UNG leaders contribute to collaboration guide

Two University of North Georgia (UNG) staff members were among the collaborators on a project for the American Council on Education (ACE), the primary advocacy group for higher education in the United States.

ACE created "Intersections of diversity, equity, and inclusion and internationalization: a framing guide" (ACE DEI/IZN) from contributions from approximately 60 campus leaders from 35 institutions. 

"I learned of the ACE Community of Practice from a long-time colleague in the field of international education, Dr. Nell Pynes, senior associate for internationization for ACE," Sheila Schulte, associate vice president of international programs, said. "She served as an advisor to UNG during the ACE Internationalization Lab, and due to that experience, Dr. Pynes invited UNG to participate in a new community of practice to leverage the resources and energy of those working in Offices of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and International Programs."

Both Schulte and Dr. Pablo Mendoza, director of UNG's office of diversity and inclusion, are part of the DEI/IZN Community of Practice for ACE. They joined the community in 2019 and met quarterly at the beginning of the writing process.

"The plan in place will be sharing this framework through the ACE website and to people who have identified diversity, equity and inclusion and internationalization as areas of collaboration," Mendoza said. "We already had established this collaboration between our two offices, and the fact that we were able to bring our experience to this community of practice can show that collaborations already take place and we can be the role model for the rest of the United States as people go forward."