The period of study in higher education institutions invites for many a first encounter with different social groups. Especially since the events of May 2021, and even more so after October 7 and during the war, diversity on campus poses complex challenges that can increase tension between groups and sometimes even cause the formation of overt or covert conflicts in classrooms, offices, and shared spaces. So that relationships on campus are not damaged during periods of increased tension, the Accord Center offers practical workshops designed for academic and administrative staff, which aim to assist in conducting themselves in the classroom and in other spaces during a crisis, to provide tools for establishing norms of discourse, and to develop and expand the range of abilities and responses of the staff in dealing with these challenges.

Campuses in Israel are becoming increasingly diverse. This encouraging fact positions academia as an arena with important social potential, where many students meet for the first time in a meaningful way with groups other than their own. However, diversity also brings with it challenges and challenges for teaching staff, in days of routine and even more so in tense times, which require appropriate skills and tools. This workshop offers a look at relations between groups through the lens of social psychology and provides practical tools for teaching in a diverse classroom based on the "inclusive classroom" model - to increase the sense of belonging of students from different social groups and their ability to have a voice in the classroom, to promote a sense of fairness and to strengthen the willingness to cooperate among them. At the end of it, lecturers will be able to better diagnose the challenges in their classroom and will have tools and principles of action to assimilate norms of diversity and inclusion, without harming the learning of the material and the aspiration for excellence and professionalism.

Classrooms and campuses reflect Israel's diverse society, as well as the tensions that exist within it. Periods of tension and violence further accentuate the need for tools to manage classroom discourse on charged issues. Freedom of expression and critical discourse are a central value and a fundamental principle in academia, and lecturers can decide to hold and manage such discourse - both in areas of teaching and research that concern sensitive and charged issues that come up for discussion, and in the context of dealing with a debate that has erupted in the classroom on explosive issues that requires it to be allowed and even continued. The workshop offers academic staff recommendations and practical tools for defining norms of discourse even in times of crisis and for managing conversations on charged and controversial issues, while maintaining the social fabric of the classroom and a safe and fair space for all students.

Research shows that collaboration in class work is a strong predictor of increased motivation for social closeness, the establishment of positive stereotypes, and even the creation of friendships between students from different social groups. This meaningful collaboration can happen in the lab, in a final project, in class work, or after school hours. The workshop includes an introduction to different task structures that increase the chance of a successful heterogeneous encounter, ways to divide the class into groups, and mediate relationships in the work group. Training lecturers to create and manage joint work in heterogeneous groups is a practice that grows out of the study routine and allows for the strengthening of the social fabric in the classroom and a meaningful experience of inclusion for students.

The administrative staff is responsible for important, ongoing, and challenging interfaces with students during their studies. It is in continuous contact with them and marks critical milestones for them in conducting themselves on campus, creating a sense of belonging to it, and success in their studies, in routine, and in tense times. In light of its critical role in the relationship between the various groups on campus, we offer the administrative staff members training designed to recognize the importance of their extensive organizational and professional experience, to echo their coping methods, and to give them psychosocial validity, and in the process, to increase their level of ability to conduct themselves in the diverse academic arena. The goal of the workshops is to give the administrative staff a central place in organizational thinking about these various interfaces, and to provide them with knowledge and practical tools that will assist in dealing with dilemmas and challenges in the shared space, with an emphasis on relationships between groups from a psychosocial perspective.

A training program to establish an institutional infrastructure of change agents among the academic and administrative staff. The course includes imparting theoretical and applied knowledge on the subject of intergroup relations, familiarization with research-based models and tools, and experience in planning and implementing initiatives to promote inclusion on campus.

Dedicated training for academic and administrative staff to facilitate workshops on intergroup relations from the perspective of social psychology, with the aim of imparting theoretical and practical knowledge of the Accord Center as well as methodological tools for independently and continuously transferring the content within the institution.

In addition to training, the academic field provides psychosocial counseling on issues related to managerial challenges in the diversity space and familiarization with possible courses of action.