Inclusive Excellence

What is Inclusive Excellence?

Inclusive Excellence is a comprehensive effort to link diversity and quality. It is about transitioning diversity and inclusion from isolated initiatives to catalyst for educational excellence. The four elements of inclusive excellence are:
  • A focus on student intellectual and social development; academically, it means offering the best possible course of study for the context in which the education is offered.
  • A purposeful development and utilization of organizational resources to enhance student learning; Organizationally, it means establishing an environment that challenges each student to achieve academically at high levels and each member of the campus to contribute to learning and knowledge development.
  • Attention to cultural differences learners bring to the educational experience and that enhance the enterprise; and
  • A welcoming community that engages all of its diversity in the service of student and organizational learning.
An excerpt from Williams, D. A., Berger, J. B., & McClendon, S. A. (2005). Toward a model of inclusive excellence and change in postsecondary institutions. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities