on the quad
PREPARING LEADERS
NEW MASTER’S PROGRAM IN DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP
The University of St. Thomas’ Master of Arts in Diversity Leadership, which was developed in consultation with Twin Cities business leaders and hiring managers, is now accepting applications for this new graduate degree program. Open to students nationwide starting in fall 2023 thanks to it being completely online with an asynchronous format, the two-year program aims to help professionals better understand their workplaces by improving cultural competencies. The interdisciplinary program incorporates instruction from eight St. Thomas departments spanning the College of Arts and Sciences, the Opus College of Business and School of Education.
Executive Vice President and Provost Eddy Rojas said the program aims to “serve many students from multiple geographies and educate leaders who are really impactful in their organization. This Master of Arts in Diversity Leadership is really going to make an impact on society.”
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
BETTER PREPARING FUTURE TEACHERS As Minnesota continues to see lower educational achievement for K-12 students of color compared to white students, a new partnership between the School of Education at St. Thomas and St. Paul Public Schools aims to better equip future teachers to learn critical skills to best serve an increasingly diverse student population. Maxfield Elementary School – which serves 350 pre-K-5 students – was officially
designated in January as a Collaborative Learning School in partnership with St. Thomas. “For our teacher candidates, this will be a truly immersive experience that helps to remove the gap between learning theory in the classroom and then applying those lessons in the field,” School of Education interim Dean Dr. Amy Smith said. Six to eight teacher candidates will be placed at Maxfield each year, beginning in fall 2023, to complete yearlong field experiences. There will be initiatives focused on helping to improve reading and math literacy for the Maxfield students, who are primarily African American, Hmong and Latino residents of the historic Rondo neighborhood. The innovative arrangement also encourages university faculty to conduct research alongside the school’s teachers, allowing more resources and tools for Maxfield teachers to support their students, Smith said.
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