Competencies

Equity and Inclusion

Demonstrate the awareness, attitude, knowledge, and skills required to equitably engage and include people from different local and global cultures. Engage in anti-racist practices that actively challenge the systems, structures, and policies of racism.

• Solicit and use feedback from multiple cultural perspectives to make inclusive and equity-minded decisions.
• Actively contribute to inclusive and equitable practices that influence individual and systemic change.
• Advocate for inclusion, equitable practices, justice, and empowerment for historically marginalized communities.
• Seek global cross-cultural interactions and experiences that enhance one’s understanding of people from different demographic groups and that leads to personal growth.
• Keep an open mind to diverse ideas and new ways of thinking.
• Identify resources and eliminate barriers resulting from individual and systemic racism, inequities, and biases.
• Demonstrate flexibility by adapting to diverse environments.
• Address systems of privilege that limit opportunities for members of historically marginalized communities.

Communication

Clearly and effectively exchange information, ideas, facts, and perspectives with persons inside and outside of an organization.

• Understand the importance of and demonstrate verbal, written, and non-verbal/body language, abilities.
• Employ active listening, persuasion, and influencing skills.
• Communicate in a clear and organized manner so that others can effectively understand.
• Frame communication with respect to diversity of learning styles, varied individual communication abilities, and cultural differences.
• Ask appropriate questions for specific information from supervisors, specialists, and others.
• Promptly inform relevant others when needing guidance with assigned tasks.

Teamwork and Collaboration

Build and maintain collaborative relationships to work effectively toward common goals, while appreciating diverse viewpoints and shared responsibilities.

• Listen carefully to others, taking time to understand and ask appropriate questions without interrupting.
• Effectively manage conflict, interact with and respect diverse personalities, and meet ambiguity with resilience.
• Be accountable for individual and team responsibilities and deliverables.
• Employ personal strengths, knowledge, and talents to complement those of others.
• Exercise the ability to compromise and be agile.
• Collaborate with others to achieve common goals.
• Build strong, positive working relationships with supervisor and team members/coworkers.

Leadership and Influence

Recognize and capitalize on personal and team strengths to achieve organizational goals.

• Inspire, persuade, and motivate self and others under a shared vision.
• Seek out and leverage diverse resources and feedback from others to inform direction.
• Use innovative thinking to go beyond traditional methods.
• Serve as a role model to others by approaching tasks with confidence and a positive attitude.
• Motivate and inspire others by encouraging them and by building mutual trust.
• Plan, initiate, manage, complete and evaluate projects.

Digital Literacy

Understand and leverage technologies ethically to enhance efficiencies, complete tasks, and accomplish goals.

• Navigate change and be open to learning new technologies.
• Use technology to improve efficiency and productivity of their work.
• Identify appropriate technology for completing specific tasks.
• Manage technology to integrate information to support relevant, effective, and timely decision-making.
• Quickly adapt to new or unfamiliar technologies.
• Manipulate information, construct ideas, and use technology to achieve strategic goals.
• Pursue digital ways of knowing, learning and doing.

Analytical and Critical Thinking

Identify and respond to needs based upon an understanding of situational context and logical analysis of relevant information.

• Make decisions and solve problems using sound, inclusive reasoning and judgment.
• Gather and analyze information from a diverse set of sources and individuals to fully understand a problem.
• Proactively anticipate needs and prioritize action steps.
• Accurately summarize and interpret data with an awareness of personal biases that may impact outcomes.
• Effectively communicate actions and rationale, recognizing the diverse perspectives and lived experiences of stakeholders.
• Multi-task well in a fast-paced environment.

Professionalism and Career Management

Knowing work environments differ greatly, understand and demonstrate effective work habits, and act in the interest of the larger community and workplace.

Proactively develop oneself and one’s career through continual personal and professional learning, awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses, navigation of career opportunities, and networking to build relationships within and without one’s organization.

• Act equitably with integrity and accountability to self, others, and the organization.
• Maintain a positive personal brand in alignment with organization and personal career values.
• Be present and prepared.
• Demonstrate dependability (e.g., report consistently for work or meetings).
• Prioritize and complete tasks to accomplish organizational goals.
• Consistently meet or exceed goals and expectations.
• Have an attention to detail, resulting in few if any errors in their work.
• Show a high level of dedication toward doing a good job.

• Show an awareness of own strengths and areas for development.
• Identify areas for continual growth while pursuing and applying feedback.
• Develop plans and goals for one’s future career.
• Professionally advocate for oneself and others.
• Display curiosity; seek out opportunities to learn.
• Assume duties or positions that will help one progress professionally.
• Establish, maintain, and/or leverage relationships with people who can help one professionally.
• Seek and embrace development opportunities.
• Voluntarily participate in further education, training, or other events to support one’s career.

Applied Problem Solving

The process of designing, evaluating and implementing a workable strategy to achieve a goal.

• Recognize constraints.
• Generate a set of alternative courses of action.
• Evaluate alternatives using a set of criteria.
• Select and implement the most effective solution.
• Monitor the actual outcomes of that solution.
• Recognize there may be more than one valid point of view.
• Explore and create new ways of approaching problems.

Ethical Decision Making

Recognizing ethical issues arising in a variety of settings or social contexts, reflecting on the ethical concerns that pertain to the issue, and choosing a course of action based on these reflections.

• Assess one's own personal and moral values and perspectives as well as those of other stakeholders.
• Integrate these values and perspectives into an ethical framework. for decision making.
• Consider intentions and the short-and long-term consequences of actions and the ethical principles that apply in the situation before making decisions.

Creativity and Innovation

Generating new, varied and unique ideas, and making connections between previously unrelated ideas. Combining established elements in a new way to create something new.

• Challenge existing paradigms and propose alternatives without being constrained by established approaches or anticipated responses of others.
• Employ their knowledge, skills, abilities, and sense of originality.
• Have a willingness to take risks and overcome internal struggle to expose one's creative self in order to bring forward new work or ideas.
• Combine elements in new ways to create original pieces of work.
• Create new knowledge and innovate ways of knowing.

Citizenship and Community Engagement

Develop a consciousness about one's potential contributions and roles in the many communities one inhabits, in person and online, and takes action accordingly.

• Actively engage with the communities in which they are involved.
• Build awareness of how communities impact individuals, and how, in turn, an individual impacts, serves, and shapes communities.
• Evolve their awareness of culture and power in community dynamics.

Resourcefulness, Self-Learning and Adaptability

Set a foundation for long-long learning built on resilience and curiosity with an emphasis on applied problem solving and navigating diverse settings and varied challenges.

• Become aware and reflective concerning one’s strengths, weaknesses and opportunities.
• Build confidence in one’s ability to learn under one’s own direction.
• Build fortitude to adapt to new and varied relational, intellectual and structural settings.
• Foster curiosity and courage in learning new, unfamiliar, and intimidating bodies of knowledge.