海角社区

Manny Salgado, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, has heard others say the complex work of equity practice is 鈥榮omething that is done badly or not done at all.鈥� 鈥淟earning and practicing this, you might make a mistake, especially when you are touching on issues related to race, immigration, disabilities, etc.,鈥� said Salgado. 鈥淭here are a lot of potholes you can fall into, but if you never practice, you鈥檒l never know how to do it better. The fact that you are doing it is what鈥檚 important.鈥�

Practicing equity work is something Salgado has been involved in most of his life and throughout his 17 years at 海角社区. He is one of the core members of TIDE-Teaching/Learning for Inclusivity, Diversity, and Equity, a faculty group that embraces and welcomes mistakes made to learn from them and become better educators. Salgado was proudly a part of drafting out the seven aspirational guidelines for the group that promotes equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the classroom. 鈥淚t took us a long time to navigate, but it was a really good process,鈥� said Salgado. 鈥淣ow we have the foundation of how to grow from that document.鈥�

Salgado places interest and importance on research, specifically on promoting a sense of belonging in the classroom, specifically for Black and Latinx students, and making sure the climate is safe for all to share their own stories. 鈥淲hen you are training to become a teacher, it is easy to think about content instead of thinking about the student as a holistic, complex person,鈥� said Salgado. 鈥淓very time I enter my classroom, I like to consider that. My class is just a smaller part of their lives at the moment. I like to bring those other parts of their stories in the content we are sharing.鈥�

Salgado is also a leader in ECC鈥檚 Student Success Infrastructure (SSI), which works to improve student success among diverse populations. Through SSI, Salgado was influential in hiring ECC鈥檚 new Executive Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Anthony Ramos. Currently, his main focus is working with undocumented students alongside Wellness Professional Vinny Cascio. Together, they鈥檝e created a leadership committee and recently finished the comprehensive training program to help other faculty, staff, and administration work with undocumented students and best put it into practice and service for those students. Salgado is also working closely with IR to obtain data on the number of undocumented students ECC serves to enhance efforts to recognize and assist these students the best way possible. 

Salgado also helps lead the Faculty Equity Project, which promotes and assists faculty in assessing their student outcome data through a disaggregated form and analyzing through an equity lens. 鈥淭his is so we can more visually see what is happening in our classrooms with these different populations of students,鈥� said Salgado. 鈥淎ggregated data can hide a lot of what is happening, especially for our minoritized populations.鈥� After the data is interrogated, Salgado and the nine additional faculty members contributing to the project will develop projects within their own classroom to assess what does and does not work, based on their findings.

Salgado鈥檚 work with EDI at ECC continues with his involvement in assessment strategy teams and being a member and voice for the Illinois Equity and Attainment (ILEA). With many efforts and initiatives underway at the college to create a more equitable environment, Salgado also continues to learn how to do this work better through professional development opportunities. This past summer, he completed coaching through the National Alliance of Partnerships in Equity (NAPE), which worked on building competencies on how to be an equity coach for someone, in addition to an MIT course on how to be a more equitable educator.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a personal passion for seeing justice done for those who have less power in the country, but specifically in education,鈥� said Salgado. 鈥淎s an educational professional, it is my responsibility to be out and involved in these efforts.鈥�