NCBI Training Builds Community and Fosters Inclusion at SHU

In 2022, Seton Hall partnered with the National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI) to provide community members the skills to lead further inclusion and equity initiatives in their areas of the University. NCBI is a nationally recognized, award-winning program that earned The Nelson Mandela Award for outstanding international work fighting racism. The U.S. Department of Education also cited NCBI's work on college campuses as a national best practice and awarded an "excellent" rating for educational significance, quality, usefulness, and replicability.

Twenty-two faculty, staff, and administrators from the College of Arts & Sciences, School of Diplomacy & International Relations, School of Health & Medical Sciences, University Advancement, Office of EEOC & Title IX Compliance, Human Resources, University Libraries, Office of the Provost, and Student Services currently serve as NCBI Trainers.

In the fall 2023 semester, NCBI departmental training sessions occurred in Health Services, Disability Support Services, Counseling and Psychological Services, IHSC, Housing and Residence Life, and Human Resources.

Majid Whitney, M.S.W., Associate Vice President and Dean of Campus Inclusion, and Lori Brown, Esq., Chief Equity, Diversity, and Compliance Officer, lead the NCBI training initiative. Dean Whitney explains, "NCBI training has several core principles - building hopeful environments to welcome diversity, healing ourselves to change the world, becoming effective allies, empowering leaders, changing hearts through stories, and skills training to lead institutional change. Using a variety of NCBI DEI workshop activities and exercises, participants in the team-led workshops acquire practical skills for shifting prejudicial attitudes while also learning how to become more effective allies with one another."

The NCBI training program is aligned with Goal 4 of Seton Hall University's Strategic Plan Harvest Our Treasures and seeks to cultivate cross-divisional partnerships, improve communication across campus, and help Seton Hall strive to be a more equitable, inclusive, and just community. This goal involves community training and development to increase cultural competency by building strong, effective partnerships and collaboration.

Carolyn Corban, Ph.D., MS.Ed., Director of Disability Support Services (DSS), shared the importance of having NCBI training available, stating, "I really appreciate the importance that Seton Hall is putting into this initiative. It speaks to Seton Hall's commitment to being a safe, inclusive environment for all students and staff to feel welcome regardless of differences in our identities and backgrounds."

As an NCBI trainer, Dianne Aguero-Trotter, Ph.D., Director of Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) had similar sentiments, "Our interactions are viewed from a multicultural lens. Observing how students welcomed and responded to the training gave me hope that new students could embrace each other's unique identities in a way that fostered validation, acceptance, and unity. This type of training fosters vulnerability and a safe working environment. Being vulnerable with others enables us to offer compassion to each other for lived experiences."

To learn more about becoming an NCBI trainer or requesting a training session for your department, contact [email protected]. Learn more about Seton Hall and NCBI here.

Categories: Education