. Rammalogues will also be a space for braver and safer conversations around current social issues as they arise. For example, this fall, Rammalogues special topics include “Living in a Post-Roe World” and “Living with Mass Shootings.”
“The students I work with often say that VCU makes a claim of diversity, but it doesn’t like to do anything about it," Pathak said. "IExcel Education is a step forward in delivering on the diversity and inclusion promise.”
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