Office for Institutional Diversity

2024 Social Justice Research Education Fund Projects

Deepening Historical Insight: Mapping Population’s Racial and Socio-Demographics in Portland - Adrien Allorant & Master Artist Michael Stevenson Jr.

The objective

• • Historical expansion with the use of older census data to create a richer historical context to the changes made in Portland neighborhoods, specifically Albina
  • Publication and Dissemination - create a report with maps and narrative texts to highlight the changes made to Albina’s socio-economic landscape to be sent out to the public
  • Educational outreach - make presentations and activities to be used in schools to “enrich” Portland students’ understanding of their city’s history

• TLDR; Make a larger understanding of Albina’s history clearer to the public and especially to students

Library book displays - Angie Beiriger

What the project is about

• • Hiring an intern for the summer of 2024 to create themed book displays in the library for the 2024/25 academic year
  • Allowing the student intern to increase their research skills while creating thematic bibliographies and recommending books to add to the library collection

• TLDR; hiring a student intern to research and curate book displays for the upcoming school year

The objective

• • The student intern plans exhibits that coincide with campus programs and celebrations to increase community engagement with diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice
  • Promote the library as a campus collaborator 
  • Allow the intern to highlight and celebrate historically underrepresented voices and foster a sense of belonging in the library

• TLDR; allow a student intern to gain essential experience and increase engagement with the library space with campus events/culture

Increasing digital accessibility of STEM course materials with an Instructional Technology Services student intern - Beth Platte

What the project is about

• A large portion of Reed students have accessibility accommodations documented by DAR
• Students benefit from digital course materials but there have been accessibility issues for course materials in STEM classes

The objective

• • Provide resources, recommendations, and support to faculty in the natural sciences, math, and computer science to help them create accessible digital course materials
  • Learn about digital accessibility in STEM fields
  • Create documentation for faculty that can be posted on web pages or presented during workshops
  • Assist individual faculty members with the creation of new materials or with updating existing materials to be more accessible

• TDLR; a student intern will collaborate with DAR and the Instructional Technology Services to create more accessible course materials for students at Reed

Biology Learning Assistant 2024 Intern Proposal - Crystal Chaw

What the project is about

• Climate surveys have revealed that students feel anxiety and confusion after taking the class, Topics in Biology
• The student comments on teaching evaluations range from extremely positive to extremely negative, making it hard for faculty to identify areas for improvement

The objective

• • To develop a method for identifying constructive themes and trends amongst the student responses to define areas of focus for change
  • The intern will learn and implement techniques for coding keywords in open-ended survey responses as well as test software solutions for coding open-ended responses
  • Empower faculty to positively engage with their evaluations

• TLDR; Aid faculty in improving their teaching with the use of better survey and data collection techniques

Understanding Connectedness and Sense of Belonging: How do we foster a sense of community? - Meghan Wieters

What the project is about

• • Addressing concepts of sense of belonging, connectedness, culturally affirming experiences and spaces, and community for Reed students
  • Holding focus groups and hiring student interns to facilitate some of these focus groups

• TLDR; having 2-4 focus groups in the summer and 2 focus groups in the fall

The objective

• • Have working definitions that resonate with Reedies on concepts of sense of belonging, connectedness, culturally affirming experiences and spaces, and community
  • Give Student Life and other staff a set of interventions or activities that can be employed within Student Life programming

• TLDR; get feedback from students with focus groups to address questions of belonging etc.

Institutional Review Board student intern - Sameer ud Bowla Khan & Kayla Johnston

What the project is about

• The Institutional Review Board works to ensure that individuals being studied are adequately protected from harm or undue risk, help hold our researching faculty, staff, and students to high standards of ethics and transparency, and adhere to federal guidelines
• Many faculty, staff, and students find the process of working with IRB to be complicated, slow, and a deterrent to research
• Looking to hire a new student intern to carry their legacy of the previous one which drew up and carried out a variety of initiatives

The objective

• Allow the incoming intern to bring in their own ideas and details for initiatives
• Continue the work that was carried out by last year’s student intern

Philanthropy, Mutual Aid Networks, and Communities of Color in Portland - Santi Alston

What the project is about

• Mutual aid networks have a long history of engagement, providing needs-focused support, and furthering social and economic justice
• Through fundraising, voices that highlight inequality through ongoing volunteering, tapping personal and professional networks, employing a range of talents to address barriers, and aligning values with actions for the benefit of others

The objective

• • Research what motivates philanthropic support among donors of color and within socially, culturally, and economically diverse communities
  • Research and interview diverse mutual aid networks in Portland
  • Draft a report about diverse mutual aid in Portland, such as what motives their philanthropic support, where that support is directed, and what tools/techniques they use to further social and economic justice
  • Create and present slides to Advancement stuff for future advancement

• TLDR; gain information on whay/why/where philanthropic support from donors of color occurs within diverse communities

Financial Wellness Intern - Sara Rosenberger

What the project is about

• The intern will work with the financial wellness advisory group to integrate online financial education content through CashCourse
• CashCourse provides online financial education courses through instructor assignments or self-study, customizable financial tools, a personal dashboard to track your progress, and articles, resources, and guides to real-life money questions
• Financial insecurity can affect students’ success by negatively impacting their academic performance, engagement and retention

The objective

• • Intern would familiarize the advisory group with the available content and making detailed recommendations to the financial wellness advisory group on how to implement CashCourse to meet student’s needs both online and in person
  • Offer online financial education beginning 2024-2025 and to recommend new financial education workshops from CashCourse

• TLDR; intern will help the financial wellness advisory group and eventually offer online financial education to students with CashCourse

Science Outreach Program Intern - Siira Rieschl

What the project is about

• Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provides a framework for designing lessons that enable students of all abilities to engage deeply in the classroom
• There is an absence of resources and strategies for supporting student teachers

The objective

• • An intern will compile a handbook during the summer and facilitate training sessions in the fall
  • The handbook would work for Reed Science Outreach student teachers with special care for those who are neurodivergent, BIPOC, and LBGTQIA+ and inform their teaching practices as well as address the needs of student teachers too

• TLDR; aid student teachers and students at the Reed Science Outreach Program with a summer intern who creates a handbook to inform teaching practices