I strongly believe that the skills of
pluralism, inclusion, and open-mindedness are not only essential to any
profession, but also to living in a diverse society.
It is precisely because I feel so strongly
about this particular competency that I intend to pursue a career in
diversity
and multicultural affairs. In order to
serve students, either from a national policy perspective or from daily
interactions, I must have an awareness of the existing biases,
assumptions, and
expectations of mine and of others—students, co-workers, etc. I do not believe the appropriate way to work
with
people of different backgrounds is to diminish differences and expect
that everyone
is coming from the same place, but instead to foster an environment
where everyone’s
differences and unique perspectives can be leveraged to contribute to
the overall
functioning and success of the unit. It
is important to celebrate culture and background, as it is part of the
holistic
individual which influences how one views and acts within society.
One role of a diversity officer is
to expand the cultural awareness on campus and increase sensitivity to
minority
communities. This can be achieved
through
facilitating inter-group dialogues, providing effective multicultural
training
to students, staff, and the community, and implementing “culturally
relevant” (Love,
et al., 2008) and inclusive programs. On
campus or within the professional setting, it is important to be an
advocate
and ally for minority groups in all aspects of university life, as well
as a
role model for proper inclusive and culturally sensitive behavior. While this ongoing behavior is necessary, it
is also important to adopt a strategic and sustainable method of fully
integrating diversity awareness and sensitivity into departments and
across
campus. And to ensure this is happening,
there must be a system in place to assess the effectiveness of the
institution
to address multicultural issues, as well as a way to conduct climate
surveys by
students and staff.
Most of my adult life I have been aware of
the disparity among minority groups and have seen, even from my own
undergraduate experience, the different college experiences that
individuals
who are part of different cultural groups can have.
My interest in closing these gaps in society
has been explored primarily academically up until this point. As an
undergraduate I attended a joint program between the Jewish Theological
Seminary
and Columbia University, the most diverse of the Ivy League
institutions. At Columbia I studied
sociology with a focus
on race, class, and gender stratification, and at the Seminary I served
as a
Resident Advisor. It may seem that
because I worked in the residence halls of a seminary one would assume
my
residents were entirely homogenous in terms of their religious
backgrounds. However, the reality is
that even on a macro level within one religion, as an RA I counseled
students
from a variety of backgrounds and sectarian perspectives within Judaism
who
were having questions about their role in the community.
Similarly, in my current position I also work
with a Jewish organization but I run a project whose mission is to
engage
students are currently uninvolved and help them find connection to
Jewish
campus life on their own terms. We have
based our strategy on research about today’s generation of college
students. In this capacity I also meet
with a variety
of multi-cultural campus professionals to discuss how our project can
be a
partner to the university in its larger diversity mission.
I
am also well aware that part of being a
diversity professional and practicing inclusion will also mean having
to
confront, tolerate, and even advocate for positions and viewpoints that
I
personally may not agree with. I know that when opinions are put forth
that I may find offensive or incorrect, my professional duty will
require
me to act appropriately and turn that experience into an open dialogue
to bring
awareness to the issue.
Leadership
Administration (Love,
et al., 2008)
and University Partnership
Personal
Philosophy
When working within an organization, specifically in a capacity where you have an institutional mission to bring diversity and inclusion to every aspect of campus life, it is important to understand how to be a good university partner and fully understand the mission of the University leadership and administration. It appears from a variety of current job descriptions that the Office of Diversity/Inclusion/Multi-cultural Affairs reports directly to the Office of the President. It’s important to have a greater understanding of your role within that organizational context.
The ACPA Report on Professional Competencies identifies several categories of the administration with whom it is important to develop competencies. The most relevant to my specific field would be Resource Management, Technology, Human Resources (including Conflict Management, Team-building, Motivation, Supervision, and Hiring), and Organizational Development (including Planning and Organizing, Cultural Landscape, Political Landscape, Types of Leadership, Change, Goal Setting, and Organizational Improvement) (Love, et al., 2008). Additionally, Joan Hirt, Associate Professor of higher education administration at Virginia Tech, suggests that “by adapting their narrative to more closely parallel the dominant narratives that faculty and academic administrators use to define their world, student affairs professionals might find faculty more receptive to their ideas and more appreciative of their endeavors” (2007, p.258). It would be of utmost important to me in this role to speak the same language as other university partners so that our common goals could be best achieved.
Current Self
Assessment
In my undergraduate and previous work experiences, I have learned first-hand and from my supervisors how to be a collaborative university partner while maintaining and protecting the workload of the employees within a particular department. As an RA, I was part of the Office of Residence Life but had to work closely with the Office of Student Affairs as well as the Jewish Student Life Office, among others. I conducted many programs with a variety of these other offices, and was always a team player in terms of sharing resources, ideas, and credit.
Assessment
is a pivotal element
for progress and continued success of any university.
As a diversity professional it will be
important to assess both the progress of our broader strategies in
increasing the
sense and the actual diversity on campus, as well my own personal work
and
improvement within my department. According
to the Dean of Students at the
Additionally, these measurements and studies would have to be based on genuine interest in assessment and not a cursory attempt in order to appease external stakeholders. According to Carpenter and Stimpson, “[a]ccountability should not reflect simplistic goals, written for management bureaucrats from outside the profession, using meaningless or even harmful ‘measurements’ or ‘ratings’ that result in increased injustice and inequity on campuses or in a false kind of success based on profit or efficiency…Assessment should be not only ubiquitous, but also meaningful” (2008, p. 281). When professionals get busy with actually doing the work, there is no doubt that assessment gets pushed to bottom of the priority list. However, when trying to create institutional change, it needs to remain at the forefront.
Technology Skills (Love, et al., 2008)
The college students of today are of the Millennial generation. They grew up with technology moving at an incredibly rapid pace, and most of their daily routine happens on the internet. It would only make sense then, to keep up with the demands of the university’s primary constituents, and to capitalize on the efficiency their technology facilitates, that the tools of higher education professionals are now primarily online as well. From registering for classes, to receiving feedback from professors, the internet is the primary source for college students today. In this vain, it is essential that employees who work with this population also understand how to fully utilize this tool.
According to the ACPA’s 2008 report, a student affairs professional must be able to: maintain their own level of technical proficiency and knowledge in order to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of their work; identify and meet the technological needs of the team; be able to identify new technological advances appropriate to the nature of work in the unit; and discern the pace in which technological advances should appropriately be incorporated into organizational life, with students, staff, and other constituents (Love, et al., 2008).
I
have made great strides
professionally by working with a wide variety of online tools, and
actually
accomplishing a great mastery of these systems.
As an Assistant Director for Prospect Research at
References
Love, P.,
Carpenter, S., Haggerty, B., Hoffman, D., Janosik,
S., & Klein, S., et al. (2008). Professional competencies: A
report of the ACPA steering committee on
professional competencies.
Sandeen, A. & Barr, M. J. (2006). Critical issues for student affairs: Challenges and