{"id":2,"date":"2022-09-14T18:18:54","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T18:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/offices.austincc.edu\/diversity-equity-and-inclusion\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2026-05-07T18:17:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:17:39","slug":"sample-page","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/offices.austincc.edu\/belonging-and-purpose\/","title":{"rendered":"Office of Belonging &amp; Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-responsive  embed-responsive-16by9\">\n<div class=\"iframe-container\">\n<div class=\"iframe-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"embed-responsive-item\"   class=\"embed-responsive-item\"   title=\"OBP Events\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YHRXvsXCN10?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Research shows that college students who feel that they belong at their institutions get better grades and fare better on persistence, engagement, and mental health. Belonging is the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included, supported and allowed to be their authentic selves by others in the school environment.  <\/p>\n<p>Creating a Culture of Belonging &amp; Purpose, is an essential cornerstone of ACC\u2019s commitment to serve all students, eliminating disparities and increasing success in service of our unifying goal of achieving an institutional completion rate of 70% by 2030. ACC\u2019s new Office of Belonging &amp; Purpose works with multiple internal partners across the District\u2019s eleven campuses to identify groundbreaking, proactive, and innovative neutral approaches based upon research-based best practices data to strengthen ACC\u2019s capacity to create and sustain a culture of belonging where the achieving of our unifying completion goal becomes reality. The Office of Belonging &amp; Purpose also consults with ACC Legal Counsel to ensure these approaches are lawful and in compliance with Tex. Educ. Code section 51.3525. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How We Practice ACC&#8217;s Values<\/h2>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><div class=\"list\"><p class=\"trigger\"><a href=\"#\">Courage<\/a><\/p><div class=\"toggle_container\"><div class=\"block\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Courage<\/h2>\n<p>Austin Community College District students, faculty, and staff demonstrate courage every day by embracing all people regardless of their backgrounds, by building a college where all are welcome, and by serving all students regardless of where they are in their educational journeys.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><div class=\"list\"><p class=\"trigger\"><a href=\"#\">Compassion<\/a><\/p><div class=\"toggle_container\"><div class=\"block\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Compassion<\/h2>\n<p>Every student counts and we are committed in our collaborations with multiple internal and external partners to build an environment of other-centeredness, empathy, kindness, and love that enables all students, faculty, staff, and employees to win together. By intentionally extending ourselves to help others move forward in academic and organizational excellence our actions today lay the foundation for other\u2019s triumphs tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><div class=\"list\"><p class=\"trigger\"><a href=\"#\">Joy<\/a><\/p><div class=\"toggle_container\"><div class=\"block\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Joy<\/h2>\n<p>Bringing joy and passion into our work with each other and our students each day, we continuously create spaces to hear and see others who differ from ourselves\u2026without requiring agreement. In such compassionate spaces and practices we acknowledge each other\u2019s stories and suffering leading to more understanding of what we share-not what divides us. Bound by ACC\u2019s unifying completion goal we strive together with all partners to provide the support and resources needed to help all students, staff, faculty, and employees achieve the unifying goal.<\/p>\n<p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><div class=\"list\"><p class=\"trigger\"><a href=\"#\">Yes<\/a><\/p><div class=\"toggle_container\"><div class=\"block\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Yes<\/h2>\n<p>We find a \u201cYes&#8221; when faced with any obstacle in our students\u2019 way by collaborating with multiple internal and external partners across the district to assess and develop potential strengths in institutional processes and structures to make them more user-friendly to all.This includes drawing knowledge from and being influenced by as broad a set of sources, people, experiences, expertise, viewpoints, and knowledge so we may implement ranges or sets of customized and scalable strategies that advance all ACC students, employees, and communities served toward achieving their educational goals and professional outcomes.<\/p>\n<p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Concepts<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Belonging<\/strong> is a feeling of being accepted and valued by others, a sense of connection, community, and recognition of one\u2019s uniqueness and distinctiveness.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Purpose<\/strong> is a sense of meaning and direction in life, a connection to something larger than oneself, and a contribution to the common good.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Strengths<\/strong> are positive qualities and abilities that enable individuals to achieve their goals, overcome challenges, and express their values.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Targeted universalism<\/strong> means setting universal goals and strategies pursued by targeted processes to achieve those goals for all groups served. The targeted strategies are based on how different groups are situated within structures, culture, and across geographies to obtain the universal goal. It is goal orientated, focusing on data, connecting, collaborating, and the caring concept of bridging.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bridging<\/strong> is about creating compassionate space and practices where we acknowledge each other\u2019s stories and suffering without necessarily agreeing. It is about co-constructing a larger \u201cwe\u201d, with shifting differences and similarities. Through it, all people experience being heard, being seen, and being cared for, which is the ultimate outcome of belonging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Research shows that college students who feel that they belong at their institutions get better grades and fare better on persistence, engagement, and mental health. Belonging is the extent to which students feel personally accepted, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/offices.austincc.edu\/belonging-and-purpose\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":-100,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/offices.austincc.edu\/belonging-and-purpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/offices.austincc.edu\/belonging-and-purpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/offices.austincc.edu\/belonging-and-purpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offices.austincc.edu\/belonging-and-purpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/offices.austincc.edu\/belonging-and-purpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/offices.austincc.edu\/belonging-and-purpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":334,"href":"https:\/\/offices.austincc.edu\/belonging-and-purpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/offices.austincc.edu\/belonging-and-purpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}