my.CSMD
Institutional Equity
We commit to work for the change we seek. We believe the College of Southern Maryland advances social justice and economic mobility for all Southern Marylanders through its educational programs. As members of the Board of Trustees at the College of Southern Maryland, we commit to supporting the work of the college in building a culture of equity and strengthening an inclusive environment that nurtures and supports all learners. We condemn injustice in all its forms. Racism violates our core values, and will not be tolerated. As citizen trustees, we commit to and hold ourselves accountable for equity in all facets of our policy governance of the College of Southern Maryland
- CSM Board of Trustees, July 5, 2020
Building a Culture of Belonging
The College of Southern Maryland was founded in 1958 to create open-access opportunities for higher education for people in Southern Maryland. Equity in education has been the college’s work since its inception, and that focus is stronger today.
In 2017, 2019, and 2021, the College of Southern Maryland has been recognized by the Aspen Institute for Excellence as one of the top 150 community colleges of roughly 1000 nationally for its performance in four areas: Learning, completion, labor market outcomes, and equity.
To advance that work further, CSM joined the Achieving the Dream network in 2019, which is a national organization of roughly 250 colleges working to improve student learning with a sharp focus on closing equity gaps. CSM is now entering its fifth year of this important work.
CSM’s 2024-2029 Strategic Plan, Built for Success, marks a pivotal step in our commitment to student-centered excellence.
Below is a link to our most recent Culture Diversity Report submitted to the Maryland Higher Education Commission that details our efforts in addressed this critical strategic plan.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Work in Action
CSM's Affirmative Action Programs
CSM's annual Affirmative Action Programs ensure that all qualified employees and prospective employees are treated in a nondiscriminatory manner in all employment decisions: advertising, recruitment, hiring, compensation, promotion, demotion, selection for training, transfer, and termination. Annual independent audits assess group representation in CSM's workforce:- Minorities and Women: The representation of minorities and women in all job groups with their representation among those identified, in an availability analysis, as available internally and externally for employment in the job group. Where actual representation is less than the calculated availability, we assess whether the difference is greater than reasonably expected.
- People with Disabilities: Our utilization of individuals with known disabilities with utilization goals identified by Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) at the start of each program year.
- Veterans: The representation of protected veterans relative to a hiring benchmark, in accordance with the national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force as published on the OFCCP website.
Affirmative Action Reports
Affirmative Action Program for Minorities and Women
Affirmative Action Program for Individuals with Disabilities