Social Justice and Community Engagement Program

SJCE is a certificate earning program for all students interested in enhancing their college experience through co-curricular involvement focused on diversity, social justice and leadership. SJCE provides diversity training through flexible, engaging, and experiential learning and serves as a unique way of supporting student identity and interpersonal development. Earning a SJCE certificate is a great way for students to show future employers or graduate/professional schools that they had a vested interest in diversity and social justice during their time at Ohio State Newark.

To earn your SJCE certificate, you must complete Parts 1 and 2, by April 13th. Part 1 consists of attending 4 SJCE events hosted or supported by the Student Life-Multicultural Affairs at Ohio State Newark or the Student Life Multicultural Center at Ohio State Columbus. Part 2 requires the completion of a SJCE reflection paper. {Part 3—Peer Facilitator (facilitator’s certificate program) involves hosting/facilitating a program of your own on a topic related to diversity, inclusion, or social justice. If interested in the program go to https://go.osu.edu/mcainterests and click on all interested topics especially SJCE.

Questions? Contact Vorley Taylor.

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Part 1: Attend 4 SJCE/DICE Events

Attend a program hosted or supported by the Student Life Multicultural Affairs at Ohio State Newark

Student Life Multicultural Affairs hosts or supports many programs throughout the year. Some programs are hosted or supported during particular heritage or awareness months (e.g. Latinx Heritage Month, Women’s History Month, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month) while others are series of events over a period of time. To see what programs count as a SJCE event, please visit our events listing. The events on the schedule that count for SJCE credit will have “(SJCE)” after the title of the event. Please note that not every event hosted or supported by Multicultural Affairs will count for DICE. If there is an event that you are very interested in attending that you hope to count for SJCE credit, please contact the SJCE Program Coordinator at Ohio State Newark.

Attend a program hosted by the Student Life Multicultural Center at Ohio State Columbus

The Student Life Multicultural Center hosts many programs throughout the year. Some programs are hosted during particular heritage or awareness months (e.g. Latinx Heritage Month, Women’s History Month, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month) while others are series of events over a period of time. To see what programs count as a DICE event, please visit our calendar and look for education and training. On the calendar, the events that count for Diversity, Intercultural and Community Engagement (DICE) credit will have “(DICE)” after the title of the event. Please note that not every event hosted by the Multicultural Center will count for DICE. If there is an event that you are very interested in attending that you hope to count for DICE credit, please contact the DICE Program Coordinator. Another easy way to learn about upcoming programs is to sign up for any of the Multicultural Center newsletters that are sent out every other week.

Attend an approved Social Justice & Community Engagement (SJCE) Workshop (external)

The Social Justice Engagement (SJE) team offers many workshops (called Buck-Identity workshops) throughout the year. These workshops can be requested by any Ohio State/COTC community members, including student organizations, sororities and fraternities, residence halls, and academic classes. If you attend one of these workshops through an organization you are in, this can count for a DICE credit. The facilitator should remind you about DICE at the end of the workshop. Additionally, there will be some of the SJCE workshops offered as open sessions through the Multicultural Center on the calendar. The events that count for DICE credit will have “(DICE)” after the title of the event. Another easy way to learn about upcoming workshops is to sign up for the Social Justice Community Engagement and other Multicultural Center newsletters that are sent out every other week.

If you are interested in bringing a workshop to you, please visit our website (https://mcc.osu.edu/educationand-training/buck-identity-workshops/) for more information and to access the request form.

Part 2: Final Reflection Paper

After you have completed Part 1, please complete Part 2, the final reflection paper. Guidelines are below.
To earn credit for the paper, you should e-mail it to Vorley Taylor along with your SJCE Tracking Form by April 13.

Paper requirements:

• 12-point font
• At least 1,200 words

Questions to consider:

• What did you learn overall through the SJCE certificate program?
• Reflect on the “Part 1” SJEC (DICE) events you attended. What are some things you learned through attending each of these programs and why did you choose the programs that you did?
• Why is diversity and social justice work important to your education as an Ohio State/COTC student?
• How do you hope to continue engaging in this work beyond completing this certificate?
• How will you apply what you learned through SJCE (DICE) to your life at or beyond Ohio State or COTC?
• How do you view the importance of self-reflection in social justice/inclusion work?
• What improvements could be made to the SJCE program to enhance student learning?

You do not have to answer all of the above questions, but you should allow the questions to prompt your thinking and reflection as you write this paper. If you need further prompts to help your writing process, please contact Vorley Taylor.

Part 3: Peer Advocacy-Host/Facilitate a Program on a Topic of your Choice

Part 3 of the SJCE Certificate program allows for flexible and creative program planning. This certificate can not be earned without completing Parts 1 & 2. You can host anything from a small program or dialogue on campus through Multicultural Affairs or in your residence hall to a larger program through Multicultural Affairs or Newark Housing. The program should center on a diversity or social justice topic that is of interest to you. The program should last approximately one hour.

• What was the topic of your program for Part 3?
  • What was your program about and why did you choose that topic?
  • What went well in the program?
  • What would you do differently if you were to host the same program again?
  • How does your topic relate to diversity and social justice?

If you are interested in completing this option, you should e-mail Vorley Taylor.