Mendocino College is now working with the Center for Urban Education (CUE) to foster educational equality among all students enrolling at their four educational centers in Mendocino and Lake Counties. Mendocino College is partnering with CUE to undertake equity work focused on changing policy and practices in order to improve educational outcomes for all students.
Dr. Estela Bensimon, Co-Director and founder of CUE, visited the Mendocino College Ukiah Campus on Tuesday. Bensimon describes CUE as a way to empower college faculty, staff and managers to be the anthropologists of their own institution. With CUE’s assistance, research driven tools are employed by each institution to hone in on their individual practices and discover areas for improvement. More than twenty employees, representing all constituent groups, have been invited to serve on the current ‘Evidence Team’ to dissect and review the student success data and practices of the college. Ultimately, the goal is to look at each college practice and determine how well it works in real-time for all students. The college collaboration with CUE will provide ample opportunities to improve instructional practices and support services to accommodate the needs of all district students.
This is an important initiative in any community college and especially valuable at Mendocino College due to a growing and more ethnically diverse student body. Superintendent/President Arturo Reyes states, “This may be one of the most exciting initiatives in Mendocino College history. We are stopping to take an honest look at our strengths and potential shortfalls when it comes to meeting the needs of our diverse student population. While this may be a transformational moment for our institution, it requires commitment, hard work, open minds, and a willingness to reflect on our college culture, policies, and practices. As this is a college-wide endeavor, I am so excited to see the number of faculty, staff, and administrators who are enthusiastically engaged in this process. With their continued support and CUE’s guidance, I am optimistic we will increase student success, improve degree completion, and further strengthen our community.”
Dr. Bensimon’s current research centers on issues of racial equity in higher education. She is particularly interested in means of organizational change in higher education. Dr. Bensimon has publications that have appeared in Change, Review of Higher Education, The Journal of Higher Education, Liberal Education, and Harvard Education Review. She has held the highest leadership positions in the Association for the Study of Higher Education and in the American Education Research Association-Division on Postsecondary Education. She earned her doctorate in higher education from Teachers College, Columbia University.