College offering new Diversity Certificate for undergraduates

Employers looking for graduates with the nuanced cultural knowledge and skills to successfully operate in a diverse world can seek former students who have completed the new [Diversity Certificate] (http://dms.tamu.edu/academics/diversity-certificate/) program offered through the Texas A&M College of Architecture and the university’s [Department of Multicultural Services] (http://dms.tamu.edu/) .

“The certificate will expand undergraduate students’ vision of the world and the role they can play in it,” said Marisa Suhm, assistant director for diversity education at Texas A&M, at the Nov. 11, 2015 ceremony launching the new certificate at the College of Architecture.

The program requires students to take a minimum of nine hours of diversity-related courses and perform four credit hours of independent projects or research.

The program also requires 10 hours of co-curricular components such as attendance at diversity-related lectures or similar learning activities, 20 hours of service learning and a capstone presentation.

To be accepted into the program, a student must be earning an undergraduate degree at the College of Architecture, have a minimum 2.0 GPA and have earned fewer than 90 credit hours.

After completing the program, students should be able to:

• articulate the complexity and multiplicity of issues that surround global diversity;
• explain how the behavior of individuals, groups, and nations affects others’ rights, and environmental, social, and economic well-being;
• perceive and articulate events from more than one cultural viewpoint, and
• demonstrate a knowledge of appropriate discourse when addressing issues of race, ethnicity, gender, disability and socioeconomic status.

“We strive to achieve a vision of the world where we are willing to learn from people different than ourselves, where everyone is welcome at the table, everyone is considered and respected, and every culture has something to teach us,” said Suhm.

For more information about the Diversity Certificate, contact Cecilia Giusti, College of Architecture associate dean for outreach and diversity, at cgiusti@arch.tamu.edu or 979.458.4304.