Doubling The Numbers:
Diversity Taskforce
September 7, 2004
The
Vision For Diversity AT IUPUI:
At Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), diversity means three things: (1) diversity is an educational and social asset to be reflected in our learning and work objectives; (2) the persons who comprise our academic community reflect both the current diversity of our service region as well as the evolving demographics of a state and city that aspire to participate fully in a global society; and (3) IUPUI’s social and physical environment will enable all of its members to succeed to the fullest extent of their potential.
When IUPUI began in 1969 as a newly constituted, shared
campus of
As Indiana’s metropolitan university, IUPUI has a responsibility to use
education to transform the lives of individual citizens for the improvement of
the entire statewide community, to develop the human potential of all people in
Central Indiana for their personal and social advancement, and to create a
civil community of learning where difference can be understood, respected, and
practiced with dignity by each of its members. Diversity at IUPUI is an
educational asset to be used and replenished, and it is an economic and social
necessity. When diversity is understood and embraced, IUPUI can benefit from
higher levels of communication, teamwork, and optimism.
IUPUI is committed to promoting an environment that respects and celebrates
diversity, that appreciates individual differences, and that builds on
collective talents and experiences for the benefit of the larger societal good.
Accordingly, IUPUI’s view of diversity goes well beyond facilitating equality
of opportunity. It supports the fullness of diversity—creating systems that
encourage creativity and innovation; sensitizing people in the organization to issues
of culture; and creating an environment that supports multiple perspectives and
initiatives.
By reflecting in its own numbers the diversity of the city, state, and world of
which it is a part, IUPUI will create opportunities for access and achievement
for all of its citizens. By engaging diverse learners, teachers, researchers,
scholars, clinicians, and staff with each other in reflective and intentional
goals, IUPUI can better prepare graduates for citizenship, for work, and for
personal fulfillment. Through the continuing education of all its constituents,
IUPUI is committed to raising the academic community’s awareness of itself and
its potential to change and improve.
Within the
Hispanic communities, will help assure that
Action Items To Achieve The Vision:
1. Recruit, retain, and graduate diverse students proportionate to their
representation in
2. Recruit, retain, advance and recognize a diverse faculty and staff
reflective of each unit’s mission while creating a campus-wide community that
celebrates its own diversity as one of its strengths and as a means of shaping
IUPUI’s identity as a university.
3. Recruit, retain, and promote a diverse senior leadership among faculty,
administrators, staff and students.
4. Create an internationally diverse community engaged globally through
enrolling students from other nations, providing a variety of opportunities to
study abroad, and collaborating with other universities.
5. Provide a civil learning and work environment free from
discrimination and intolerance so that each member of the IUPUI community can
succeed to the highest level of their potential. IUPUI will set high
expectations for personal conduct and achievement and maintain high standards
for rewarding accomplishment.
6. Offer a physical environment free from barriers that would limit the
ability of students, faculty, and visitors to participate fully in the life and
work of the IUPUI community.
7. Ensure curriculum content and pedagogical strategies that reflect a
commitment to diversity.
8. Develop and maintain library collections that reflect the full diversity
of the human experience and commentary on it, and resist censorship or the
restriction of access to scholarly materials.
9. Engage in research that is mindful of the rich patterning that is
characteristic of the human condition.
10. Promote culturally competent practice in the professional schools.
11. Coordinate the diversity efforts of IUPUI to enhance their cumulative
initiatives and establish the measures and means to assess institutional
progress in meeting these objectives; report publicly on progress annually;
revise its objectives, strategies, and goals as necessary to achieve its
vision.
12. Develop programs and activities that increase the sense of diversity in
the arts and the aesthetic dimensions of the campus.
13. Develop co-curricular programs and interdisciplinary activities that
increase the sense of diversity on campus.
The Diversity Indicators:
In order to monitor progress
toward achieving our vision for diversity eight indicators were developed and
reviewed annually. The eight indictors
of diversity include:
·
Recruitment &
Enrollment of a Diverse Student Body
·
Retention &
Graduation of a Diverse Student Body
·
Engagement of
students, through the curriculum and co-curriculum, in learning about their own
and other culture and belief systems.
·
Diversity in research,
scholarship, and creative activity.
·
Contributions to the
climate for diversity in
·
Recruitment,
development, and support of diverse faculty and staff
·
Engagement of the
campus community in global issues and perspectives
·
Student, faculty, and
staff perceptions of the campus climate for diversity
The Diversity Task Force:
In December 2003, Chancellor Bantz charged a Doubling Diversity Task Force with identifying how we can double our diversity by May 2010. Based upon our vision, actions, and indicators of diversity it was imperative to tightly coordinate the Doubling Diversity report recommendations to the other Task Forces which have been charged with doubling Teaching and Learning, Research, and Civic Engagement. Coordination was accomplished by appointing the chairs of the other Taskforces to the Doubling Diversity Taskforce in addition to the appointment of members of the Chancellor’s Diversity Cabinet. Each of the Doubling Taskforces included response to advancing diversity within each of their charges. The Doubling Diversity Taskforce Report summarizes all of the Doubling Taskforces recommendations.
In addition to advancing the action items related to advancing IUPUI’s vision of diversity, each Task Force has been asked to discuss and include in each of their reports responses to the following questions:
a. What would the doubling of diversity look like in terms of Teaching/Learning, Civic Engagement, or Research?
b. How will we achieve the doubling of diversity in terms of Teaching/Learning, Civic Engagement, or Research?
The Doubling Diversity Taskforce and the Chancellor’s
Diversity Cabinet is a resource and dialogue group
that is working in partnership with the other Taskforces in order to infuse our
vision and action items for diversity into our Teaching and Learning, Research,
and Civic Engagement doubling efforts.
Diversity & Teaching & Learning
IUPUI has strived to form a student culture centered on
learning and characterized by diversity.
We commend these as guiding principles for our work in diversity. Involvement with diversity is a key factor in
engagement. The more attention we pay to
diversity, the more reflective and intentional we are in our work and the stronger
the educational experiences we will provide for all our students.
Strengthen our work with diversity. The Diversity
Cabinet has developed an exemplary set of indicators on our campus efforts to
have a diverse student body, served by a diverse faculty and staff, in a
supportive culture characterized by multicultural approaches to the
curriculum. Despite this, we have made
little progress in retaining and graduating a diverse student body. The Task Force underscores the critical
nature of continuing attention to these efforts, and recommends increasing
attention to work/life issues. Since
national data suggest that minority students often have notably high family
obligations, addressing “life” needs should support retention of these
students.
Hiring faculty and staff who reflect diversity in accord with our diversity indicators is critical. Emphasis should be placed on increasing the number of faculty and staff who reflect the diversity of our anticipated student profile. Reflecting diversity includes who is hired (i.e. an individual’s race, gender, sexual orientation etc.) but can also include how the individual contributes to our climate of diversity through their teaching, research and civic engagement. Deans, Department Chairs and Directors should be encouraged, supported and rewarded for advancing diversity in each search conducted including reporting results of their efforts with the Diversity Cabinet.
In terms of achieving a doubling in teaching & learning the following are selected items from the Teaching & Learning Taskforce Report that specifically articulated advancing diversity:
Expand powerful pedagogies and academic and student support
programs to increase retention, targeting transfer students as well as
first-year students. Learning Communities, the Thematic Learning
Communities, the ePort, continued attention to the Principles of Undergraduate
Learning, academic support programs, the Gateway program, and powerful
pedagogies (study abroad, internships, service learning, problem-based
learning, capstone experiences, and undergraduate research) are critical in
moving students to graduation. George
Kuh, in his keynote address at the Edward C. Moore Symposium this year,
highlighted the critical roles of experience with diversity and learning
communities in increasing student engagement.
(This item is further discussed in
below in Diversity & Civic Engagement.)
Strengthen our program of faculty development. How might we
redefine faculty roles in a way that will strengthen faculty leadership without
adding work? How do we support
lecturers? What about the clinical
ranks? We encourage school review of
faculty work. We should review faculty
workload issues in light of efforts to increase the availability, throughout
the school year and through traditional and distance modes, of courses that
count toward degree completion. As the
campus differentiates faculty roles, we should find means to accommodate many
more non-tenure track faculty in important teaching/learning activities. This review should build on IUPUI’s strong
program of faculty development stressing inclusive teaching and multicultural
curriculum development.
Attract an increased number of out-of-state students and
international students. The Task Force recommends consideration of
tuition discount programs. We need to
determine how such a program would equitably be launched in the RCM
environment. The campus is immensely
attractive to international and other out of state students, and we often
enhance our diversity with such students.
With the availability of new housing, what other incentives are
appropriate and possible to attract more non-resident students?
Expand student financial aid. Increasing the
enrollment and graduation of highly talented and diverse students will be
impacted by IUPUI’s ability to increase financial support for all students but
especially for highly talented and diverse students.
Attend to the role of staff. Supporting staff as students and encouraging students to become staff will have major impact. We might, for example, offer alternative work options (flextime, etc.) and secure the kind of support from the university administration that makes it clear that supervisors/managers (whether faculty or staff) are expected to give serious consideration to requests for flexibility. We should review the fee courtesy program, particularly given the increase in cost since many fees are not covered. We should explore how campus child care could be more helpful to non-traditional students. We should do a better job of marketing what types of “support” options are available. We should continue to explore innovative ways to address “life” issues of students. The research shows among the larger group of ‘stopouts,’ over one-half cited work related factors as contributing to their decision not to re-enroll at IUPUI,” and “one third cited family related factors [as a contribution to their decision not to reenroll]. As staff are students, they have better understandings of improving life for students. How can we help every staff member to attend to students, to put them first? How might we provide more cross-training? We want to ensure that students do not get the “run-around.” Might our staff join faculty and committee members in a mentoring program for students, particularly those reflecting diversity?
There is a need to specify the numbers of students within specific populations that should be doubled. It would be helpful to develop a clear statement about “the numbers” of students, faculty, and staff that will be doubled. Some of the diversity indicators lend themselves to a quantitative statement about goals. Not all indicators can or need to be doubled, but we should be clear about what we are proposing.
Diversity & Research
Enhance the diversity of researchers and scholars: To have a robust core of investigators, we must enhance the participation of individuals of diverse backgrounds who engage in research and scholarship on the IUPUI campus. This includes the students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty, and support staff. We also need to reach out to engage k-12 students to have them understand the excitement and rewards of being involved in research and scholarship.
Engage in research that is mindful of the rich patterning that is characteristic of the human condition: There are already a number of exemplary research programs on the IUPUI campus that directly address minority health care issues and cultural competence. These range from health sciences to law, social work, philanthropy, and public policy and environmental affairs. It is important we build on these activities of engagement to find further ways that provide greater understandings and solutions in support of our diverse community.
Diversity & Civic Engagement
Civic engagement is conceived along three dimensions. The dimensions involve “who is engaged,” “who is being engaged,” and “the relations between who is engaged and who is being engaged.”
By conceiving diversity in civic engagement along the three dimensions, we can specify, in general terms, what doubling diversity would look like. Simply stated, doubling diversity would entail:
· A population of engaged campus participants who are diverse with respect to income, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and other ways in which we understand the make-up of who is engaged;
· A portfolio of programs and activities that are richly diverse and serving a variety of constituencies, homogeneous only with respect to their focus on improving the quality of life in communities in a manner that is consistent with the campus mission;
· Relations between those who are engaged and those who are being engaged that create constructive opportunities for realizing the promise of diversity.
We do not presently have good information about the three dimensions of diversity. The Center for Service and Learning has maintained records related to diversity in the Sam Jones Community Service Scholarship Program and the America Reads Tutoring Program, but these data are the exception rather than the rule. Although the task force has the impression that those who serve are generally diverse, we do not know how they are distributed across civic engagement opportunities and how diverse they are by project or activity. We also lack good information about who is being engaged and how these groups match up with the diversity of those providing service.
How will we achieve the doubling of diversity in civic engagement? Several steps come readily to mind:
· Baseline information needs to be developed that gives IUPUI a better understanding of the diversity of who is engaged, the diversity of our engagement portfolio, and the relationships between the engaged and their projects;
· Attention needs to be given to the mix of those who are recruited to serve with the goal of attaining diversity in each major area of civic engagement;
· Attention must also be given to developing a civic engagement portfolio that is as diverse as the campus and the communities we serve; and
· The task force believes that it is important to provide those who engage diverse groups to be prepared for their service. This would entail incorporating diversity training into programs that prepare students, staff, and faculty for civic engagement.
Cross-Cutting Issues Impacting Teaching & Learning,
Research And Civic Engagement
The following are issues that impact across the taskforces.
Campus Leadership & Management: We must increase the racial diversity of the leadership and management of the campus including vice chancellors and deans, department chairs, professional staff and students in leadership roles. It is imperative that we acknowledge and value multiple aspects of human identity (i.e. gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity) in order to bring to life a more comprehensive view of diversity within the leadership of the campus.
Cultural competence describes the ability of systems to fulfill its purpose by acknowledging and incorporating the diverse values, beliefs and behaviors, including delivery of products and services that meets the customers’ social, cultural and linguistic needs. Cultural competence is both a vehicle to increase quality for all populations and as a business strategy to attract new customers and market share. (http://www.cmwf.org/programs/minority/worldsapart020504.asp)
Employee (Faculty & Staff) Climate: Building a campus climate for diversity includes attracting and retaining a diverse employee base and one of the most obvious ways to do this is to offer work/life programs that meet a variety of employee needs. Parents may have dependent care needs (and single and/or low-income parents may need dependent care options with a sliding cost scale, while student parents may need drop-in care), baby boomers may need eldercare assistance, gays and lesbians may seek domestic partner benefits, those juggling several roles may value part-time/flexible work options and female faculty members of child-bearing age may need reduced hours and extended tenure clocks. How do we make it possible/attractive for diverse people to maximize their potential at IUPUI while also having balance in their lives?”
A second question is, “How do we have a culture/climate that supports and values the USE of work/life options by all employees regardless of rank? There must be support at all levels of both the academic and administrative sectors for taking advantage of work/life options. It is imperative that we develop a campus climate that supports taking advantage of work/life benefits in a way that contributes to employee success and productivity.
Besides benefits to the individual, work/life programs which
attract a diverse workforce can be beneficial to the institution. A study by McLeod, Lobel and Cox found that
on a brainstorming task, ideas of diverse groups were judged to be more
feasible and more effective than ideas generated by homogeneous groups.
The business case regarding work/life programs and a diverse workforce includes building the reputation of the institution so that it is viewed as a role model for the community and is seen as “a great place to work” or “a good community citizen” which improves recruitment and reduces turnover costs. When you consider that a Merck study says turnover costs 1.5-2.5 times the annual salary of the person who left, these cost savings can be substantial.
Diversity and work/life initiatives are inter-related with both advancing inclusiveness, climate and fostering opportunities for development of human potential. Both initiatives share concerns about stereotyping and stigmatization. Both call for flexibility in workplace approaches. As a result, work/life programming and the building of a more diverse institution go hand-in-hand.
Diversity of Opinion: It is quite likely that not everyone will agree with these recommendations. Transforming the campus into a diversity-centered organization is complex, contentious, and conflicting. As such, the process for transformation must be inclusive and prepared to acknowledge a variety of opinions and perspectives.
References
McLeod, P., Lobel, S. and Cox, T. (1996) “Ethnic diversity and creativity in small groups.” Small Group Research. (27:2)
Solomon, B.A. (February, 1985). “Personnel winners: A company that benefits from child-care benefits.” Personnel, (62.2). 4-6.