Action Project

This Action Project includes three components: 1. Employee Recruitment and Retention, 2. Policies, Procedures and Practices, and 3. Curriculum and Classroom. Employee Recruitment & Retention – During Year Three, 1) Developed and piloted new staff mentoring program; 2) Coordinated the Minority Faculty Network; 3) Offered diversity workshop entitled “Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts”; 4) Developed Diversity Lecture series with first presentation in April; 5) Represented MVCC at job fairs; 6) Conducted faculty search team training and evaluated the process; 7) Selected consulting firm to provide diversity training to new employees. Practices, Procedures & Policies – During Year Three, piloted the Diversity of College Practices, Procedures and Policies model using the bidding process. A committee used the model to review the entire bidding process. As a result, it was decided that different advertising methods would be pursued. Purchasing added bid advertising in predominantly minority newspapers to their current advertising venues and tracked the results. The College also formed a relationship with the Minority Business Opportunity Center of Chicago. Classroom & Curriculum – During Year Three, 1) Courses developed: African American Literature, Women in Literature, three Humanities courses - African & Middle Eastern, Asian and Oceanic, and Native American. 2) Offered 16 workshops on diversity and global education topics: a) Exploring Personal Effectiveness in a Diverse Community College Environment, b) Teaching to a Diverse Linguistic Population, c) Understanding Our Students: The Arab Community; and d) Infusing Diversity into the Curriculum. In addition, in spring 2008, nineteen full-time and adjunct instructors participated in enhanced mandatory COL101 Teaching Training. This enhanced training focused on strengthening skill sets, facilitation techniques, and student learning outcomes by providing instructors with supportive and effective teaching materials on cultural diversity and inclusion.

Employee Recruitment & Retention – Team members representing campus departments developed staff mentoring program and selected diversity training vendor. Faculty were invited to Minority Faculty Network meeting. Diversity lecture series advertised campuswide. Practices, Procedures & Policies – The employees on the pilot committee represented process stakeholders and results were presented to campus groups. Classroom & Curriculum – The college has incorporated diversity into core values, strategic priorities and general education principles. Strategies to reinforce diversity principles in curriculum and classroom include faculty interaction with students and student learning. Two positions spearhead curriculum and classroom diversity initiatives: Dean, Academic Initiatives and Accountability and Coordinator for Global Education.

Employee Recruitment & Retention – 1) Present mentoring pilot results to leadership for approval to fully implement program; 2) Hold Train-the-Facilitator training for current employees to facilitate new employee diversity training; 3) Continue minority faculty network, diversity workshops and speakers, job fairs, faculty search team training. Practices, Procedures & Policies – In collaboration with other college departments, hold a multi- faceted vendor fair, and facilitate use of the diversity model to review other college processes. Classroom & Curriculum - Monitor effectiveness: 1) Faculty/student participation in workshops and classes; 2) Staff formal and informal responses; 3) Faculty reports of perceived changes in student speech, writing, behaviors, and interactions as it connects to curriculum and classroom.

Since these Action Project components are still in the initial phases, no best practices have yet been identified.

Employee Recruitment & Retention – The college has experienced some stops and starts related to diversity. The staff member dedicated to diversity left in June 2008. Position should be filled shortly, and the focus on diversity must remain a priority. Practices, Procedures & Policies - A concern with how we select the departments and processes that should be reviewed, and how results will be dealt with if findings are difficult to accept or operational. Increasing participation of minority-owned businesses. Classroom & Curriculum – On the surface, there is an inherent tension between course content and desire for respecting diversity that permeates the entire college culture. We aspire to a culture that is completely comfortable and fluent with diversity. In the short-term, diversity as a curriculum component sometimes feels forced. In the long-term, diversity will be seen less as a component and more as a way of seeing the world and our place in it.