Supporting People, Programs, and Structures for Diversity

1. Supporting People, Programs, and Structures for Diversity EDHE 6730 Organization and Administration of Student Development Services By Lisa S. Estrada-Hamby

2. College and University Common Belief • Diversity in their student bodies, faculties, and staff is important for them to fulfill their primary mission: Providing a Quality Education

3. Ethnic Breakdown • Year 2020 • 40 percent of Americans will be members of the following groups • African American • Latino • Pacific Islanders, or • American Indians • Year 2012 • Students of color will make up 25 percent of the under-eighteen population

4. College Enrollment Data • Since 1979, women have outnumbered men enrolled on college campuses throughout the country. In 1996 the enrollment of women was nearly 56 percent • In 1996: • 26 percent of those attending were students of color • Regionally • 40 percent and above in New Mexico and California • 30 percent and above in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and New York • Students with special needs have also dramatically increased • 1978 showed three percent but five years later showed almost ten percent

5. Supporting Programs • 1997 report issued by the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land Grant Universities called upon public universities to rededicate themselves to student learning • The first report, Returning to Our Roots: The Student Experience, declared that anything short of a strong commitment jeopardizes an institution’s capacity as a learning community

6. Supporting Programs • Involvement in Learning • Astin (1996) refers to involvement as the amount of time and energy (physical and/or psychological) a student invests in learning • The greater the students’ degree of involvement, the greater the learning and personal development

7. Supporting Programs • Socioeconomic background, cultural heritage, college preparedness, academic preparation, and campus environment all influence a student’s ability to engage in an institution and be an active participant in the learning process • Institutional commitment to involve all members of the learning community is critical in advancing students’ goals and institutional objectives

8. Astin’s Research (1993) • Indicates that institutional and faculty diversity emphases have a positive impact on cultural awareness and commitment to providing racial understanding among students • Identifies students’ personal commitment to promoting racial understanding as well as their overall satisfaction with college and student life when these opportunities occur

9. Pope’s Research (1995) • Indicates the need for new and better strategies to involve students in a multicultural campus: “creating a multicultural campus requires more than … increasing diversity. Instead, new strategies that alter goals, expectations, perceptions, and practices are needed to transform and create multicultural campuses.”

10. Multicultural • A term to define a campus that recognizes the broad array of cultural characteristics of racial and ethnic minorities, women, or others who may feel disempowered by policies or practices of college campuses • All students benefit from structured, positive interactions with peers • A healthy and productive learning community requires an opportunity for autonomous involvement in cultural, racial, ethnic, or special interests within the broader community

11. Institutional Strategies Which Fail • Assuming that diverse students must change • Making multicultural student, faculty, staff, and administrators responsible for socializing new multicultural students • Encouraging multicultural students to adapt to the dominant culture • Helping only ‘identifiable’ multicultural students • Failing to provide equitable educational opportunities to all students, and • Failing to educate those of the dominant culture about their multicultural colleagues

12. Banning and Bartels (1997) • How powerfully the physical artifacts of a campus communicate non-verbal messages to students about the values of a campus. • Taxonomy through which campus artifacts may be assessed; they encourage campuses to utilize this system as a vehicle for multicultural education.

13. Stage and Manning (1992) • A model that encourages participation from the entire campus community as a means of removing barriers to involvement. • A multicultural campus is an inclusive campus, responsive to all persons regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, gender and background. • The model’s components of learning to think constructively, spanning boundaries, ensuring optimal performance, and taking action

14. Intentional Strategies for Change • Acknowledge Individuals • Acknowledging each student as an individual learner can become the student’s invitation to become a contributing member of the learning community • Affirm Groups • As the multicultural campus evolves in its diversity and its richness, so should it flourish and multiply in its groups and organizations • Invest In Others • Inherent in ideals of shared governance, full representation, and a commitment to the public good, is the concept of interdependency where individual success is made possible through the guidance and help of others

15. A Case for Diversity • Examining professional association membership provides insight into the diversity of the profession • The presence of female professionals and administrator has become more prevalent • Mentors appear to make a key difference • A critical number of diverse staff must be in place so that individuals who are in the minority are not isolated

16. A Case for Diversity • “Oneness” as a concept occurs when the person of a specific background, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or other distinguishing characteristic is the only one in a peer group • These individuals become a torchbearer • In an environment that offers little affirmation, doubts may linger about one’s performance and ability

17. A Case for Diversity • Overperformer • Take on multiple assignments that extend beyond primary duties which include • Service, committee work, and stewardship within the university community • Externally to participate in community activities and represent the university at large • The better the performance in each roles, the greater the burden • Compromise and destructive cycle may result as the additional assignments may jeopardize one’s success in the primary professional role

18. Minority Group Identification • Are minority staff perceived as credible within their ethnic or gender group? • How much time, effort, and commitment is required by the group – demands not made of majority group individuals? • How comfortable are the individuals in identifying with the group?

19. Successful vs. Failure • If an individual succeeds then others of the same race, gender or ethnic group they have a much better chance of being considered for a future appointment • If an individual fails then the chances of others of a similar background will be much more difficult • Minority individuals often feel that they must prove that they are worthy of the position from day one

20. Strategies for Hiring a Diverse Staff • Administrators should take the time to consider the organization and the skills and competencies needed to advance it • Job qualifications should be reviewed to ensure that requirements are relevant to the current duties and not unduly restrictive or narrow • The hiring process should also be examined, with great consideration given to recruitment strategies for the position

21. Promoting from Within • Minority administrators are often in entry or middle management positions • Minority administrators are also located frequently in specialized functions that target other minorities • Minority administrators are involved with programs that are funded by grants or are in staff (versus line) capacities • People should be promoted for their competencies and promise, not exclusively on seniority

22. Hiring from Outside • Strategies • Broadening the applicant pool • Personally contacting known individuals who may be strong candidates • Identifying individuals through networks • Advertising in multiple sources including minority-forced newspapers and journals, as well as announcing the opening through rapidly developing Web sites

23. Retaining and Developing • Strategies to support minority staff for access and advancement within the profession • Opportunities to direct or coordinate student affairs initiatives • Summer institutes and academics • Summer management internships for currently employed individuals who are underrepresented in the field • Involvement in professional organizations • Graduate program preparation • Staff development programs are also critical and can be implemented with few resources when necessary

24. Graduate Preparation Programs • Graduate programs should address their commitment to diversity and ensure that the information disseminated underscores this commitment • To address the inclusion of the topics into the curriculum, faculty must assess both the knowledge base of their students as well as the mission and goals of the department • To establish a more comprehensive curriculum that integrates a multicultural focus, the faculty should review the existing program as a whole and then discuss how diversity can be incorporated in each of these areas

25. Graduate Students Need • To be assured that the actual practices of their respective faculty match the rhetoric in the classroom • The composition of the faculty needs to reflect the diversity they espouse • To see that the faculty support events highlighting diversity and that they sponsor students of diverse backgrounds

26. Supporting Organizational Structures • Structures should be reviewed periodically to determine their effectiveness • Some SA organizations have chosen to combine departments while the majority are more traditional • Each approach has the potential to limit or promote minority individuals • The elimination of entire departments may mean downsizing staff which affects the loss of minorities and women

27. Supporting Organizational Structures • Decentralized Organization • Potential for specialization early in one’s career • More evident on larger campuses • Tendency is for supervisors to believe that certain skills or competencies are not as easily transferable when, in reality, the opposite is true

28. Summary and Future Implications • Diversity has traditionally been focused on underrepresented ethnic groups and women • In the future, the application of diversity principles will become broader to include both gay/lesbian/bisexual students and students with disabilities • These individuals still have a great amount of fear of their acceptance as students or their job security as professionals

29. Summary and Future Implications • Attitudinal barriers and those that result from prior and/or continuing policies and procedures that inhibit participation are much more defeating and demoralizing • A number of strategies need to be put in place that are strategic and institutional to encourage more open settings that are supportive of all types of diversity

30. Summary and Future Implications • Definite progress has been made in diversifying the college environment • Programs and services will need to evolve from ones of exclusively ethnic focus to ones that help students not only identify with their particular race or culture, but clearly assist them with the multicultural aspects of their environment • People who serve as role models will need to reflect the dramatically changing demography of the students

31. Reference • Barr, M. J., Desler, M. K., and Associates. (2000). The handbook of student affairs administration. Jossey-Bass Publishers.