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Equity Action Collaborative

Equity Action Agenda

NASH's Equity Action Framework is a powerful tool that enables higher education systems to intentionally assess their progress toward, and act on, the adoption and integration of essential equity practices, regardless of what stage a system or campus may currently be at in this work.

Providing relevant supports to ensure that students of all backgrounds are not only welcomed but achieve high success outcomes, with particular focus on those from underserved communities including Black, Latinx, Indigenous and low-income populations
Creating a culture of institutional and system responsibility for inclusive excellence among all faculty, staff, and students to identify, name and dismantle racism, discrimination and other systemic barriers to student success
Addressing root causes of inequities and racism, not just their manifestations
Eliminating policies, practices, attitudes and cultural messages that 1) reinforce or fail to eliminate differential experiences and outcomes by identity; and 2) perpetuate racism and oppression of minoritized populations
Ensuring students experience equitable treatment as they move among institutions
Click here to access the NASH Equity Framework

NASH recognizes that state systems of higher education have a particular responsibility to confront longstanding systemic inequity and visibly stand for the values of inclusive excellence. Equity is measurable and should be attended to along the student success continuum, ensuring access to and completion of quality education programs across student populations, disaggregated whenever possible by protected status including race/ethnicity, religion, income, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, first-generation, and veteran status.

As an association of systems, we also view this work through the lens of “systemness”—recognizing that this vital agenda is more than the responsibility of any individual institution—it is, instead, the collective responsibility of all institutions.

The Equity Action Collaborative

The Equity Action Collaborative is a network of NASH systems working together to advance elements of the Equity Action Framework within their respective systems. Beginning in 2021, 17 systems selected one essential equity practice to assess and implement in their system. The collaborative effort has been supported entirely by system teams which may include both campus and system representatives. Although it is too early to know what sustained engagement might look like, these systems have demonstrated eager intentionality to change equity results. Even naming systemic inequities and instituitonalized racism is a bold beginning. These systems are continuing to meet on a regular basis to learn from each other and work on the sequential implementation of selected essential equity practices.