Seminole State Excellent in Diversity for Fifth Consecutive Year

College Wins Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine

By Staff Reports

For five consecutive years, Semi­nole State College has won the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award given by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.

The college joins 95 other recipients awarded this honor. Each will be will be featured in the magazine’s November 2018 issue.

“Students from all walks of life pursue their dreams here,” said Janet Balanoff, associate vice president for equity and diversity/Title IX coordinator at Seminole State.

“Faculty and staff dedicate themselves to a challenging curriculum, a clean and safe environment, and a rich and engaging tapestry of activities for involvement,” she said in a school news release. “The culture of inclusion recognizes diversity and extends it to the strong bonds we see formed every day.”

INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine selected Seminole State based on its programs and the culture fostered on all four campuses. It includes educational as well as work experience at the college. It is also demonstrated with Seminole State’s role in the community.

Some areas that the magazine highlighted in giving the award again to Seminole State are:

• Strengthening student persistence and completion rates through diverse programs, including H.O.P.E Scholars Initiative, First Generation Freshman, Full Spectrum Support and Destination Graduation.
• Engaging in at least 50 acts of kindness in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, in conjunction with the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change’s call to action called MLK50 Forward.
• The practice to consider accessibility when faculty committees choose online instructional materials to save College resources for captioning.
• Offering activities to observe Social Justice Week and Sexual Assault Awareness Month, to create a culture of inclusion in student-led clubs and organizations.
• Earning a national honor for diversity, for the second consecutive year, as a finalist for the 2018 Advancing Diversity Award presented by the American Association for Community Colleges.
• Earning a national honor from the Chronicle of Higher Education for being a 2018 Great College to Work For, with special mention of diversity as a factor in that honor.

Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of the magazine, described a rigorous review of all the applications for the award.

“Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being accomplished every day across their campus,” Pearlstein said in the news release.

Seminole State joins six other colleges and universities in Florida to receive a 2018 award.