Student Equity

Mission

The Department of Student Equity advocates for communities who the collegiate system was not originally designed to serve or who have not historically been centered. We work to create and support new and existing resources that cultivate inclusion, diversity, and equity at MiraCosta by fostering student leadership, collaborating with campus partners, and raising awareness of the unique experiences of the diverse populations we serve.

Vision

Student Equity will be a positive and recognized advocate for MiraCosta College and its communities to improve the overall student experience through the lens of equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice.

Values

Advocacy: We understand advocacy as the leveraging of one’s positionality in order to move the college toward equity. As a department we believe that change starts with us. We remain empowered to act and urge those in power to act; we do this as a normal form of practice, regardless of a mandate.

Innovation: We understand innovation to be a future forward, creative driven process that aims to aid value to the campus community. Our efforts to be innovative, lead us to focus on transformation, finding new approaches to solutions while always moving towards what is necessary for the benefit of the communities we serve.

Community: We understand to be one of the essential elements of our work. Broadly we define our community as MiraCosta College District students, faculty, and staff. As well as the residents in our service area who deserve relevant and high quality services and to whom we are accountable. Centering care and authenticity, we aspire to be a benefit and a resource.

Intersectionality: We understand intersectionality to be both a framework for how we understand the ways in which power differently situates certain bodies and lives in relation to institutional and societal structures. As well as a lens through which to see people as made up of many identities that impact how they show up and the unique ways they experience the world.

Cultural Competence: We understand cultural competence to be the journey of continuous learning done in service of creating spaces in which all cultures are honored and welcomed. Our cultural understanding enables us to work collaboratively to remove barriers faced by students. Committed to our learning we also strive to aid in the teaching of cultural competence to others, as it essential to, reinforces, and builds upon the work of our department to strive for equity.