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Augsburg University

Undergraduate School

Mailing Address
2211 Riverside Ave
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55454
Phone
(612) 330-1000
Email address
admissions@augsburg.edu
School Information
"Augsburg University has maintained a strong academic reputation defined by excellence in the liberal arts and professional studies since 1869. A safe and welcoming campus in the heart of Minneapolis, Augsburg offers undergraduate and graduate degrees to nearly 3,400 diverse students...Augsburg offers many ways to engage, connect, and belong. Students and parents receive support and resources. Alumni use their college degrees to live out their callings. Visitors cheer on Auggie athletics, attend live performances, complete service projects, and embrace other opportunities to learn." The university offers 50 majors, 11 graduate degree programs, and has a 12:1 student-faculty ratio. (Source: https://www.augsburg.edu/about/)
General Information
Augsburg University has been changing its admissions practices. The university has taken steps to get rid of standardized testing as a requirement for admission. The university has not announced if it will be replacing the standardized tests with another form of evaluation. No mandatory Critical Race Training sessions are yet required of students. However, see developments below:

Actions Taken

Admissions Policies
  • University decided to get rid of standardized testing as a requirement for admission.
Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
  • The university offers its faculty and staff a Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program.
Disciplinary Measures
  • AU's entire community can "use the Discrimination and Bias Incident Online Reporting Form to report incidents of discrimination and/or bias."
Faculty/Staff Requirements
  • AU's 2022-2023 Anti-Racism Training sessions are required for all faculty and staff and include a session titled "Anti-Racialism 101-Learning Anti-Racism: A Developmental Approach to Decolonizing and Ending Racial Oppression."
Program and Research Funding
  • The Department of Critical Race and Ethnicity Studies at AU was established in 2021 in "response to the ongoing movements around racial equity and social justice" by "faculty and student advocates." The Department "seeks to provide students with ethically and socially responsible scholarship that fosters critical thinking about the multiple ways race and ethnicity are produced in different historical contexts."
  • AU's George Floyd Memorial Scholarship awards $5,000 to "student leaders who show great promise in their ability to further interrupt and dismantle anti-Black racism, racism, white supremacy, and other forms of oppression."
Resources
  • As part of the University’s Equity and Inclusion Initiatives, there is a site listing all events and opportunities dedicated to Justice for George Floyd Initiatives.
  • The university has an Inclusion Scholars Program consisting of 18 hours of workshops to become more “equity-minded” and be able to “interrupt bias and microaggressions.” These students receive special recognition at Commencement.
  • On May 16, 2022, the university will be hosting and Anti-Racist Pedagogy Workshop.
  • On June 29, 2023, AU issued its "Statement on Supreme Court Decision to Strike Down Race-Conscious Admissions," which reads as follows: "The Augsburg community is committed to intentional diversity in our life and work. This commitment aligns with our use of holistic application review and our direct admissions approach, launched in fall 2022. Because direct admissions does not consider race as a factor, Augsburg’s current admissions processes are unlikely to be affected by the SFFA v. Harvard/UNC ruling—despite potentially far-reaching impacts for higher education. Augsburg’s experience with direct admissions may serve as a useful case study on alternative strategies to lower barriers for historically underrepresented and marginalized student populations following this decision." 
  • AU has a Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Newsletter that members of he community can subscribe to. The "events and literature included in the Newsletter may help Augsburg faculty, staff and students to grow, not only in their individual intercultural competency development, but also in the approaches they employ to better cultivate a University environment that respects diversity, practices inclusion, and seeks equity."
Symbolic Actions
  • The university canceled classes and suspended all operations on April 22, 2021 in light of the Chauvin murder trial verdict.
Last updated September 5th, 2023
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