"Truman State University's Mission Statement includes among its hightest goals to develop in the campus community an appreciation of 'difference and diversity, informed ethical values, and courageous aspiration toward the best for oneself, one's family, one's society, and the world.' The Task Force on Diversity accepts its charge to identify critical issues of diversity on the Truman campus, devise a means to educate the Univeristy community about these issues, and rcommend initiatives that will enhance the sense of community on campus."
The Task Force met throughout the 1998-1999 school year to pursue the ends of this mission statment. What follows is a summary of the strategies devised to fulfill our mission. If you have any questions, please contact John Halski.
One of the issues identified by the Task Force on Diversity was the utility of Truman's infrastuctyrue in addressing the needs of diverse groups on campus. Through our discussions it became clear that a general interest and responsibility for issues of diversity needs to prevail across campus. While the strategies below are all geared towards meeting this goal, we have also learned that it is important to have a physical place both for advocacy of issues concerning campus diversity as well as a safe zone of sorts for those facing these issues. While certain areas already exist to meet this goal on various levels, most noteably, the Adair House and the Women's Resource Center, and though we do not wish to change these offices currently in action on campus, the Task Force proposes the creation of a Diversity Office with the following critieria:
-The new office would provide all of the services now provided by Multicultural Affairs, the SIDs office, the Women's Resource Center, and the International Student Office
-An Assistant Dean/Director would be appointed and would report to the Dean of Studnets
-The Assistant Dean/Director would be responsible to be the central voice for diversity on the campus
-The staff of the office would inclue a Multicultural Student Advisor, a Multicultural Recruiter, a Disabled Student Advisor, an International Student Advisor, and International Student Recruiter, a Diversity Outreach Specialist, and the staff of the McNair and SEE programs
-Two secretaries would be employed by this office to assure appropriate support
-Funding for a resource library would be developed and maintained
The Task Force has clearly agreed that, in order for diversity issues at Truman to be adequately explored and addressed, an on-going committee is necessary to continue and expand the work of our Task Force. No one office should be expected to take total responsibility for diversity issues. Such a "single office" approach is not only unrealistic, but is also ineffective. The Diversity Committee addresses many of the concerns brought before the Task Force and ensures that discussions of diversity will continue and new strategies for addressing issues will be formulated and implemented. Responsibility for the Diversity Committee will be shared by the entire Truman Community. The Dean for Planning and Institutional Development is charged with the leadership responsibilities. Membership in the committee would consist of some permament and some rotating positions, with faculty, staff, and students present.
On Septemer 26, 1999, Student Senate passed Resolution 996.006, officially supporting the creation of a Diversity Committee as spelled out in the Final Report. The Resolution also supports the charges listed below for the Committee. The Resolution, passed by a vote of 25 yes-3 no and signed by Student Senate President Stacey George, has been delivered to President MacGruder. No official response has yet been made by the Univesity President.
Diversity is a very complex issue that can be defined in many different ways. The way in which an institution defines diversity, along with its values and philosophies regarding diversity, shape the direction in which the institution moves. At the present time, Truman does not have a clear statement regarding its view of diversity and diversity issues. We suggest that one of the first tasks of the Diversity Committee be composing a Diversity Statement for the University. This statement should reflect the value of and philosophy of diversity at Truman. It will help the university community understand and appreciate the administrative view of and commitment to diversity at Truman. The Diversity Committee, in close collaboration with the President, will be in charge of writing the statement.
An annual report would not only serve to keep the President informed of diversity issues, but it will also provide the Diversity Committee with necessary information to make decisions. The annual report would encourage offices and organizations across campus to become more intentional and accountable for their efforts in the area of diversity. The Diversity Committee will submit an annual report to the President that will contain a summary of the status of the University in terms of diversity issues and strategies for the year. The report will include information gathered by each of the work groups as well as a description of the annual focus area of the Diversity Committee and their efforts to address that focus area.
Little information regarding diversity issues (particularly the attitudes and experiences of faculty, staff, and students) is available. In order to understand the issues and campus climate regarding diversity, it is important to regularly survey the campus community. Once every four years the Diversity Committee will conduct a survey of students, faculty, and staff. This survey will examine attitudes and experiences. Comparing items like job satisfaction, experiences of discrimination, and sense of belonging at Truman among diverse groups will provide the information to the Diversity Committee necessary to identify problem areas as well as to assess the effectiveness of various interventions.
At the present time, there seems to be some inconsistency and limited information regarding the process of recruiting faculty and staff. Accurate information regarding the recruitment process is necessary before an appropriate assessment can be made and corrective suggestions issued. Issuing a report regarding diversity recruitment efforts will also encourage divisions and offices to be more aware of and deliberate about their recruitment efforts. Each year all offices on campus who have hired personnel will be required to submit a report to the Faculty and Staff Recruitment Work Group of the Diversity Committee addressing the procedures and outcomes of their recruitment efforts. Where available, part of that report would be national statistics regarding the ethnic and gender break down of candidates in the respective fields compared to the candidates who actually applied for the Truman position.
In order to have thorough records regarding the process and outcomes of student diversity recruitment efforts, an annual report of recruitment efforts would be useful. Such a report would also encourage intentional and consistent efforts in the recruitment of minority students. Offices and programs involved in any kind of student recruitment program such as the Admissions Office, International Students Office, graduate programs, Scholastic Enhancement Experience, Financial Aid, academic division offices, etc. will be required to submit an annual report of their efforts and outcomes in the area of diversity recruitment to the Student Recruitment Work Group of the Diversity Committee.
One of the frequent concerns expressed by individuals and groups who shared information with the Task Force is the lack of a central place to report incidences of inappropraite conduct toward diverse populations on campus. Criminal complaints can go to Department of Public Safety, and some issues are handled under the Student Conduct Code. Currently, however, there seems to be no central place to report and address complaints that may fall through the cracks in criminal codes and in the Student Conduct code. An informal procedure for handling complaints would be useful. The Investigative Work Group of the Diversity Committee would provide an option to faculty, students, and staff to submit concerns or complaints regarding the treatment of diverse populations. When addressing complaints, the Investigative Work Group can refer complaints to the appropriate formal channels, mediate, investigate or otherwise intervene as requested by the complaintant and as is appropriate depending on the nature of the complaint. All complaints will be recorded and an accurate record of complaints will be kept in order to identify patterns and suggest appropriate intervention in persistent problem areas.
Currently a number of offices plan and implement educational efforts aimed at diversity issues. There is, however, no central place where these efforts are recorded. In order to provide a comprehensive educational program regarding diversity to the campus community, information regarding educational efforts is necessary. All campus offices and organizations who conduct educational programming in the area of diversity will be required to report those efforts to the Education Work Group of the Diversity Committee. The Diversity Committee will compile the data and submit it to the President as a part of the Diversity Committee's annual report.
Many institutions have found a campus-wide celebration of diversity to be a positive method to educate members of the campus community on a wide variety of diversity issues. A week is set aside each academic year to celebrate diversity. Different themes can be established from year to year. The University community including administrators, faculty, staff, and students with work together to plan and enjoy activities that help promote appreciation for and understanding of diversity on campus.
Retaining diverse students, faculty, and staff is very important to Truman. Currently little data exists regarding why people leave Truman. Such data is crucial if we are to identify impediments to achieving the desired diversity at Truman. Current exit surveys for faculty, staff, and students need to be changed to include questions pertinent to retention of diversity. Additional research methodologies may need to be employed in order to get a complete picture of retention issues. The data then will be compiled and analyzed to determine if diverse populations leave Truman for different reasons than other individuals do. If problem areas emerge, strategies will be suggested for improvement.
Information regarding the typical academic experience of Truman students in terms of exposure to diversity issues is important in determining whether or not the University is meeting the goals embraced in our mission statement and master plan regarding diversity. The records of students will be randomly selected (with names removed) and course content will be reviewed to determine quantitative and qualitative data regarding the exposure of that student to issues of diversity. If co-curricular information is available, those experiences would also be evaluated.
Many of the current publications of the University contain language and material that may be insensitive to diverse groups. Language indicative of sexism, ethnocentrism, and heterosexism in university publications should be removed. Periodic reviews of such publications to eliminate insensitivities is important. The Diversity Committee will be charged with planning procedures to systematically review University publications for insensitive language. We suggest that such reviews be implemented as publications come up for revision on the time-tables already established by the departments generating the publications.
Truman recruits only high ability students. Certain diverse populations, however, need specific types of academic support because of cultural and other types of learning differences that make the Truman academic environment particularly difficult for certain groups. The Residential Colleges have expressed a commitment to diversity and are already developing academic support centers. We suggest that each academic support center provide specialized help to a specific population as well as to the residents of the particular college. The support would involve reading material and special training for staff members of the academic center. We suggest that each Residential College select a diverse group on which to focus their academic support: first generation college students, ADD and other learning disabilities, international students, students with physical disabilities, etc.
The Residential Living Office, inspired by the discussions held last school year at the second Open Forum held by the Task Force, has designated each member of its staff as a liaison to a different office on campus. While this already had included academic offices, other offices focused more on student life such as Multi-cultural Affairs and SIDS have been added. No staff member will deal exclusively with any one subject; rather, these liaisons will coordinate awareness campaigns to the entire Residential Living program.
There are very good trainers available on diversity issues. There are several groups on campus that would benefit from expert training such as the Diversity Committee, Residential Living, administrators, student leaders, academic advisors, counselors, admissions staff, faculty, secretarial staff, etc. We suggest hiring a trainer to come to campus for approximately a week and provide training for all of these groups in several different workshops. This concentrated effort would not only keep training costs down but would blanket the campus community with trained individuals who could help train others and enhance the sensitivity to diversity at Truman. Faculty Development and Human Resources could work together to take responsibility for this strategy.
In progress: Faculty Development does plan a two to three week sensitivity training over the summer for the Truman State faculty. It will focus on teaching and advising. There is still is much research to be done, and actual trainers may be asked to attend.
Truman has very few female administrators. There has been a history of high turnover among female administrators at Truman. There are also very few administrators here who represent other minority groups. Female and other minority administrators should be given the option of being assigned mentors who are particularly sensitive and/or appropriately trained in the issues of women and minorities in administrative positions. These mentors should work closely with the targeted administrators during the first few years of employment to help them adjust to the Truman environment and to increase their chances for a positive and successful experience. The President's Office or other appropriate ofices would determine mentors, arrange for any relevant training, and monitor the effectiveness of the mentoring process.
With the arrival of Dr. Diane Pfieffer, new Dean of Student Affairs, Administrative Mentoring has begun. VP Gary Gordon has assumed the position, and the pogram will most likely continue on in the future.
Lack of visibility of minorities on campus persists as a continual obstacle towards building a stronger, more united community. While we cannot demand that people from different backgrounds interact to promote greater awareness of the diversity in the student body, we can utilize our own Fine Arts Department to create representations of that diversity on the campus through murals, sculptures, and the like. The added benefit of this strategy is that these representations can display sections of the human race not necessarily present among the student body from year to year (e.g. Hindus, Senior Citizens, etc.). This strategy calls upon the Fine Arts Division to commission the creation of art positively representative of diversity to be displayed on campus. The commission may be offered as the Fine Arts Division sees appropriate to currently enrolled students, alumni, or other sources. This strategy involves a certain expenditure of money to compensate the artist for his/her time and energy, as well as a certain amount of forethought as to what specific criteria will be given in the advertisements for the commission.
In progress: Senators John Halski and Patrick McGowen will be working on student art additions in the Spring 2000 semester. Senator Halski will seek out potential locations and Senator McGowen will be asking Fine Arts Faculty to serve as a Quality Control Committee. With luck, the program will be in action for the 2000-2001 school year.
Students Together Educating Peers (S.T.E.P.) is a peer education group that has provided the campus with rape awareness education for several years. A similar peer education group would be useful to provide educational programming regarding diversity issues to the campus community. S.T.E.P. (in conjunction with the International Students Office, Multicultural Affairs, Prism, and other appropriate organizations and offices) would work to recruit a more diverse membership. The group would then divide into two groups: one focusing on diversity education, the other on rape awareness. The two groups would receive the same training in peer education, but then would divide for specialized training in the respective areas. The S.T.E.P. diversity training group would work to create programs similar to the Freshman Week Choices program that focuses primarily on diversity issues. The programs would be offered to the campus and Kirksville communities.
The University Counseling Services have already begun work in implementing this strategy by organizing the second S.T.E.P. team to tackle diversity, and the External Affairs Committee on Student Senate is working to offer the original S.T.E.P. rape awareness program to local Kirksville high schools.
Research has shown that the academic environment poses particular challenges for women and minority faculty members. The quest for tenure and promotion often occurs in the midst of the child bearing years for women and during the time when various minorities are dealing with culture shock and the lack of a peer or cultural support group. In addition, culture and gender values in terms of what kinds of activities and priorities are important may not be consistent with the expectations of the institution. Truman already has a faculty mentor program but appropriate training for these mentors may help greatly in recruiting and retaining female and minority faculty members. Divisions would identify competent and dedicated faculty mentors to receive training in the challenges that the academic environment presents for women and minorities. These faculty mentors would be sensitive to those issues and work with their assigned female and/or minority faculty member to help them adjust to the environment. These faculty mentors could collaborate with their mentees on research projects to help them get started on a program of research and publication. Faculty mentors could also work with Division Heads to assure appropriate committee assignments and support for their mentees. The Vice President of Academic Affairs would be responsible for organizing the training. Division Heads would be responsible for identifying the mentors for participation in the training.
In hiatus: Facult Development is in need of identifying an adequate trainer. May be incoroporate into the Training Week strategy currently in progress (See above, Strategy #3).
The most effective educational interventions for students may be the ones created by students. When students are involved in planning diversity programs, they learn a great deal about diversity as they provide others with the opportunity to learn. This strategy provides incentives for student groups to plan and conduct their own diversity activities. The strategy involves adding additional money (not student fee money) for dissemination by the Funds Allotment Council Board. This money will be awarded only to worthy educational programs designed to educate students regarding diversity issues.
FAC has proposed changes to their constitution which would encourage student organizations to make colaborative efforts by offering extra funding for group efforts. It has been an opinion expressed often that the cooperative efforts of Truman's student organizations best enhances diversity on campus. The propsal is pending on the allotment of extra funds to FAC by the Board of Governors.
International Friends and Global Links have been a very successful programs to educate international students regarding American culture and visa versa. One-on-one contact between open and caring individuals is usually the best way to enhance appreciation and understanding among cultures. International Friends involves connecting an international student with a family in the community. Global Links involves connecting an international student with an American student. We believe International Friends and Global Links-type programs among various consituencies could be very useful. African American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and Caucasion students could be paired with each other or with a member of the Kirksville community. Students from urban areas could be paired with a farm family in Northeast Missouri. There are countless combinations and possibilities. We believe the program should be entirely voluntary. It is reasonable to assume, however, that if such programs are well-organized and publicized, many individuals would be interested in participating. The International Student Office could provide training for participating groups. Those groups might include Multicultural Affairs, certain fraternities and sororities, Prism, the SIDS office, and Kirksville service clubs.
When students and faculty know that certain focus areas are to be included in the portfolio review process, more attention is paid to those areas by both students and faculty. An understanding of and appreciation for diversity should be added to the areas currently reviewed by the faculty during the portfolio review process. The Assessment Committee would be given responsibility for the implementation of this strategy.
Several student groups have limited numbers of students from which to draw membership (i.e. ethnic minorities). The individual students who attempt to keep the groups functioning are often overwhelmed with the demands on their time and energy to get the groups organized and keep them viable. These student groups are a rich source of education and support for the membership and provide a valuable service to the University community. CAOC would hire an additional staff member. This staff member would be charged with providing organizational and programming support for diverse groups with small potential memberships. This support service may include help in membership drives, communication, identifying faculty/staff sponsors, and organizing special events.
Students have complained to the Task Force that some courses ignore important diversity information and that some course syllabi reflect a sexist, ethnocentric, or heterosexist bias. Those academic programs who have been reviewed by accrediting bodies periodically review their courses and course syllabi for appropriate language and subject areas. All disciplines at the University would profit from a periodic diversity review. We suggest that Divisions request that disciplines conduct periodic course reviews to determine if their course content and course syllabi reflect appropriate coverage of diverse points of view on the subjects covered and the language in course syllabi. The Division Heads should work with the Diversity Committee to determine appropriate guidelines to ensure compliance.
A central place to disseminate information regarding Truman, its services, and the Kirksville community would create a more "user friendly" campus for visitors and students alike. We suggest that space in the Student Union be utilized as a "information desk" called the Community Outreach Center. This area will store maps, brochures, university and community publications, and various other documents in which visitors or students might be interested. Information regarding services for students and student organizations would also be available. We suggest that a group such as the Leadership Scholars might be able to organize and staff this center.
In progress: Currently, the Student Affairs Committee is discussing this strategy and the best way to implement it. The issue should be addressed at the beginning of the Spring 200 Semester.