Goucher College joins the Consortium on High Achievement and Success

Goucher College announced it would join the Consortium on High Achievement and Success  (CHAS). CHAS was founded to address concerns raised by Black and Latinx students about their academic and social experiences. Goucher will select up to six institutional representatives for the consortium.  

“Since its inception 22 years ago, CHAS has worked with its member institutions to improve the everyday campus experiences of their Black and Latinx students by leveraging collaborative learning across all member institutions,” says Juan Hernandez, associate dean of students for diversity, equity, inclusion, and Title IX. “Joining the Consortium provides Goucher with the opportunity to connect with peer institutions across the nation as we work towards equity, justice, access, and anti-racism.”

CHAS works to create networking and professional development opportunities for members, highlights exemplary integrative educational practices, produces research to inform diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to benefit all students, and provide opportunities to assess and address campus climate issues. 

“Goucher prides itself on our longstanding commitment to creating a diverse and welcoming campus environment and our dedication to promoting social justice and equity as fundamental components of our mission,” says Goucher College President Kent Devereaux. “Joining the Consortium on High Achievement and Success furthers that commitment and continues this important, ongoing work.”

Goucher will offer students, faculty, and staff a range of CHAS-specific opportunities as part of the consortium. Students will be able to attend CHAS conferences, which provide supportive spaces to discuss the unique challenges they may encounter at their institutions and discuss strategies to create positive institutional change. Staff will have access to professional development to assess how their offices meet underrepresented students’ needs and improve multicultural competencies through best practices. Faculty grants will also be available for faculty to undertake a project to promote intellectual engagement among all students, emphasizing inclusion among underrepresented students of color.

“CHAS was founded, in response to student concerns and activism, by a small group of faculty leaders and administrators who wanted to establish a network of like-minded colleagues who could work together to better understand challenges and to imagine new possibilities for more equitable and inclusive campuses,” said sourav guha, CHAS executive director. “We are happy to welcome Goucher College to the consortium and partner with their students, faculty, and staff – and to warmly welcome back Juan, who has been involved with CHAS since his own undergraduate days at Trinity.”

“The consortium’s original impetus and focus was improving retention and academic success among students from historically underrepresented and/or otherwise marginalized student of color populations on predominantly white campuses,” said guha. “Two decades later, CHAS continues to serve as a peer learning and professional development resource for member institutions, and others in higher education, having expanded its scope to include issues of retention and belonging among faculty and staff of color.”

In addition to Goucher, other CHAS member institutions include several small liberal arts institutions, such as Carleton, Kenyon, Oberlin, Skidmore, and Vassar, as well as larger research universities, such as Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania.