Student-driven projects to promote equitable and justice-oriented teaching and learning

In this reflective essay, we present our SaP program as a model for an open-ended, autonomous approach to partnership, where students partner with staff who work in a center for teaching and learning (CTL) on projects they choose, with the ultimate goal of promoting more equitable and justice-oriented teaching and learning by creating and distributing lasting, publicly available resources.At American University's (AU) Center for Teaching, Research & Learning (CTRL), the CTRL student partners (American University, n.d.-a) were undergraduate students hired on an hourly part-time basis to work with CTRL staff to bring student voices and diverse perspectives to instructors, staff, and faculty at AU, helping to reconceptualize learning and teaching as a collaborative process.Each student partner planned and implemented pedagogical projects based on their own personal interests and experiences, which also led them to gain professional leadership skills while developing greater awareness as a learner and member of a campus community.The program prioritized diverse perspectives, recruiting students from all backgrounds and academic areas, to ensure wide representation of students' ideas and experiences.It was a distinctive type of SaP program where students partnered directly with CTRL staff and, through CTRL support, also formed partnerships with faculty and other relevant campus units such as the spiritual life center, academic integrity office, and the office that manages the general education curriculum.Through the program, 11 student partners created over 15 multimedia resources, individually and collaboratively, under the supervision of CTRL staff, housed on the CTRL website (American University, n.d.-b) for access by campus members and beyond.These resources were developed through their own personal reflection supplemented by surveys, interviews, focus groups, personal interactions, or town halls with students, faculty, and other campus partners.The resources spanned a variety of topics and formats, such as written guides for accessibility and anti-ableism, a photo journal on diversity in student identity at AU, information about