Association of American Colleges and Universities, October 2000

Diversity and Democracy: Campus Practices

prepared by Cathleen Fleck, AAC&U

Linking Community Involvement and Diversity

Through Pedagogy and the Curriculum:

• Wagner College: this college tries to link civic outreach more closely to the curriculum by adding an experiential learning element to the required first-year learning communities that include two thematically connected courses and a tutorial to concentrate on reflection and writing relating to the course and the experience.

  Source: "Innovations in Campus Engagement." Fall 1999. Peer Review, 21.

• Pacific Oaks College: the "anti-bias curriculum" at this college was co-developed by faculty and students in the 1980s (and continues today) to identify how bias operates and to lay an analytical foundation for actual social change in the student’s own workplace or community. Students are introduced to a range of social and political theories related to creating change and then are asked to critique a context of bias within which he/she operates and to design a plan to alter it.

  Source: AAC&U communication with Pacific Oaks College, June 2000.

• University of Michigan: a for-credit course on "Intergroup Relations, Conflict, and Community" teaches students about how different groups have experienced American democracy now and in the past. Their projects bring together different cultural groups to address conflicts that arise among and within these groups and to explore possibilities for building communities across cultural boundaries.

  Source: Humphreys, Debra. 2000. "Diversity, Democracy, and Civic Engagement: Higher Education and its Unique Opportunity." Higher Education Exchange, 86.

• Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI): this institution is well-known for its comprehensive approach to service learning as seen in its establishment of a Center for Public Service and Leadership.

  Source: "Innovations in Campus Engagement." Fall 1999. Peer Review, 20.

• Augsburg College: a small Lutheran school in a diverse, low-income Minneapolis neighborhood encourages faculty and staff to take advantage of its 15 long-term partnerships with local schools and organizations and emphasizes service for the students by community projects built into orientation and continuing in experiential learning components throughout college.

  Source: "Innovations in Campus Engagement." Fall 1999. Peer Review, 20.

• Virginia Commonwealth University: as part of a campus/community project (funded initially through the American Commitments initiative), this university created an archival collection of historical research documents about African Americans in the Richmond area. Administration, faculty, library staff, and students visited the community extensively. The community then began to see the project as its own and donated a rich collection of documents. The collection exposed students to the diversity of American racial history and culture around them as faculty used the documents to enhance the curriculum.

  Source: Musil, Caryn McTighe, et. al. 1999. To Form a More Perfect Union: Campus Diversity Initiatives. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities, 31.

• Northern Arizona University: NAU offers a liberal studies curriculum in which two-thirds of the courses have student learning outcomes related to issues of diversity. Additional campus programs such as the Institute for Native Americans, the Multicultural Student Center, and the Applied Indigenous Studies program, provide education and services to students and surrounding communities.

  Source: AAC&U communication with the Provost John Haeger, June 2000.

Through Faculty Support and Scholarship:

• Portland State University: there is a known commitment to service learning programs and to faculty efforts at community outreach at this university.

  Source: "Innovations in Campus Engagement." Fall 1999. Peer Review, 20.

• Queens College: this New York institution allows students to work with faculty members on research projects questioning real world problems that involve the local communities.

  Source: Humphreys, Debra. 2000. "Diversity, Democracy, and Civic Engagement: Higher Education and its Unique Opportunity." Higher Education Exchange, 86.

• Michigan State University: this university has revised its tenure and promotion policies to reward faculty community outreach and scholarship related to these activities in addition to offering seed money for new outreach programs

  Source: "Innovations in Campus Engagement." Fall 1999. Peer Review, 21.

Through Institutional Change:

• Occidental College: at this college in Los Angeles, former Pres. John Brooks Slaughter (1988-99) changed the university cornerstones to excellence, equity, community, and service. He felt that the school did not reflect the changing population of the region and actively recruited a more diverse faculty and student body. He also launched a variety of community outreach programs in which over half the students became involved. He made it possible for clerical and support staff, mid-level administrators, and students to be a part of the governance process to encourage equitable democracy on the campus.

  Source: Interview. Maeda, Donna. Fall 1999. "Building the Engaged Campus." Peer Review, 15-17.

• Connecticut College: this college opened a downtown college branch to offer educational, public health and micro-lending programs, and other outreach services.

  Source: "Innovations in Campus Engagement." Fall 1999. Peer Review, 20.

• Lemoyne-Owen College: a historically black college, Lemoyne-Owen continues its commitment to civic work by providing guidance for small business entrepreneurs, maintaining an electronic job bank, and by setting up a community education center with computer training and Internet resources.

  Source: "Innovations in Campus Engagement." Fall 1999. Peer Review, 21.

• Tulane and Xavier Universities: these two schools work together to pool resources of faculty, staff, and students to provide health education, job training seminars, and tutorial programs for their communities.
  

  Source: "Innovations in Campus Engagement." Fall 1999. Peer Review, 21.

• Evergreen State College: in addition to maintaining a high percentage of minority enrollment, Evergreen has a long-established Native American studies program and supports a second campus (in Tacoma) to serve an urban, primarily African-American community.
  

  Source: "Native American Programs at Evergreen State College" and "Tacoma Campus", informational brochures published by Evergreen State College.

Impact of Diversity Programs on Student Learning, the Campus, and the Community

• Two recent major national studies (Eyler & Giles, 1999; Gray et. al., 1999) provide support for the claim that service-learning can help to develop the personal and social qualities that lead to civic engagement and identity. Students gain increased personal empowerment, greater understanding of other cultures, a connection to the community, and commitment to service and to using the political system to solve problems.

  Source: Eyler, Janet. Fall 1999. "The Civic Outcomes of Service-Learning: What Do We Know?," Peer Review, 11.

• A 1996 study considering the impact of multicultural courses on white students’ sense of community, cultural awareness, interest in promoting racial understanding, and satisfaction with college also reported positive results in each of these areas.
  

  Source: Tanaka, G. K. 1996. "The Impact of Multiculturalism on White Students." Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles, referenced in Humphreys, Debra. 1998. Higher Education, Race and Diversity: Views from the Field. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities, 10.

• Duke University: involvement in the President’s Common Ground Fund established small grants for faculty, administrators, students, and staff to propose and pursue projects related to tolerance on campus. This grassroots approach led to the successful development and implementation of diversity initiatives and to comprehensive and collaborative efforts among various groups on campus.

  Source: Musil, Caryn McTighe, et. al. 1999. To Form a More Perfect Union: Campus Diversity Initiatives. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities, 22-23.

• University of Michigan: a study at the University of Michigan investigated the impact of cross-cultural contact and course work dealing with racial and ethnic issues and found that such course work had the most significant positive impact on increased support for educational equity.

  Source: Lopez, G. E. 1993. "The Effect of Group Contact and Curriculum on White, Asian American and African American Students’ Attitudes." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, referenced in Humphreys, Debra. 1998. Higher Education, Race and Diversity: Views from the Field. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities, 10.

• Olivet College: students at this college in Michigan taking a required course, "Self and Community," reported that studying and engaging in classroom dialogue about sensitive issues like racial discrimination made it easier to bridge racial lines in social settings on campus.
  Source: Humphreys, Debra. 1998. Higher Education, Race and Diversity: Views from the Field. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities, 21.