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Examples of Diversity Initiatives/Programs at UNL: Updated Draft for the Faculty Liaison Task Force
3/31/1999
Central to the mission of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is the goal of Fostering Diversity and Preparing Students to Handle the Complexities of Modern Society. As stated,
"Universities must prepare their students for the society in which they will live and work as graduates. Clearly that society for today's university students will be one in which diversity on many dimensions will be a dominant feature. This, along with rapid technological developments, changes in the world of work, and emerging alternative family and community structures, are producing a highly complex society. University graduates should be prepared to provide leadership, direction, and civility to this society. It is thus the obligation of the university to provide experiences for its students which will so prepare them. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln faces special problems because of the homogeneous nature of its student body and state population. This requires the University to plan deliberately to provide students with appropriate experiences with diversity".
Considerable enhancement of the efforts of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln toward the outcome of fostering diversity and preparing students for a complex and diverse society has occurred in recent years. The initiatives in progress are found in these seven thematic categories: curriculum; recruitment; retention and creation of a supportive environment; commissions and faculty groups; relationships with historically black colleges and universities; inter-campus cooperation; programs, conferences and community initiatives.
It should be noted that many collaborative projects occur crossing thematic categories. For example, service learning initiatives, the Minority Opportunities Through School Transformation (MOST) Program, the Artist Diversity Residency Program, and the Critical Moments Project are listed as projects which help to create a supportive environment, but are also key components of courses and viewed as curricular initiatives as well. We suspect there are numerous examples of curricular enhancement not mentioned here.
We welcome additions, corrections and further descriptions of initiatives.
1. Curriculum
University-wide the establishment of the Comprehensive Education Program has been a major development. Especially relevant is the development of the Integrated Studies and Essential Studies courses which stress inquiry into important issues. "Capstone" courses such as that offered in the College of Engineering and Technology are constructed to allow students to face the same types of issues that they will encounter in their professional careers. Many opportunities are available for UNL students to work in internship type settings which provide opportunities to relate their college academic work to the world of work outside the university.
The number of courses specifically aimed at diversity issues has increased dramatically. Parallel to this has been the establishment of a requirement in the undergraduate Comprehensive Education Program of UNL dealing with "Race, Ethnicity, and Gender." Courses for this requirement are taught in various colleges (see the Undergraduate Bulletin for a list).
The College of Arts and Sciences offers interdisciplinary programs in Ethnic Studies, Women's Studies, International Affairs, and Judaic Studies. Language pedagogy offerings emphasize connections with international studies and TESL.
A Human Rights and Human Diversity Area of Strength has been created by the College of Arts and Sciences.
The College of Fine and Performing Arts provides a variety of courses which emphasize diversity and multicultural issues and has sponsored the Artists Diversity Residency Program to bring minority artists to campus to work with students both in classes and out-of-class settings. Works by non-western and minority artists have been emphasized. The Lied Center has presented groups such as the National Theater of the Deaf, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Junebug Jack, to name a few.
In addition to the Comprehensive Education requirement, Teachers College requires students to take a course specifically addressing diversity issues as they relate to the educational process. Almost every course in the college gives some attention to diversity issues. Undergraduate students in the college are also required to take a course on students with special needs. Every teacher education student is required to complete a one- semester practicum in a "diversity school" (i.e., one which has over a certain percentage of students of color, mainstreams special education students, and includes students from across the socioeconomic spectrum). Diversity experiences are an important part of the admissions process to the college's elementary education program. Teachers College graduates rate their competency in multicultural issues as "very good" (3.88 on a 5-point scale) on a survey taken at the conclusion of their first year of teaching; their supervisors in comparing them with other teachers rate them even higher (4.45). Teachers College also requires all doctoral students to complete a course or other approval experience relating to diversity issues.
The College of Business Administration has focused on the development of programs in the International Business area. One of its primary objectives for the undergraduate program is "to sensitize students to international issues." Accordingly it has worked to infuse content and activities in many classes aimed at that objective.
The Teaching and Learning Center is sponsoring the Faculty Inclusive Teaching Book Group. Led by members of the Academy of Disrtinguished Teachers, faculty in the inaugural session will discuss Wlodkowski and Ginsberg's book: Diversity and Motivation: Culturally Responsive Teaching.
2. Recruitment
The Larson Minority Graduate Fellowship program has funds to help defray the travel expenses of graduate students of color who have the opportunity to present their results of their research at regional or national professional meetings. Minority graduate enrollment has increased at UNL by 96% since the initiation of a vigorous minority student recruitment plan in fall of 1989.
Native American Studies has initiated a network of activities that will provide a structure to the University's efforts to recruit and retain Native American students and to allow both Native American and non-Native American students to acknowledge and appreciate Nebraska's indigenous cultures.
The College of Law has made a considerable effort to diversify its student body and to provide a supportive atmosphere for minority students. In recent years, over 10% of the college's student body have been minorities.
The Naval Science Department and the University have cooperated in establishing two scholarship programs (Pershing and Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection Training) which are designed to attract minority NROTC scholarship students to UNL. The College of Human Resources and Family Sciences also has a minority scholarship program funded explicitly to attract minority students to programs in the College.
The College of Journalism and Mass Communications has established the Preparation in Excellence Program, a joint effort with the Omaha Public Schools, which is a scholarship program established to attract minority students to programs in the college.
The undergraduate enrollment of minority students in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources has increased 122% during the past five years. This increase has been accomplished in great part through the establishment of a minority resource/recruitment position jointly funded by the college and the Nebraska 4-H State Office.
Teachers College has established the Schorr Scholarship, which supports approximately two dozen students of color a year and which has helped increase minority student enrollment in the college.
3. Retention and Creation of a Supportive Environment
The Office of Student Affairs through the Student Involvement Office supports the Minority Student Development program which works to generate an environment where minority students can develop and maintain sense of their cultural heritage, succeed personally and excel academically. The Culture Center houses minority student organizations, fosters a home-like atmosphere and generates student led programming each year.
The Office of Services for Students with Disabilities provides significant support for students with special needs. It has enabled UNL to make significant strides toward the provision of services for students with disabilities. Its success is noted both by the number of such students who select UNL for their college study and by the number of such students who by their junior or senior years at the University have acquired the skills that enable them to be self reliant and no longer need the services of that office.
The Women's Resource Center serves as a campus-wide resource on gender related concerns, providing confidential counseling services, leadership in women's programming and maintaining a resource library.
The Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Bisexual Resource Center provide leadership in creating a safe environment for GLBT students and sponsors Allies, a program designed to combat heterosexism and homophobia. The Resource Center sponsors discussion groups, educational programs, and maintains a resource library.
The Critical Moments Project, funded by the Woods Charitable Trust and the Cooper Foundation, is a diversity case study method that develops skills in interpersonal communication, critical thinking, cultural diversity, problem solving, writing and oral expression. In small groups, student s confront issues complicated by race, class, gender, ability, and develop problem solving strategies that foster greater success. Modeled after the unique approach of the Goodrich Program at UNO, Critical Moments is integrated into courses for first year students in the University Foundations Program and the Textiles Clothing and Design Department and develops campus leadership on diversity issues.
The Artist Diversity Residency Program (ADRP) is a program coordinated by the College of Fine and Performing Arts and helps build cross-cultural bridges by bringing to Nebraska artists from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds for residencies of one to five weeks. They provide learning opportunities for individuals in the community and on the campus, using the perspective of the artist to talk about cultural and racial issues in a way that promotes a greater understanding of diverse cultural groups in our communities. The ADRP works with nearly every college including Agriculture and Natural Resources, Human Resources and Family Sciences, Law, Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Journalism and Fine and Performing Arts; the Lincoln Public Schools, Southeast Community College, other organizations in Lincoln, and six high schools in communities outside Lincoln. In 98/99, 23 weeks of residency were offered to the UNL campus, the Lincoln community and high schools outside of Lincoln.
The Department of Sociology was a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site for five years. This program emphasized providing research experiences to minority, women, and physically challenged students, especially those attending schools with limited access to research facilities and training. For the past three years they have been one of six graduate departments involved in the American Sociological Association's Minority Opportunities Through School Transformation (MOST) Program. In addition to UNL students, they have been working with students and faculty in 18 undergraduate colleges and universities throughout the United States to bring mentoring and other educational experiences to minority students. This program has now been expanded to all interested students, but diversity remains an important emphasis and of the major undertakings has been to infuse diversity issues across the entire curriculum.
Supporting the teaching programs is a variety of out-of-class opportunities to learn about diversity available to UNL students. For example the Culture Center and the Office of Student Involvement host speakers and sponsor events such as the Native American Pow Wow, Chicano Awareness Week, Black History Programs, and international events such as Saigon Night, Malaysia Night, Night in the Orient, India Night, and the International Bazaar. The Cooper Foundation lecture series, in conjunction with International Affairs and the Division of Continuing Studies, promotes a world view on the part of UNL students and the many who view these lectures over statewide satellite transmission. Educational materials supporting the study of diversity are readily available through the University Library which has a multicultural and diversity collection. Recent purchases have included Ethnic Newswatch on CD-ROM and the Encyclopedia of African- American Culture and History. University Television also has a strong collection of materials valuable to the study of diversity. Some videos contained in the CCTV library include Dealing with Diversity, Eyes on the Prize, Frontline: Racism #101, Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World, and Faces of Japan.
4. Commissions and Faculty Groups
Faculty Town Hall Forum
Guided by faculty with expertise in facilitating discussions of diversity, this group serves as a vehicle for discussion in the campus community when events and incidents warrant.
Chancellor's Commission on the Status of People of Color
The Chancellor's Commission on the Status of People of Color works with the Chancellor and his or her staff, other UNL administrators, and the UNL Director of Affirmative Action and Diversity in order to advise, council and recommend actions concerning the status of people of color, including social climate, treatment, level of satisfaction, sensitivities, diversity, and pluralism on the UNL campus providing advice and counsel on the status of institutional programs for racial and ethnic minorities. The Commission helps develop procedures and policies for institutional programs affecting racial and ethnic minorities and makes recommendations to the Chancellor regarding guidelines for sanctions for violations of those procedures and policies. The Commission periodically reviews the effectiveness of institutional programs and policies affecting people of color; seeking information concerning the general status of people of color at the university in order to identify and analyze any problem areas. The Commission issues special reports as necessary, as well as an annual report to the Chancellor and convenes with the Chancellor at least once each year.
Chancellor's Commission on the Status of Women
The institutional objective addressed by the Chancellor's Commission on the Status of Women (CCSW) since its inception in 1973 is, as the name implies, enhancement of the status of women at UNL. The purpose of the Commission is to advise the Chancellor and other administrators, as appropriate on general issues pertaining to gender equity and on specific concerns of women faculty, staff and students at the University. Specifically they are to increase awareness of gender equity issues and their implications for the UNL campus; to serve as a resource for the campus on women's issues, provide a forum of the open exchange of ideas, and recognize achievements and contributions by women and men to realization of gender equity and a hospitable climate at UNL; to work closely with the Affirmative Action Office to monitor and, when necessary, recommend improvements to, affirmative action processes and progress; to advise the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs on data collection to hiring, salaries, rank, promotion, tenure, job classifications, numbers of women in various positions, and other pertinent information; to assist the Director of Affirmative Action and Diversity, the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs in ascertaining the status and/or concerns of women at UNL, and to work with them to analyze findings and implement recommendations.
The Committee on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns
The Committee on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns (C/GLBT/C) consists of faculty, staff and students who are interested in ensuring that UNL meets its goal of administering all its educational and employment programs and related support services in a manner which does not discriminate against persons based upon their sexual orientation. Meeting bi-weekly throughout the academic year, the committee reports to the Chancellor on the status of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people on campus. The committee also works on issues such as domestic partner benefits and integration of GLBT issues into the curriculum.
Academic Senate Human Rights Committee
The Human Rights Committee works to create an environment in which all persons in the UNL community/faculty, student, and non-academic staff are able to conduct their activities on campus and in the broader community with proper guarantees that they will enjoy legally established and commonly accepted human rights. The Committee reviews the formulation of existing human rights policies and, where it seems appropriate, monitors their implementation. The Committee may offer recommendations to persons and agencies within the University on the implementation of existing policies, or, where warranted by changing conditions, recommend new policies in the area. The Committee collects and keeps available for reference generally accepted statements on matters of human rights (e.g., the UN Declaration on the subject, the US Bill of Rights, etc.) and all policy statements adopted by NU Regents, administration, faculty, student or other university authorities and serves as a referring officer, advising persons alleging infringements where they may receive a proper hearing; this is not an adjudicating body.
5. Relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities
UNL's College of Human Resources, through grants from the USDA, fostered relationships with Tuskegee Institute, University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff, Tennesse State, and Virginia State University. Student and faculty exchange, graduate student and faculty development in the areas of diversity and technology are at the heart of the program.
UNL has formal partnership agreements or memoranda of understanding which provide for global exchanges between faculty, staff and students in intellectual and cultural endeavors with Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi, New Mexico Highlands University, Grambling University, and a newly formed agreement with Alcorn State University which highlights collaboration with UNL libraries, Teachers Colleges and IANR.
6. Other programs of note which enhance diversity within the UNL community and provide connections to the larger community include:
The Academic Conferences and Professional Programs conference "People of Color in Predominantly White Institutions" doubled attendance in its second year and won the 1997 University Continuing Education Association Noncredit Program Award for creative programming. The conference brings together scholars, students, parents, professionals and concerned persons from more than 23 states and Canada to discuss issues including gender, athletics, the media, professional growth, mentoring and retention.
The Center for Great Plains Studies was established at NU in the mid 1970s to provide a focal point of learning about the culture, heritage and development of the Great Plains region. The center grew from the idea that NU was a university that already contained a broad range of expertise to be drawn upon for an intensive study of life on the plains in all its aspects, including urban and rural geography, native and imported peoples, indigenous and foreign arts, politics, economics, languages, religion and customs. Since it was created, numerous inter-disciplinary studies have been conducted, an annual seminar has drawn international participation and attention, and two scholarly publications have been created.
In the spring of 1999, the Center will sponsor an international symposium entitled, "Music and Dance of the Great Plains" which will highlight the diversity of artistic expression found throughout the Great Plains region.
Cooperative Extension's Family Community Leadership Program is aimed at improving the quality of rural life. The program is conducted by the Center for Rural Community Development and Revitalization in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The program's 467 graduates represent nearly every Nebraska county. They have provided leadership programs for 56,960 people in areas such as ethical leadership. A recent emphasis has been on multicultural representation, with a Native American team from Winnebago and Macy and Hispanic teams providing leadership training in numerous communities throughout the state.
A federal grant to the Cooperative Extension Indian Reservation Program targets youth on the Omaha and Winnebago reservations. It provides support for a part-time extension educator and contracts with tribal members to build self-esteem and encourage wise decision-making skills about health and lifestyles. The 4-H Cloverbuds After School Program is an example of special interest 4-H programming.
Language arts teachers in rural areas no longer need to feel professionally isolated, thanks to an electronic mail distribution list developed by NU faculty. Through the pioneering "TC Literacy Line," elementary and secondary teachers - provided they have a modem - will be able to converse with each other and with NU faculty in the Teachers College Literacy Studies Group. They can discuss subjects such as professional resources, new multicultural titles, student assessment and evaluation, effective teaching strategies, non-native speakers of English, and any other issues they face in their daily work. Dave Wilson, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction and coordinator of the effort, said the Literacy Line is the first regional effort of its kind.
The Law College's Civil Clinic celebrates its 23rd anniversary in 1998. Nebraska citizens get help and third-year law students get experience in the clinic, which makes free legal services available to Nebraska citizens who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford such services. Law students who work in the Voluntary Income Tax Assistance program also provide a worthwhile free service for low- income taxpayers.
Faculty members in the NU Department of Sociology provide surveys and assistance to Nebraska organizations which work on human needs. The United Way of Lincoln and Lancaster County has a data base on social services to pinpoint needs and use its funds to meet social service needs. The Lincoln Housing Authority was able to develop projections and recommendations for the community's housing needs.
Community and Regional Planning holds two statewide "Crosstraining for Community Development" workshops that involve more than 600 development professionals and volunteers from across the state. The Urban Community Improvement Program provides technical support and sponsors workshops for neighborhood organizations in Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Kearney and Scottsbluff.
The Nebraska Network 21 (NN21) Cultural and Gender Diversity Action Team recently completed its funding cycle which resulted in the revitalization of the Nebraska Women of Color Network, planning and implementation of an annual diversity conference for university and community leaders, and assistance with Cooperative Extension's conference on
A Nebraska Network21 (NN21) Demonstration Project takes NU's College of Fine and Performing Arts Artist Diversity Residency Program to six high schools around the state. Omaha Northwest, and Henderson, Grand Island, Lexington, Columbus and Scottsbluff Public Schools each hold Internet down link sessions, host live performances and visits, and interact with the diversity artists through specially created web pages which provide historical, cultural and artistic information to the students.
Preparing Future Faculty program (sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trust) to UNL has the goal of preparing graduate students for faculty positions in institutions with missions that emphasize teaching. An important part of the program involves sending graduate students to such institutions to learn about faculty roles in them via partnerships with a group of these institutions and the group includes Grambling College (a historically African American school) and the University of Texas at San Marcos (a school with a predominantly Hispanic student population) providing opportunity to get hands-on experience working with diversity issues.
The College of Architecture has worked with the Omaha Tribe to design a cultural interpretation center and is preparing to work with the Winnebago Tribe to design an energy efficient classroom for their satellite learning center at the Little Priest Tribal College.
University Television provides two distinct services to the blind and visually impaired. The descriptive video service provides narrated descriptions of a television program's key visual elements without interfering with the program dialogue. The Nebraska Educational Television Network offers the radio reading service for the visually impaired and elderly.
The Division of Continuing Studies provides for the study of diversity through its Independent Study High School for students all over the world. Among the specific courses it offers are "Ethnic Studies" and "Multicultural Literature." The Division recently sponsored a national conference on people of color in predominantly white institutions, which attracted participants from 20 states and Canada.
Faculty in Teachers College have been highly involved in working with schools in the state in the conduct of credit and non-credit experiences aimed at the state's human resource training requirement for teachers. The College has worked jointly with a number of school districts to develop programs particularly tailored to the needs of the district. In addition three faculty have conducted funded programs in the Omaha Public Schools aimed in various ways to help teachers do a more effective job of enabling students of color to reach their academic potential. The Buros Institute for Mental Measurements recently sponsored a national symposium on "Measurement and Testing: Multicultural Assessment."
7. Research Initiatives
The Institute for Ethnic Studies provides leadership in research initiatives which foster enhancements of diversity and multiple perspectives. Specific initiatives include research on quality of life issues for people of color in Nebraska communities, participatory community research, research on youth at risk, research on homeless youth, and health risk behavior among youth of color.
A number of UNL faculty are conducting research on multicultural themes. These include foci such as the career aspirations and educational plans of Hispanic girls and boys; the development of racial identity; relationships between culture, language development and behavioral disorders; and the development of an assessment instrument to measure teachers' knowledge and beliefs about multicultural education.
The Office of Graduate Studies has initiated a UNL Ethnic Minority Graduate Research Symposium, which provides an opportunity to showcase the research of graduate students of color and of those researching minority issues. That office also coordinates the Summer Undergraduate Research Opportunities program, which provides stipends to undergraduate students to conduct research with a faculty mentor. This program, along with the Ronald E. McNair Program, is aimed at students from ethnically underrepresented groups and students from low income and first- generation-in-college backgrounds.
The University Press actively fosters research and publication relating to minorities, particularly through its Native American studies program and such undertakings as the series "Blacks in the American West," "Women in the West," and "Women in Politics." The "North American Indian Prose Award," is an annual prize for a nonfiction work by a Native American.
The College of Human Resources and Family Sciences (HRFS) is working collaboratively with the faculty and program leadership at four historically black institutions to foster collaborative research in family and consumer sciences.
College of Law initiatives include research on the use of "academic bankruptcy" as a response to possible illegal discrimination in academic settings; research on Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its effect on intercollegiate athletics; inquiry into he effect of diverse religious beliefs on international relations; research on sexual harassment and investigation into disability discrimination. Also, an annually updated book on how statistics are used in discrimination cases emanates from the College of Law.
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