The Equity Certificate Hosted Online (ECHO) Program helps learners develop tools necessary for advancing equity and diversity in all aspects of their personal and professional lives. The program:
- Offers learners a theoretical framework for understanding equity and diversity work
- Helps learners develop necessary skills for equity and diversity work
- Gives learners direct experience working and communicating across differences
Equity and Diversity Certificate Program via ECHO
ECHO is the Office for Equity and Diversity's (OED) online Equity and Diversity Certificate program. The program consists of engaging with reading and media materials via a shared course guide and participating in a Zoom Dialogue for each course. This engagement represents and reflects ways we can learn and grow in equity and diversity work – intellectual learning, emotional processing, and practicing skills.
Step 1: Pre-work (Reading and Media Materials) - Each ECHO course will have an associated course guide with reading and media materials to review that will be shared via gCal invitation. This material focuses on expanding our intellectual understanding and emotional processing of the core concepts related to the course topic.
Step 2: Zoom Dialogue - Each ECHO course features a 90-minute Zoom dialogue that learners are required to join. Zoom Dialogues provide opportunities to respond to prompting questions and scenarios related to the course content and provide the opportunity to put knowledge and skill sets into practice. Additionally, co-facilitators will lead dialogue participants through an action planning process to identify next steps for taking learning into application.
Please note: To receive credit towards the Equity and Diversity Certificate, you must first engage with course guide. Upon completion, you will then need to participate in the scheduled Zoom dialogue.
Registration Information
University of Minnesota community:
The ECHO program is free for all current staff, faculty, and students on all five system campuses. To enroll in the program, use your university login and log into the Destiny One Registration System (DORS), and select add to cart for the Current UMN Staff/Faculty/Students. If you are a learner who is external to the University of Minnesota, click the button below.
Additional Resources:
Please see the FAQs if you have any questions or contact [email protected].
Recommended Pacing and Plan of Study
Plan of Study
The ECHO program is designed to be self-paced and learners are encouraged to set their own course of study based on their capacity and ability needs. For the most impactful and supported experience, we recommend completing the skills-based ECHO courses prior to the identity-based courses if possible.
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Skills-based ECHO courses (recommend to take these courses in any sequence before the identity-based courses if possible):
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My Role in Equity and Diversity Work
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Navigating Challenging Conversations
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Addressing Implicit Bias and Microaggressions
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Removing Barriers and Creating Access
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Identity-based ECHO Courses (recommend to take in any sequence after the skills-based courses, if possible):
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Ableism & Disability Justice
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Challenging Classism
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Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexuality
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Race, Racism, and White Supremacy
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Religious and Spiritual Identities
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Understanding and Addressing Gender-Based Oppression
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Pacing of the Program
The ECHO program is designed to be self-paced. Some learners take 1-2 courses each semester (fall, spring, and summer), and some take more based on their capacity.
Please note, if you completed the ECHO program prior to 2018, we recommend that you refresh the program as the content and format has evolved significantly.
Equity and Diversity Certificate Completion
Upon completion of all 10 of the required ECHO courses, request a digital credential via Credly by submitting the ECHO Digital Badge and/or Certificate Request Form.
Please note, if you completed the ECHO program prior to 2018, we recommend that you refresh the program as the content and format has evolved significantly.
Status or Progress
If you have taken certificate courses through the former PeopleSoft system and/or through ULearn, your completion will not be reflected in your current Training Hub records. However, you may check your complete Training Record (PeopleSoft, ULearn data, and Training Hub) through the Office of Human Resources system: Training History Report. Please note: if you previously completed course(s) in Training Hub, these have been imported into DORS and should be reflected under ‘My Enrollment History’ and will not be reflected on the Office of Human Resources system: Training History Report.
Program Content Acknowledgement
The course materials shared are intended to provide a foundational overview of information and issues related to the topic of this course. We acknowledge that given the scope of the course, we are unable to encompass every experience, identity, and/or issue that is relevant and important to the communities we will explore. If there are additional connections or issues you wish to include, we welcome you to uplift it during our group discussion. Lastly, this curriculum is a 'living document'; we will continue to expand and refine our materials as our learning and awareness continues to grow and evolve. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions at [email protected].