The University and the Division of Student Affairs strive to promote a climate at UNCG where everyone feels supported and welcomed. To better understand student experiences, the iBelong Project was launched in the Spring 2019 semester. The project utilized the Culturally Engaging Campus Environments (CECE) survey, developed by the National Institute for Transformation and Equity, to gauge students’ sense of belonging.
The CECE survey measures college students’ perceptions of their campus environment through questions about aspects such as cultural groups, meaningful cross-cultural engagement, the ways in which faculty and staff support students, holistic support, and experiences around diversity and inclusion. The iBelong Committee administers the CECE (branded as iBelong) survey every few years, explores programs and practices to enhance student belonging on campus, and awards grants to fund student, faculty and staff projects that foster student belonging.
Please explore this website for updates, survey results, grant proposal information, and changes we have made since the initial survey to promote community and sense of belonging at UNCG. We care about the experience of our students, and we want to understand how we can best help all students succeed here. The conversations that we have with our students and other groups on our campus will help us plan for the future. We invite you to leave your feedback via email at ibelong@uncg.edu. Our iBelong committee members are ready to assist with your needs and ideas for supporting belonging at the G.
Cathy Akens, Ed.D.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
| MEMBER | DEPARTMENT | |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Helen Mulhern Halasz (co-chair) | Student Affairs | hmhalasz@uncg.edu |
| Dr. Julie Mendez Smith (co-chair) | Psychology | jlmendez@uncg.edu |
| Bashar Al-Janabi | Undergraduate Student/SGA | braljanabi@uncg.edu |
| Meredith Atchison | Campus Activities and Programs | m_atchis@uncg.edu |
| Dr. Pam Brown | Kinesiology | plkocher@uncg.edu |
| Kisha Carmichael | University Teaching and Learning Commons | klcarmic@uncg.edu |
| Terry Chavis | Graduate Student/GSA | tochavis@uncg.edu |
| Dr. Beverly Faircloth | Teacher Education and Higher Education | bsfaircl@uncg.edu |
| Dr. Jesse Ford | Teacher Education and Higher Education | jrfordjr@uncg.edu |
| William Holloway | Student Success | wshollow@uncg.edu |
| Nicole Merritt | Student Affairs | njmerrit@uncg.edu |
| Rachel Olsen | University Libraries | rcsander@uncg.edu |
| Seren Wang | Undergraduate Student/SGA | jxwang@uncg.edu |
| Sarah Yarbrough | Intercultural Engagement | smyarbrough@uncg.edu |
| MEMBER | DEPARTMENT | |
|---|---|---|
| George Still, Co-Chair | Student Affairs | g_still@uncg.edu |
| Julie Mendez Smith, Co-Chair | Psychology | jlmendez@uncg.edu |
| Cathy Akens | Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs | caakens@uncg.edu |
| Ren Aquino | Student Government Association | esaquino@uncg.edu |
| Neveah Payne | Student Government Association | n_payne@uncg.edu |
| Andrea Hunter | Chancellor’s Fellow | aghunter@uncg.edu |
| Kisha Carmichael | University Teaching and Learning Commons | klcarmic@uncg.edu |
| Katherine Aldridge | Coordinator, BK Undergrad Online Program, Human Development & Family Studies | kcaldrid@uncg.edu |
| Meredith Atchison | Campus Activities & Programs | m_atchis@uncg.edu |
| Pam Brown | Kinesiology | plkocher@uncg.edu |
| Kimberly Osborne | University Communications | k_osborne@uncg.edu |
| Bev Faircloth | Teacher Education and Higher Education (TEHE) Department, School of Education | bsfaircl@uncg.edu |
| Lauren Kennon | Student Success | lekennon@uncg.edu |
| Scott Holloway | Student Success | wshollow@uncg.edu |
UNCG iBELONG PROJECT GRANTS AVAILABLE
The Division of Student Affairs launched the iBelong Project in the Spring of 2019 with the administration of a campus climate survey, intended to inform us of how we can better promote a supportive and welcoming environment for all Spartans. The iBelong Committee is requesting proposals for projects for implementation during the 24–25 academic year that aim to increase students’ sense of belonging. We know that a sense of belonging is connected to students’ success and retention at the university. We are looking for innovative projects that build deeper community and connections between students across campus. UNCG student groups and organizations, faculty and staff can submit a proposal that expands on a prior project or proposes a new project. We are especially interested in proposals that include students in the project idea’s development and implementation. Teams may submit requests for up to $500 in funding to support projects. Special consideration will be given to project proposals using Spartan Dining to support any food-related needs.
Deadline to submit proposal: Open, but priority consideration given to those who apply by Monday, September 30, 2024
A few examples of previously funded projects include a program that helped onboard new international students, a digital fashion show to highlight student design work, and a program that focused on helping first-generation students get adjusted to life at UNCG.
- Indicate whether it is a new project or a project expansion
- Clearly proposed outcomes – ex: The program will help provide a sense of community among xx population of students by hosting digital meet and greets.
- Clearly stated impact – ex: Who are the students this program will serve? How will this program make an impact on the population you are trying to serve?
- Budget for the project
- Plan for evaluation to include stakeholder feedback and impact
- Deadline to submit proposal: Open, but priority consideration given to those who apply by Monday, September 30, 2024
- Notification to grant winners: mid–October for those submitted by September 30
- Implementation deadline: April 18, 2025
- Final report due: April 30, 2025
Please complete the following form with your proposal.
Please contact Nicole Merritt (njmerrit@uncg.edu) in the Division of Student Affairs
iBELONG NEWS
UNC Greensboro’s iBelong project grants continue to give students, faculty, and staff an opportunity to form a more inclusive campus climate. The UNCG iBelong project started in 2019 with a survey intended to find out how the university can better promote inclusivity on campus. In 2021, 53 percent of students agreed that “I feel like I belong at UNCG.” In the most recent 2023 survey, that number went up to 69 percent. This year, the Division of Student Affairs awarded funding to a record 24 iBelong projects. The grant recipients began work on their projects at the beginning of the 2023 spring semester and say their efforts have been rewarding. Read more about the iBelong Grants
15 February 2022
Dear Spartans,
One of the pillars of our University is a welcoming environment that creates the opportunity for our students to thrive, belong, learn, create, transform, and succeed. We want all of you to feel seen, supported, and affirmed. The diverse backgrounds and experience that we each bring with us makes our campus community unique, and we are proud that our students, faculty, and staff are known for their acceptance and compassion, exhibited by our culture of care.
We know that students who feel like they belong have better outcomes in their college experience. Your sense of belonging reflects on our campus climate, which includes cultural groups, cross-cultural engagement, and experiences around diversity and inclusion. We have been focused on better developing that sense of belonging through the iBelong project. Through grant proposals, we have funded many campus events, such as support for first generation students, reading groups, and even speed friending. Next week, as part of the Ashby Dialogue on Belonging Series, the University will host a session which features nationally recognized scholar and advocate Dr. Elan Hope discussing activism as a response to barriers to campus belonging. You can RSVP here.
Many of you have expressed interest in helping your fellow Spartans feel more comfortable here at UNCG. The Office of Intercultural Engagement is a valuable resource to connect with other students, programs, and more. OIE is fundamental in providing opportunities for dialogue and community building on our campus. They are currently hosting several events for Black History Month, which we encourage you to attend. They will also host events for UNCG Pride Month beginning in March and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in April.
Our newly formed Bias Education and Support Team is also working to promote conversation about diversity, social justice, and inclusion. They aim to educate the campus community on how to recognize and report bias incidents and to support anyone who has been impacted by a bias incident. We support free speech and social discourse and have an expectation that all will do so with civility and respect for others. As such, if you see or hear something that seems to treat another Spartan in a threatening, harassing, intimidating, discriminatory, or hostile way, we encourage you to report it to the Bias team.
Your college journey goes beyond the classroom, and the environment in which you live, learn, and play is important to us. Our goal is to enrich your student experience with opportunities that celebrate diversity, service, and life-longing learning. I welcome your feedback on how you feel supported and thoughts on how we can continue to improve your sense of belonging.
Take care,
Cathy Akens, Ed.D.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
UNCG’s Bias Education and Support Team, housed under the Dean of Students Office, serves the campus community by offering a reporting process that invites students to document and proactively address the impacts of bias-related incidents, behaviors, and actions. A trained interdisciplinary, interdepartmental group, the Bias Education and Support Team draws on restorative principles, appreciative inquiry, community conferencing and other restoration-focused practices to guide students as they process the impacts of bias incidents. For more information about the team’s membership and efforts, visit their website here.
UNCG recently celebrated projects that were awarded funding support from the campus iBelong Project. In the first year of this effort, there were 16 funded projects providing students opportunities to engage with each other in a primarily digital environment, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To read more about the outcomes, click here.
As part of the UNCG iBelong project launched in Spring 2019 and the Campus Climate initiatives, a total of $7,400 will be awarded in support of projects that help build a sense of belonging among Spartans. These projects have been selected for their innovative ideas to build deeper community and connections between students across campus. To read more about the 2020 – 2021 grant winners, click here.