ERIC ED493639: Diversity Digest. Volume 9, Number 2

2005·0.81 MB·English

by  ERIC

A S S O C I A T I O N O F A M E R I C A Ne C O L L E GrE S A N D U N I V E R S I T I E S Volume 9, Number 2 2005
DAd vancing DIi versity iVn Higher Ed u c a t i o n S I T Y
D I G E S T
I N S I D E I n t e rcultural Learning for Inclusive
DI VerSI TY
D I G E S T
E x c e l l e n c e
By Edgar Beckham, senior fellow, AAC&U
INSTITUTIONAL LEADERSHIP
2: Demanding, Attracting, and Developing A recent headline in Education Lifeheralds “The Changing Face of Diversity.” It
Leadership describes dramatic demographic changes at the University of California–Berkeley and
4: Why Allen and Joan Bildner and the reports the concerns of some Asian students about their numerical dominance. While
Bildner Family Foundation Funded a
an astute reader can readily interpolate a connection between demographic diversity
Statewide Diversity Initiative
and educational benefit, the text itself is of little help. It is as though the f a c eof diver-
6: Learning to Listen as We Lead
sity, which reveals its numbers, were its only significant feature.
10:Institutional Models That Cultivate
The tendency to reduce the value of diversity to demographic quantifications is
Comprehensive Change
most likely an unintended consequence of the civil rights movement, which empha-
CURRICULUM TRANSFORMATION
sized racial and ethnic disparities as the most obvious and persuasive manifestation of
8: Where Worlds Converge
social injustice. But the tendency may also result from a binary habit of mind that
9: Curricular Transformation through
compels us to favor simple choices over combinations, e i t h e r / o rover both/and. S o m e
Collaborative Teaching
of the most committed advocates of social justice fear that locating the value of diver-
12:Intercultural Learning in First-Year
sity in another arena may diminish the power of their moral argument.
Seminars
On the contrary, an exclusive focus on an abstraction like social justice without
FACULTY/STAFF INVOLVEMENT
some grounding in a reality that entertains concrete social outcomes may be coun-
13:Designing Intercultural and Cross-cultural
terproductive. Just imagine being informed by your surgeon soon after you are
Spaces
rolled out of the surgical suite that she had successfully pursued social justice. A
14:Enhancing Collaborative Leadership of
Faculty and Staff member of a minority group cognizant of disparities in health care might take some
15:Faculty-Driven Curricular Change comfort in the pronouncement, but would likely want additional information
16:Diversity as Shared Practice beyond that single fact.
18:Dialogue Groups at Princeton University The New Jersey Campus Diversity Initiative (NJCDI) has provided a refreshing
Library example of the added power that can result from aligning moral arguments with
CAMPUS–COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS strategic interventions that promise practical value. The example is particularly perti-
20:Epistles, Posters, and Pizza nent to education for two reasons. First, since education has long been associated with
21:Forging Campus-Community both moral principle and practical outcomes, it offers a fertile environment for nur-
Connections turing the alignment. Second, there is growing evidence that while demographic
22:“Beyond Food”
diversity offers a compelling marker for the pursuit of social justice, its contribution to
26:Cross-cultural by Design
education is greatly enhanced by educational strategies that exploit its catalytic poten-
STUDENT EXPERIENCE tial and put it to focused use.
24:Something to Declare NJCDI was launched in 2002 with funding from the Allen and Joan Bildner
25:Putting Student Voices in Public Spaces
Family Foundation, which provided three years of funding for eight institutions in
27:Café Bergen
New Jersey. The Bildners had for many years sought to fund a project to reduce big-
RESEARCH AND ASSESSMENT otry and improve intergroup relations. They had used the services of the
28:Assessing Diversity Attitudes in First-Year Philanthropic Initiative, an organization that helps donors refine their philanthropic
Students goals and develop a strategy for more effective giving. In 2002 the Bildners invited the
30:Infusing Cultural Competency into Health
Association of Amerian Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) to occupy the third side
Professions Education
continued on page 6
DI VerSI TY
VOLUME 9, NUMBER 2 2 INSTITUTIONAL LEADERSHIP
DIVERSITY DIGEST Demanding, Attracting, and Developing
Volume 9, Number 2, 2005
Diversity Leadership
Published by the Association of American By Martha J. LaBare, dean of academic affairs, Bloomfield College
Colleges and Universities, 1818 R Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20009; tel [phone]; INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE COMPELS REFLECTIVE PRACTICE AND COMPREHENSIVE
fax [phone]. Diversity Digestis pub-
lished three times per year and is available at CHANGE, BOTH OF WHICH REQUIRE LEADERSHIP THROUGHOUT AN INSTITUTION.
www.diversityweb.org/Digest.
AT BLOOMFIELD COLLEGE, WE HAVE FOUND THAT DIVERSITY NOT ONLY REQUIRES
N O T E : The opinions expressed by individual
authors in Diversity Digestare their own and LEADERSHIP—IT ALSO ATTRACTS LEADERSHIP AT ALL LEVELS. MOREOVER, IT HAS
are not necessarily those of the D i g e s t ’s editors
or AAC&U. BEEN A CATALYST FOR DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP ACROSS THE INSTITUTION—FOR
Diversity Digest Advisory Board
THE FACULTY, ADMINISTRATION, STAFF, AND STUDENTS. DIVERSITY BRINGS
JOSÉ CALDERÓN Pitzer College
CHRISTINE CLARK University of Maryland, TOGETHER CAMPUS AND GRASSROOTS LEADERSHIP AND FOSTERS PROFESSIONAL
College Park
DEVELOPMENT AND COMPREHENSIVE INSTITUTIONAL GROWTH.
GWENDOLYN JORDAN DUNGY
National Association of
Student Personnel Mission-Driven Focus Leadership for Diversity
Administrators At Bloomfield, diversity is both a fact and It was the leadership of a new president
SYLVIA HURTADO University of California, an ideal. The majority of Bloomfield’s that first etched the mission with such
Los Angeles undergraduates are so-called “minorities,” clarity. In 1987, John F. Noonan became
LEE KNEFELKAMP Teachers College,
and the college’s students come from the college’s fifteenth president, drawn to
Columbia University
more than fifty countries. Its liberal arts the richness of the cultures on campus and
JACK MEACHAM State University of New
tradition and the students’ diversity have the engagement and commitment of the
York at Buffalo
JEFF MILEM University of Maryland, led Bloomfield College to develop inclu- faculty. Noonan saw Bloomfield’s diversity
College Park sive curricula and pedagogies, increase as a resource and a source of pride, and
LESTER MONTS University of Michigan faculty and staff diversity, and highlight recognized that Bloomfield was “pr a c t i c i n g
JONELL SANCHEZ The College Board diversity in our mission statement, which diversity.” He brought together the diver-
DARYL SMITH Claremont Graduate maintains that diversity “provides an ideal sity work of all constituencies, bolstered
University
context for personal growth and a basis morale by acknowledging its value, and
Diversity Digest AAC&U Staff
for a better society.” revised the mission statement to emphasize
CARYN MCTIGHE MUSIL
Bloomfield practices its diversity lead- “preparing students to attain academic,
Executive Editor and Senior Vice President for
ership in multiple dimensions: the col- personal and professional excellence for a
Diversity, Equity, and Global Initiatives
lege fosters multicultural and global multiracial and multicultural society.” In
KEVIN HOVLAND
learning through curricula, cocurricula, 2000, the mission was broadened to incor-
Editor and Program Director of Global
Initiatives, Office of Diversity, Equity, and and pedagogies; it promotes diversity in porate the “global society.”
Global Initiatives the college community and the quality Thus Bloomfield’s diversity and its mis-
MICHAEL FERGUSON of the campus as a multicultural work- sion became magnets. In 1987, our faculty
Associate Editor place; and it builds connections to the was 3 percent minority. But for the past
NATALIE JELLINEK town of Bloomfield and the students’ decade, it has been about 25 percent, and
DiversityWeb Editor home communities. This pervasive, mis- now it is 27 percent. Administrators and
ANN KAMMERER sion-focused leadership has been devel- staff are now 47 percent minority. The
Production Editor oped over almost thirty years through mission reinvigorated long-term faculty
AAC&U Editorial Advisers faculty and staff expertise and dedica- and staff, while simultaneously attracting
CAROL GEARY SCHNEIDER tion, two successive presidencies, and new talent to the college—including, in
P r e s i d e n t
two three-year college-wide projects on 2003, a new president.
DEBRA HUMPHREYS
diversity and institutional transforma- Like his predecessor, President Richard
Vice President for Communications
tion, the Excellence Initiative A. Levao has a longtime commitment to
and Public Affairs
(1989–1992) and the Bildner Campus diversity as an educational resource. As chair
This issue of Diversity Digest was funded with
Diversity Initiative (2002–5). of the Rutgers board of trustees and board
the generous support of the Bildner Family
F o u n d a t i o n .
3 VOLUME 9, NUMBER 2
of governors, he worked with programs and
scholarships for minorities and first-genera-
tion college students. He also has taught law
in various contexts to students from diverse
backgrounds.
Such sustained presidential leadership has
been critical to diversity work at every level
of the institution. Just as critical is the kind
of institutional culture that top leadership
helps shape. Bloomfield practices diversity
in part by developing diverse leadership at
all levels and rewarding teaching-centered
faculty and professionals in academic and
Bloomfield College Commencement
student affairs. For almost three decades,
Bloomfield has practiced as a “learning insti- including multiracial/multicultural aware- teams of faculty and staff were also pushed
tution,” drawing on our ability as a small ness. We describe that as “an awareness of by project consultants to see our leadership
college to respond to change flexibly and to the variety of races, cultures, and values in in the broadest context, and to maximize
plan coherently. In the last fifteen years, two society, with an eye toward understanding its impact.
projects in particular have led to institu- and respect, and developing a global histor- In its NJCDI work, Bloomfield has relied
tional transformation. ical perspective,” and as “knowledge of and on two key mechanisms to advance diver-
respect for diverse religious and spiritual tra- sity: instituting seminars for professional
Excellence Initiative Project ditions and philosophies.” We have and program development that invested in
Our three-year Excellence Initiative project launched other major diversity projects such faculty, staff, and program development,
is a model of comprehensive change that as the Kellman Course in the Humanities, and establishing a Center for Cultures and
invested in professional development and offered on-site in Newark for adults who Communication. Through both, we worked
supported a network of mission-centered would not otherwise have attempted a col- toward our goals to
programs. Faculty and staff reexamined lege-level liberal arts course, and a Title III • broaden and deepen diversity knowl-
their disciplines in light of scholarship on project to increase access and equity through edge and skills—particularly in con-
race, ethnicity, class, and gender, and revised state-of-the-art academic support. nections between local and global cul-
courses and programs accordingly. Bringing tures and issues, cross-cultural
student affairs and academic administrators The Bildner Intercultural Initiative communications, and student-centered
into faculty development was at that time an Since 2002, new levels for our strategic and critical teaching;
innovation for us; it is now the norm. day-to-day practice of diversity have been • strengthen our infused curriculum
We began at home, with American diver- supported by the Bildner New Jersey with revised and new courses and pro-
sity issues and Bloomfield issues, especially Campus Diversity Initiative (NJCDI). grams, and new connections across
race. We realized that inclusive pedagogy NJCDI let us develop and strengthen required general education courses;
belonged in every discipline and in c l u s i v e diversity leadership on campus, and impor- • improve campus climate by becoming a
co n t e n t belonged not only in literature, his- tantly, it connected us with resources in community of learners, strengthening
tory, and Africana studies, but also in busi- our partner organizations, the Association connections between curricula, cocur-
ness, science, and nursing. The inclusive of American Colleges and Universities and ricula, and services and developing the
model was intellectually honest and trans- the Philanthropic Initiative. Bloomfield Center for Cultures and Communication;
formational. Across the college, we designed had never before been in sustained di a l o g u e • become a resource to the community
and connected cocurricula and services, with other New Jersey institutions, com- beyond the campus.
including a mentoring program and a vis- paring experiences and best practices. Nor This work has not only infused diversity
iting minority scholars program. We also had we been so supported by strategic pro- across the college; it has also developed lead-
turned to the arts as catalysts for crossing fessional development for leaders directed ership across the college. By connecting
cultural barriers. specifically at a comprehensive, college- macro and micro diversity work on campus,
Faculty and staff embedded diversity in wide program. Challenged at Bildner Bloomfield has fostered multifaceted leader-
our seven defined student competencies, summer institutes and annual meetings, ship that diversity compels and inspires. n
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Why Allen and Joan Bildner and the Bildner Family Foundation
Funded a Statewide Diversity Initiative
A conversation between Allen I. Bildner, president of the Bildner Family Foundation, and Caryn McTighe Musil, project director of the New Jersey
Campus Diversity Initiative and senior vice president for diversity, equity, and global initiatives, AAC&U
Musil: Why should anyone care about
promoting intergroup understanding? As
long as we don’t bother one another, why
do we need to understand or engage across
di f f e r e n c e s ?
Bildner: Whether here in New Jersey
or elsewhere in our nation or the world,
we are dependent on people different from
ourselves in both our personal and busi-
ness lives. How is it possible for us to
interact without understanding our per-
sonal differences?
We are, for instance, already on our way
to 2050 in demographic population
change that will result in one of every two
Americans being people of color—Latinos, Allen and Joan Bildner
Asian American/Pacific Islanders, African especially young people who wanted to join bigots that I encountered. It taught me that
Americans, and Native Americans. If we the company. you don’t have to be Jewish, African
cannot live and work together and follow American, Latino, Asian American, or any
and lead people different from ourselves, Musil: You have talked publicly about other minority to fully understand how
we are in for a world and life of conflict. your personal experiences and indicated dehumanizing and demeaning prejudice
eliminating bigotry was no abstract matter. and bigotry are—but it sure helps.
Musil: You are a successful businessman Can you talk more about that? Later in life, when Joan and I were mar-
with a lifelong investment in the well-being Bildner: When my mom and dad ried, we would be in a business or social set-
of New Jersey. How did those facts influ- moved our family from Long Island to a ting and sometimes hear people making
ence you? New Jersey suburban community in 1936, I anti-Semitic jokes or comments because
Bildner: New Jersey’s speed of demo- entered fifth grade. Before that time, I had Bildner is not a typical Jewish name. Joan
graphic change has been very great, and this never experienced anti-Semitism. Within the always interjected quickly, “You may not be
has been true of supermarket costumers and first week of school, two of my classmates aware that we are Jewish.” Perhaps our
the workforce. As a businessman and the beat me up on the way home from school, response was enlightening.
chairman and CEO of Kings Super yelling, “Go home Jew boy. Go home rabbi.” Things are better today for Jews and
Markets, I am very sensitive to the diversity I went home crying and didn’t understand it. minorities, but bigotry and prejudice are
among my company’s customers, associates, Right through elementary and junior high alive and well. When we have recounted
and employees. The company sought to school, I was a top student, class officer, vice our own personal experience with anti-
build a culture that valued and respected president of the senior class, president of the Semitism to others, especially white, non-
differences. We developed orientations, student body, and all-state athlete. However, Jews who have known us, they are shocked.
training, policies, and accountability that my achievements and the respect I had Talking about these experiences opens eyes
rewarded and reinforced our commitment earned did not mean that I would be invited and minds to the personal realities of preju-
to diversity. By doing that, we achieved to enter ballroom-dancing school or that dice and bigotry.
greater teamwork, two-way communica- parents would allow me to date their daugh-
tion, and productivity, and an enormous ters when they found out I was Jewish. Musil: You and your wife Joan thought
competitive advantage. Kings’s well-known It took me years to realize that being long and hard about how to structure this
culture attracted a waiting list of recruits, Jewish was not my problem, but that of the initiative to have the greatest impact. Can
DI VerSI TY
FACULTY INVOLVEMENT 55 VOLUMVEO L9U, MNEU 9M,B NERO 2. 2
you talk about the evolution of your deci- During the second year we decided that Institutions in the
sion to organize it as you did? the presidents and top academic and stu-
New Jersey Campus
Bildner: Peter Karoff, founder of the dent affairs leaders were too removed on
Diversity Initiative
Philanthropic Initiative (TPI) in Boston, some campuses from what was actually
began to serve Joan and me as our philan- going on in the work of their teams in what
thropic consultant many years ago. When we had named the New Jersey Campus • Bergen Community College
we first met Peter, he argued that charity Diversity Initiative. So we invited the presi- • Bloomfield College
was giving money, and philanthropy was dents to meet in the fall, and six months • County College of Morris
about effecting change. later, we brought them back again but also • Princeton University
In 1991, Joan and I created an endow- invited vice presidents for students and aca- • The Richard Stockton College of New
ment at my alma mater, Dartmouth demic affairs officers to a separate meeting J e r s e y
College, for human and intergroup relations that same day. Galvanizing top leaders • Rowan University
and prejudice reduction designed to bring proved critical. • Rutgers, the State University of New
about comprehensive change with respect to J e r s e y
diversity. That reinforced for us the obliga- Musil: What advice would you give to a • The University of Medicine and
tion and enormous opportunities of colleges college that says it wants to promote inter- Dentistry of New Jersey
and universities to influence the next gener- group understanding and reduce prejudice
ations. We then turned to higher education and bigotry? See w w w . a a c u . o r g / b i l d n e rf o r
in New Jersey as a locus of attention. Bildner: A college or university should more information about the initiative
We retained Peter Karoff and his TPI not undertake such an effort unless the and about the work of participating
associate, Joanne Duhl, to research and president is willing to drive the engine with c a m p u s e s .
study higher education elsewhere in our support from the board and from other top
country. The most important information administrators and academic leaders. My
we learned from them was about the experience has taught me that diversity is
Association of American Colleges and the only responsibility a CEO cannot dele-
Universities (AAC&U), which has years of gate fully and for which he or she must
D i v e r s i t y We b . o rg :
leadership in diversity working with hun- continue to bear responsibility. The presi-
A Resource Hub for
dreds of its member institutions. dent should surround him or herself with a
Higher Education
Joan and I had decided to make a set small group of administrators, faculty, and
number of three-year grants totaling no student affairs leaders to research diversity
more than $75,000 per year to a few col- practices at other institutions. If I were the DiversityWeb is the most comprehen-
leges and universities in our state. We president, I would immediately turn to sive compendium of campus practices
invited every college and university in AAC&U for assistance and consultation. and resources about diversity in higher
New Jersey to submit a proposal. Of the education. The site is designed to serve
forty-seven institutions invited, twenty- Musil: I know that Diversity Digest campus practitioners seeking to place
seven submitted proposals. We soon readers wish that every state had an Allen diversity at the center of the academy’s
realized we could not undertake this and Joan Bildner—or dozens of them. How educational and societal mission. Users
statewide venture alone. We needed might readers identify people like you and can easily navigate to and from the dif-
AAC&U as our consultants and partners Joan in their state? ferent sections of the site, which include
and Joanne Duhl and TPI as managers. Bildner: They should look to founda- curriculum change, faculty and staff
We also invited a blue ribbon committee tions with a mission that includes diversity development, institutional strategies,
of advisers to review proposals and select and prejudice reduction and for leaders in student development, assessment, and
the eight finalists. business or other areas with a history of research. Diversity Digestis available
From the very beginning, we entered fighting prejudice and bigotry and a in electronic format at
into a firm agreement with each of the col- demonstrated interest in higher education. w w w . d i v e r s i t y w e b . o r g / D i g e s t .
leges and universities, laying out our expec- It is also possible that a college or university
tations and the conditions under which the capital campaign that identifies diversity as
funding would proceed during each year of a priority might discover an alumnus or
the grants. alumni with the capacity to fund it. n
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I n t e rcultural Learn i n g L e a rning to Listen as We Lead
for Inclusive Excellence By Matthew Reed, division dean of liberal arts, County College of Morris
continued from page 1
THE COUNTY COLLEGE OF MORRIS (CCM) USED ITS BILDNER FAMILY FOUNDATION
GRANT TO SPUR A CAMPUS-WIDE CONVERSATION ABOUT WAYS TO TAKE DIVER-
of the triangular formation that
would guide the initiative. AAC&U SITY MORE SERIOUSLY IN EVERY ASPECT OF THE COLLEGE’S OPERATIONS. WHILE
brought years of experience devel-
THE PRIMARY FOCUS WAS ALWAYS CURRICULAR CHANGE, THE PROJECT QUICKLY
oping and assessing diversity projects
GREW BEYOND THAT. THE PRODUCTIVE SURPRISE OF THE INITIAL CAMPUS CON-
and promoting their congruence with
the aims of democracy and liberal VERSATIONS WAS THAT IT TAUGHT US NEW WAYS OF LISTENING ACROSS SILOS.
e d u c a t i o n .
As thoughtful as the preparations
were, it was the work of the campuses Under the leadership of former Vice Bette Simmons, hosted three annual student
that gave voice and visibility to the President for Academic Affairs Cliff Wood, diversity conferences, which are described in
aspirations of the initiative. Much of CCM’s project rewarded initiative across the another article in this Di g e s t issue. The con-
that work is described in rich detail in college. The most ambitious goal was curric- ferences, in which faculty participated as
the articles that follow. There are ular innovation. Wood therefore established facilitators and audience, gave the faculty
many lessons worthy of attention— diversity task forces in each of the three aca- and the college community a window into
about design, implementation, and demic divisions (liberal arts; business, math, student perceptions of diversity at CCM.
assessment and about the roles of stu- engineering, and technology; and health and Among other things, it became clear that
dents, faculty, institutional leaders, natural sciences) to assess the current state of some of the primary concerns among stu-
and communities. Two lessons have diversity in courses and to suggest a plan of dents didn’t match those of the faculty:
been selected for some elaboration action. He also used the faculty professional students were more concerned with cross-
here because of their centrality to the days at the start of each semester to bring cultural commerce, for example, than the
initiative’s work. speakers on diversity-related topics, such as civil rights movement. We also found that
The first, labeled “intercultural religion and race, to campus. many majority students perceive the absence
learning,” calls attention to the imper- As the grant continued, the task forces of discussion as a sign of contentment, rather
ative that diversity education benefit reported an unanticipated state of affairs: than as a problem. These insights were
allstudents. At NJCDI institutions, diversity awareness among faculty was rela- invaluable for faculty and administrators in
students have learned about diversity tively strong, but resentment was building bridging the generational divide.
together—they have learned about over a sense that diversity was being “shoved We also convened a community diversity
themselves and others, not only from down their throats.” Taking these findings advisory group to gain some needed outside
each other, but in an educational con- to heart, the administration shifted the perspective. That group, which drew on
text that they share in common with strategy to cultivating bottom-up initiatives, local community organizations, helped pro-
each other. and used Bildner funding for faculty vide momentum for bringing the diversity
The second, “making excellence stipends to undertake (and report on) diver- conversation to bear on other elements of
inclusive,” emphasizes an educational sity-related projects in their own classes. This our operations, such as tuition payment
outcome that also embraces all stu- approach, which bore fruit in the final year plans. The board also facilitated outreach to
dents. As AAC&U turns its attention of the grant, resulted in some wonderfully local groups—for example, Bildner funds
increasingly to this new formulation creative moments in the classroom. Just as paid for a CCM professor to address
and examines the research that sup- importantly, it decentralized the discussion minority teens at a local settlement house.
ports its goals, it is becoming increas- of diversity, allowing faculty in various disci- Despite changes in the leadership at top
ingly evident that diversity, intercul- plines to figure out what it meant for them. levels and rotating leadership at mid-level
tural learning, and inclusive excellence The faculty projects have been collected, project work, there has been sustained sup-
depend on each other for meaning, compiled, copied, and distributed to the port throughout. Nowhere is that clearer
moral value, and social significance. n entire CCM faculty. that in President Yaw’s unflagging commit-
On the student side, the division of stu- ment to diversity. Paradoxically, committed
dent development, under the leadership of leadership at the top made possible the
DI VerSI TY
FACULTY INVOLVEMENT 77 VOLVUOMLEU 9M,E N 9U,M NBOER. 22
diffusion of initiative over time. By setting a Second, listen to the students. At our Finally, even though what goes on in the
direction and making resources available for campus, one of the refrains at every stu- classroom is crucial, don’t forget to take a
people to move in that direction, CCM dent diversity conference was that look at your other operations. Some very
struck a nice balance between coherence extracurricular activities are great, but frank discussions about tuition payment
and creativity. impractical; our students have jobs, and plans and public bus routes emerged in our
they have to leave for their jobs after community advisory board meetings.
What Can Other Colleges Take from classes. If we’re going to reach them, it has Classroom instruction only matters if the
Our Experience? to be in the classroom. students can actually make it to class.
First, take seriously the issue of faculty (or Third, there is a key difference between The Bildner New Jersey Campus
other) resistance. If a project is perceived as administrative leadership and administra- Diversity Initiative offered an opportunity
entirely top-down, those at the bottom may tive ownership. If the faculty and students to infuse diversity into the curriculum,
simply drag their feet, rather than inter- don’t own meaningful parts of the process, which we expected, but it also taught the
nalize the priority. When we shifted focus any gains will be ephemeral. Leaders need college to look at itself in new ways. The
from large-group lectures to individual to show a commitment to the general cross-silo conversations engendered by the
projects, the quality of the conversation direction of diversity efforts, but allow the grant, and the new habits of listening, will
vastly improved, and issues of coercion college community to figure out exactly benefit CCM and its students long after
and resistance became moot. how to achieve the desired ends. the specific grant-funded project ends. n
Intercultural Learning Web Sites
The International Institute for Sustained The Intergroup Relations Center at Arizona The Intergroup Dialogue, Education and
Dialogue has a campus network dedicated State University in Tempe is focused on Action Training and Resource Institute at
to intergroup dialogue on college cam- campus diversity issues. Its Web site has the University of Washington has a wealth
puses. Sustained dialogue is a carefully postings for diversity-related events in the of resources designed to help start a
defined but open-ended process that community and information about Voices dialogue group.
focuses on transforming relationships of Discovery, an intergroup relations pro- de p t s . w a s h i n g t o n . e d u /
within a community strained along ethnic, gram that brings together groups of fifteen ss w w e b / i d e a / m a i n . h t m l
racial, religious, or other lines. to twenty students to discuss intercultural
ww w . s u s t a i n e d d i a l o g u e . o r g / s d c n is s u e s . The Intergroup Dialogue Program (IDP) at
ww w . a s u . e d u / p r o v o s t / Occidental College focuses on how to inte-
The Intergroup Dialogue at the University in t e r g r o u p / p r o g s e r v / v o i c e s . h t m l grate diversity learning in the classroom.
of Texas at Austin, a class taken for course As a curricular initiative, IDP seeks to
credit, is a specific example of a student- The National Coalition Building Institute enhance students’ knowledge, under-
led intergroup dialogue to help facilitate (NCBI) is a nonprofit leadership-training standing, and awareness of diversity and
cultural understanding. organization based in Washington, DC. social justice while nurturing constructive
ut s . c c . u t e x a s . e d u / ~ i g d i a l o g Since 1984, NCBI has been working to intergroup relations and leadership skills.
eliminate prejudice and intergroup conflict de p a r t m e n t s . o x y . e d u / d i a l o g u e
The Program on Intergroup Relations (IGR) in communities throughout the world.
is a social justice education program on ww w . n c b i . o r g The Multicultural, Cross-cultural, and
the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor Intercultural Games and Activities Web site
campus. As a joint venture of the College Syracuse University uses intergroup dia- offers fun ways to explore cultural identity
of Literature, Science, and Arts and the logue in courses that can be taken for and diversity through games. This can be
Division of Student Affairs, IGR works credit. The university’s intergroup dialogue very useful in helping people in newly
proactively to promote understanding of Web site illustrates how to integrate diver- formed groups get to know each other.
intergroup relations inside and outside of sity learning in the curriculum and includes ww w . w i l d e r d o m . c o m / g a m e s /
the classroom. syllabi. Mu l t i c u l t u r a l E x p e r i e n t i a l
ww w . u m i c h . e d u / ~ i g r c cs t l . s y r . e d u / i n t e r g r o u p d i a l o g u e Ac t i v i t i e s . h t m l
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W h e re Worlds Converge: Designs for Intercultural Learn i n g
By Caryn McTighe Musil, senior vice president for diversity, equity, and global initiatives, AAC&U
PREPARING STUDENTS TO BE CONSTRUCTIVE FORCES IN AN INTERCULTURAL WORLD IS A FORMIDABLE TASK FOR HIGHER
EDUCATION. CULTURAL DIFFERENCES ARE ROOTED IN HISTORY, WEIGHTED DIFFERENTIALLY, AND ARE EVER MORE COM-
PLEXLY INTERWOVEN WITHIN LOCAL AND GLOBAL CONTEXTS. BUT MANY COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES RECOGNIZE THAT
LEARNING ABOUT AND FROM DIVERSITY IS A NECESSARY DIMENSION OF A TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY LIBERAL EDUCATION.
Faculty in the New Jersey Campus Diversity Diversity and Health Care; and Multimedia departments who taught a shared set of
Initiative (NJCDI), funded by the Bildner Technology for Intercultural Interaction. readings. For others, interdisciplinary frame-
Family Foundation, charted new intellectual Examination of intergroup dynamics led to works were an intellectual necessity in order
directions in scholarship and introduced the creation of courses like Something to to raise historical, economic, literary, scien-
innovative pedagogies into classrooms. Declare: Tales of Immigration and tific, or political questions demanded of
Partnerships between academic affairs, stu- Becoming American: Oral History of Asian intercultural analysis.
dent affairs, and communities were culti- Americans in New Jersey. A significant number of courses also inte-
vated. Most importantly, students began to Some courses offered a fresh perspective grated the community as a component in the
see their world and its people anew, cross on interchanges between cultures. African, course. First-year students at one campus
unfamiliar social and intellectual boundary Native American, and African-American had to satisfy a service-learning requirement
lines, and negotiate differences, even in the Culture and resistance in the shaping of or work for eight hours as a cultural appren-
face of conflict. America, for example, highlights the inter- tice to someone with a different cultural per-
Evidence shows that such approaches lead cultural, political, and economic processes spective. At another, a writing course linked
to a greater sense of social responsibility and and how people and cultures interact. A college students with high school students
political engagement. They all bode well for series of modules, Asian Oceans: Teaching from a nearby inner-city school.
the health of a diverse democracy like ours Intercultural History, similarly illuminates
and for the kinds of global citizens the world global configurations that emphasize the his- Innovative Pedagogies
so desperately needs. tories of interaction and the ways cultures Some proven pedagogies—student-cen-
are produced and reproduced. Such lessons tered, problem-based, active, hands-on
Emerging Conceptual Themes are especially relevant in the face of student learning involving multiple learners—were
NJCDI institutions invested heavily in fac- groups that are sometimes marked by well- commonplace in many of the intercultural
ulty and curriculum development, but did guarded ethnic, religious, gendered, and learning courses developed for the NJCDI.
so with a twist. Most institutions con- racial boundaries. To investigate cultural perspectives, courses
structed strategic links with student affairs drew on students’ personal identities as
and tied the work of the campus to the Curricular Strategies resources. This, in turn, led to using written
resources of the community. The NJCDI institutions used multiple cur- ethno-autobiographies, personal artifacts
Institutions threaded important concepts ricular strategies to improve student learning. that revealed aspects of students’ cultural
like the dynamics of encounter and human One cluster of institutions embedded new legacies, or kinship charts mapping familial
displacement. The former emphasizes inter- intercultural courses within first-year semi- intercultural patterns.
sections, interconnectedness, interdepen- nars or freshman courses. Other campuses Some professors trained students in
dency, power, and positionality, while the sought to redesign departmental offerings ethnographic methodology and oral history,
latter focuses on migration, diaspora, and through the introductory courses that majors which allowed students to interview local
colonialism and postcolonialism. and nonmajors take and upper-division residents and deepen their intercultural
These ideas surfaced in courses as tradi- courses designed principally for majors. interactions. As students brought the stories
tional as introduction to music, freshman The modes of delivering these courses they had gathered into their classroom, it
writing, or an upper-level abnormal psy- also varied. One institution paired faculty became a vibrant space of intercultural
chology course. They led to newly formu- from two different departments in team- engagement and exploration.
lated courses like New Jersey: A Sense of taught first-year seminars. Another orga- Several institutions developed courses
Place and People; Race, Nation, and nized first-year courses around diversity that sought to create more permanent com-
Borders in American Literature; Cultural issues and drew faculty from multiple munity and student archive collections.
DI VerSI TY
FACULTY INVOLVEMENT 99 VOLVUOMLEU 9M,E N 9U,M NBOER. 22
Two institutions developed intercultural C u rricular Tr a n s f o rmation thro u g h
centers involving faculty and students in
Collaborative Te a c h i n g
new partnerships with the larger commu-
nity, thus enlarging the sphere for By Tim Haresign, associate professor of biology, the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
everyone’s range of intercultural learning.
FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS, PROFESSOR SONIA GONSALVES AND I HAVE BEEN
Linking Classrooms and Campus Life CODIRECTORS OF THE BILDNER DIVERSITY INITIATIVE AT THE RICHARD
NJCDI schools also redrew the boundary
STOCKTON COLLEGE. THE PROJECT’S MAIN OBJECTIVE IS TO CREATE A MORE
lines between student and academic affairs.
INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT AND FOSTER A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF ISSUES
Some of the faculty development seminars
and workshops deliberately included RELATING TO DIVERSITY AT STOCKTON. OUR PRINCIPAL STRATEGY FOR CHANGE
people beyond faculty ranks, and on the
WAS CURRICULAR TRANSFORMATION WITH A FOCUS ON INCOMING FRESHMEN.
majority of campuses there were concerted
efforts to coordinate curricular and cocur- WE FELT THAT IF WE GOT TO STUDENTS EARLY, WE COULD HAVE A SIGNIFICANT
ricular educational planning.
EFFECT ON THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF “THE OTHER.”
For example, an introductory music
course that had been reformulated to focus If successful, this change in perception on both diversity and student-centered
on how people across the globe define, would have effects that went well beyond pedagogy, all supplemented by summer
create, value, and use music was linked any individual course: it could change the workshops. Faculty also learned how to
with a cocurricular concert in which an way the students understood and incorporate service learning into the cur-
Israeli cellist performed music written by a approached issues in other courses, affect riculum, and the Office of Service Learning
Palestinian composer. The performer and how the students selected courses, and alter provided service-learning placements for
composer together discussed how Jewish how students interacted across differences. faculty who wanted to use them. Faculty
and Arabic cultures became intertwined The effects would also go beyond the indi- could choose to use these resources as they
during the eleventh century. vidual student. The cognitive and affective saw fit. The only other requirements were
Another campus focused curricular and gains made by these freshmen could have a that all instructors would teach the course
cocurricular activities on Freedom large impact throughout their college during the same time module (same days of
Summer, with thematic first-year courses careers as they interacted with others in the week and same times of day), use the
on student activism, interdisciplinary classes, dorms, clubs, and organizations. assessment instruments we provided, and
upper-division courses, orientation and We began with a strategy of infusing share course materials with each other. The
convocation, as well as films, art exhibits, diversity in regular freshman seminar process of planning and teaching this
and voter registration drives. Such joint classes but made a mid-course change and course with a group of diverse faculty
programming efforts enhanced student used diversity as an organizing principle members created a de facto learning com-
learning in the courses themselves and for our new multi-section freshman munity focused on the pedagogy of
increased the number of students attending course, Diversity Issues. The course was teaching diversity, which served as a mutual
events outside of class. Everyone benefited. collaboratively taught, with up to seven support network as we moved through the
The intercultural learning turned out to different instructors teaching during the semester.
be no mere abstraction on these New semester. All of the faculty agreed to use The common time module allowed us to
Jersey campuses. It ultimately involved one common reading amidst the various bring all the classes together for outside
crossing all kinds of cultural divides— individualized syllabi and to discuss speakers. It also allowed for subsets of
between disciplines, student and academic gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, instructors to experiment with different
affairs, campus and community, and and religion in that order. The faculty also types of inter-classroom interaction, such as
modes of scholarship. Forging such new agreed to include an experiential require- bringing two classes together for a debate,
understandings and practices in the rich ment in which students were to seek out assigning inter-class group work,
but sometimes contentious intercultural people from different racial or ethnic or even swapping instructors for a day to
legacies that characterize students, institu- backgrounds. offer students a different instructional per-
tions, communities, and the larger world Faculty were given a rich array of spective. We also worked closely with stu-
might actually be understood as democ- resources (books, articles, Web sites, videos, dent affairs to put together a calendar of
racy’s best asset. n model assignments, grading rubrics, etc.) continued on page 11
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Institutional Models That Cultivate Comprehensive Change
By Michael Knox, doctoral student in higher education and organizational change, University of California–Los Angeles, and Daniel Hiroyuki Teraguchi,
associate director and research associate, AAC&U
AT THE INSTIGATION OF ALLEN AND JOAN BILDNER OF THE BILDNER FAMILY FOUNDATION, THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN
COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (AAC&U) CONDUCTED A STUDY IN 2004 OF DIVERSITY INITIATIVES IN THE STATE OF NEW
JERSEY. THE BILDNERS WANTED TO INVESTIGATE HOW CAMPUSES WERE INSTITUTIONALIZING THEIR DIVERSITY WORK, NOT
SIMPLY AMONG THE BILDNER GRANTEES, BUT IN ALL OF NEW JERSEY’S COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. BECAUSE NEW JERSEY IS
ONE OF THE MOST RACIALLY AND ETHNICALLY DIVERSE STATES IN THE COUNTRY AND IS FIFTH IN THE NATION IN FOREIGN-
BORN RESIDENTS, IT PROVIDES A RICH CONTEXT FOR UNDERSTANDING THE WAYS IN WHICH COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
ARE SERVING THEIR STATE’S DIVERSE POPULATIONS AND TAPPING INTO THAT DIVERSITY AS AN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE.
DRAWING ON DATA FROM A STATEWIDE SURVEY, WEB RESEARCH, AND INTERVIEWS, WE CREATED FOUR DEVELOPMENTAL
MODELS THAT MAP DIVERSITY INITIATIVES AT VARIOUS STAGES OF THEIR EVOLUTION, IDENTIFY STRENGTHS AND WEAK-
NESSES OF EACH STAGE, AND RECOMMEND POSSIBLE STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVEMENT.
These models suggest that striking a bal- common vision for institutionalizing diver- Campus Diversity Initiative Outcomes
ance between macro and micro diversity sity. The models depicted in figure 1 sug- The educational quality of a diversity initia-
efforts on campuses will increase the poten- gest progress toward creating comprehen- tive refers to the extent to which diversity is
tial for institutionalization. The study used sive institutional change and help identify central to the educational experience of stu-
three measures to determine the extent of areas that might need improvement. dents throughout an institution. While the
that balance: centrality, pervasiveness, and By coding campus diversity work as micro educational quality of an individual activity,
integration. Assessing “centrality” involves and macro efforts and using models to repre- such as a course, is largely determined by
looking at macro diversity efforts on sent the relative presence of campus work on content, the three measures in this study
campus, especially the commitments of diversity issues, this study suggests a possible (centrality, pervasiveness, and integration)
institutional leaders and the creation of sup- correlation between comprehensive diversity serve as predictors of the educational
portive infrastructures. Our study also initiative designs and outcomes of educa- quality of a diversity initiative as a whole. In
examined the “pervasiveness” of micro tional quality, institutional sustainability, other words, high levels of centrality, perva-
diversity initiatives, or the extent to which and academic excellence. Our study suggests siveness, and integration are likely to corre-
projects, programs, and curricular and that the extent to which educational quality, late with a high level of educational effec-
cocurricular movements attend to diversity. institutional sustainability, and academic tiveness for the combined diversity efforts
Our efforts to assess “integration” focused excellence can be achieved depends in part across an institution.
on the extent to which macro and micro upon the effectiveness and presence of diver- Institutional sustainability refers to the
efforts worked together to achieve a sity initiatives across the institution. permanence of a diversity initiative on
Figure 1. Developmental diversity initiative models
N o m i n a l M a r g i n a l i z e d B a l a n c e d I n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d
= Diversity Initiatives Present = Diversity Initiatives Absent Micro Spheres MacroSpheres Institution