Konstantinos Used Leadership Courses to Better Serve Students, Staff

College campuses are often a melting pot that brings an array of learners together in pursuit of transformative education. But when you work on the European Campus of the University of York, CITY College, you are expected to be interacting with international students and international staff on a regular basis. 

If Konstantinos Gourmos, the assistant head course administrator in the Executive Development Institute at CITY College, wanted to lead, he needed to better understand the needs of all the students and staff he interacted with on a regular basis. 

That is why he enrolled in Leading for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education, available via Michigan Online on Coursera. 

CITY College, based in Thessaloniki, Greece, is a satellite campus of England’s University of York with an explicitly international focus and mission. It attracts international students broadly across Europe, hosts activities in eight countries and employs faculty from more than 60 countries. With a mission to create an inclusive international community, Gourmos said he wanted to find an online course that would help him put that mission into action. 

“The course allowed me to put the theoretical framework into practice and dig deeper into my institution’s diversity and inclusion policy,” Gourmos said.

Gorumos said through the course he was able to identify new approaches that allow him to evaluate and influence the diversity and inclusion strategies used at CITY College to help improve the level of service to students, staff and faculty.

It will also help him grow as a professional, Gourmos said. 

“I strongly believe this course will have a positive impact on my career path. The existence of diversity and inclusion is vital for any type of organization. Sharing ideas and cooperating in diverse teams can bring forth creative ideas that can shape new practices and generate solutions to organizational problems.”