PROPOSAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTICULTURAL INSTITUTE

TO IMPROVE THE CLIMATE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

 

 For a version of this document in Word, click here.

 

            The purpose of this proposal is to outline a plan for a Multicultural Institute at the University of Virginia. The planned Institute would ultimately serve as a model that could be adopted by other institutions of higher education to improve the diversity climate at these traditionally white institutions. The goal of this Institute would be to create an institutional climate that would honor diversity and promote the learning of all students to their maximum potential. The proposal includes a brief overview of the need for such an Institute at UVA, followed by some underlying assumptions about addressing the problems of diversity on grounds. The remaining sections of the paper deal with the primary components of the Institute and a proposed organization structure.

Background

            It is important to realize that, due to its history and location, the University of Virginia has an image of being a place that is not sensitive to the needs of different cultural groups. These groups include people of color, women, gay and lesbians, and various religious groups.  Even though it is a state institution, UVA did not admit blacks or women as undergraduates until 1970. Although it has made tremendous strides in the past 30+ years to overcome this reputation, it still persists in the minds of some members of the community, the faculty, and the student body.  This is documented extensively in a series of reports and the exit interviews with graduating fourth year students over the past several years. In addition, there have been a series of incidents on a yearly basis that reflect badly on the University. Most recently, the continuing “not gay“ chant at the football games, the blackface incident in the fall, and the Daisy Lundy attack are painful reminders of a university climate that does not appreciate diversity. In order to change this image and to improve the climate at the University, a University-wide Multicultural Institute is proposed that is based on the following assumptions.   

            1.         The problem of improving the climate at UVA is everybody's problem, both majority and minority members. Therefore, any solution to the problem must involve representatives from all groups.

            2.         To address the problem, it must first be acknowledged as a problem and then systematically addressed in a public fashion in an ongoing manner.

            3.         There must be a commitment from the leadership of the institution to address this problem from the Board of Visitors throughout the central administration down through the deans and department chairpersons.

            4.         The process of changing the climate and the image associated with it is a long-term endeavor that will take a concentrated effort and appropriate resource allocation.

            5.         Improving the climate will require a commitment to acknowledging diversity in all of its many dimensions including race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class, etc.

            The proposed Institute, specifically organized to address the issue of diversity on grounds, would have several benefits. First and foremost, it would be sending the message that the University feels this is a priority worth pursuing. Secondly, it would provide a resource within the University to address the problems that are constantly arising around diversity. Thirdly, it would give UVA good visibility, not only within the institution but also across the Commonwealth and the nation. In order to achieve these benefits, it will first be necessary for the Institution to adopt diversity as a core value. Acknowledging the importance of diversity in the same light as other core values such as honor and student government will provide the impetus and the sustainability for a long-term institutional change effort.

            A University-wide Multicultural Institute will provide the following services and include these components.

 

1.         Coordination

            Currently on grounds there are a variety of activities and groups designed to promote a more multicultural atmosphere, including those of the Dean of Students office, the efforts of the Equal Opportunity Programs, a variety of student groups, Office of African American Affairs, the Curry Community Committee, the minority recruitment and retention program in the Medical School, (is there still a minority recruitment program in the Provost’s office?), the University Union and the Library's Multicultural Committee, International Center, Women’s Center, and LGBT Resource Center. There are many more of these types of activities that cut across faculty, administrators, students, and staff. These efforts need to be identified, catalogued and made visible to all members of the University community.

 

2.         Communication

            It is important that once the groups have been identified and catalogued, there be regular communication among them, the rest of the University, and the community at large. Currently, if an individual is interested in finding out about a multicultural issue or has a problem in this area, s/he has to depend on the informal network of people with multicultural interests. This sometimes works, but since the network is not well organized, the person often feels that he or she is getting the run-around. One of the important functions of the Institute would be to develop a communication system using a wide variety of media. The primary communication format would be the development and regular maintenance of a University diversity website. In addition to the web site, diversity information would regularly be shared with existing publications such as The Cavalier Daily, Inside UVA, various college web sites, the alumni association newsletters, and the outside media.

 

3.         Provide diversity training

            One of the major functions of the Multicultural Institute would be to provide diversity training to the various constituents within the University community. It is proposed that beginning as soon as possible, all orientations for students, faculty, administrators and staff include some training on the topic of diversity. This initial diversity training would be coordinated with other orientation training provided to the respective groups and would send a message to all new members of our community about the importance of diversity. In addition to the orientation training, the Multicultural Institute would also provide diversity training in a variety of formats from short two-hour sessions to week-long training sessions. These training sessions would not only be made available to the University community but also to the community at large.

 

4.         Conduct diversity surveys

            Given the number of incidents over the past several years, it is clear that the University has a climate that is not supportive of diversity.  In order to assess the effect of the University’s attempts to improve its climate, it would be essential that regular diversity surveys be administered. The data from these surveys are critical in monitoring the diversity climate at the institution. These data not only provide ongoing information, but also keep the issue out in the open so that it can be publicly addressed and debated. One of the regular functions of the Institute would be to conduct a biannual attitude survey of all administrators, faculty, graduate students, and staff. As in the past, these data would be made available to the University community for program planning in the area of multicultural education at both the central administration and individual college levels. 

           

5.         Integrate diversity issues into the regular evaluation system

            Across the grounds all employees and students are being evaluated on a regular basis for a variety of reasons. For example, faculty are evaluated by course evaluations and by the administration, and staff and administrators are being evaluated by their supervisors. One of the first functions of the Institute will be to review these evaluations in cooperation with the appropriate groups, and make sure that one of the criteria for evaluation is diversity and for how people deal with other people. The results from these individual evaluations will be used by supervisors for employee improvement and salary consideration.

 

6.         Seek funding for diversity efforts      

            A major activity within the Institute would be to write proposals to both government and private foundations to partially fund the operation of the Institute. These proposals would be written for a variety of reasons including research on diversity attitudes, developing programs to improve race relations, identifying factors which lead to promoting minority success in predominantly white colleges, and developing multicultural programs for the public schools. This Institute would also provide staff and technical assistance to faculty and graduate students wishing to pursue funding in areas relating to diversity and multicultural education. In addition to securing outside funding, the Institute would work closely with the Development Office to raise money from alumni who are interested in supporting diversity efforts.

 

7.         Conflict resolution

            Every year at UVA, incidents arise that are related to interracial conflict. Some of these issues get widespread media attention but many get no attention and go unresolved, leaving the involved parties with negative attitudes about groups of people who are culturally different than themselves. The proposed Institute would make itself available to administrators, faculty, staff, and students to aid in the resolution of these conflicts. It is hoped that having this resource available will help to resolve many of these disagreements before they become so serious that they must be addressed by more formal University bodies such as the Judiciary Committee or Equal Opportunity Programs.

 

8.         Provide a resource in the area of faculty/administrator/graduate student recruiting

            New faculty and administrators are recruited annually using local, regional, and national searches. One of the functions of the Institute would be to provide direct assistance to the search committees in helping them get the word out to different minority groups in order to ensure that more minority candidates make it into the final selection pool. The Institute staff would also make special efforts to organize and/or coordinate recruiting campaigns at historically black institutions within Virginia and regionally in an attempt to recruit the best minority applicants in the region to UVA's graduate and professional schools.

           

9.         Provide a resource in the area of multicultural curriculum development

            One of the major issues addressed by university faculty across the nation is the issue of including different cultural perspectives in their curriculum. Most of the academic and professional disciplines have begun to identify experts in their respective fields who can address some of these multicultural issues. The proposed Institute would assist in this process in a variety of ways, including identifying a group of experts from which to choose, arranging for their visits to the grounds, facilitating faculty discussions about the pros and cons of multicultural education, and working with the faculty committees to develop new curricula once the decision has been made to incorporate more multicultural perspectives in the course(s) and the curricula.

           

10.       Provide recognition for exemplary diversity work

            Every year the University and the individual schools give out awards and scholarships in recognition of outstanding scholarship and service. In order to help ensure that diversity is integrated into the fiber of the University, the Institute would develop a series of awards and scholarships that recognize exemplary contributions to diversity, especially recognizing the staff, students, and faculty who have contributed to making UVA a more welcoming place.

           

11.       Provide a public service

            As the awareness of these multicultural issues becomes more public, it is expected that more groups will try to address them in a variety of ways. An important function of the Institute will be to work directly with these groups, whether they are student or faculty, to help them plan, implement and evaluate their newly organized multicultural efforts. This consultative role could also be expanded to working with local schools, government agencies, and businesses in terms of program development and multicultural training. This latter activity would not only provide a needed service to the community, but also provide UVA with good visibility and perhaps a source of income for the Institute.

 

12.       Develop a multicultural scholars program

            Each year a cohort of 6-10 professors would be selected as Multicultural Scholars. They would be provided with released time and other appropriate resources in order that they might modify their curricula to make it more multicultural. This could include the modification of existing courses or the development of new courses. In addition, the Scholars in each cohort would meet on a regular basis for diversity training and to share the results of their work. The Institute would annually sponsor a University-wide event to publish the accomplishments of the faculty members participating.

 

13.       Develop an academic area of concentration in multicultural education

            In order to add academic credibility to the Multicultural Institute, it would be essential that it not only be viewed as a student affairs function but also as an academic function. To accomplish this, the Multicultural Institute would sponsor at least two types of academic functions. First, the Multicultural Education course offered in the Curry School of Education would be supported through the Multicultural Institute. Currently the course does not meet the demand, and it would be one of the functions of the Institute to secure the funds to ensure that all students requesting the course would have the opportunity to enroll. In addition to the Multicultural Education course, an area of concentration in Multicultural Studies would be developed in the Curry School. This area would be available to all graduates who would like to have systematic educational experiences in diversity as a part of their graduate work. This area of concentration would draw on a series of courses that would be identified from across the University. When approved by their graduate committees, students with a major in a particular discipline could choose Multicultural Studies as a complimentary area of study. Graduate students studying in this area of concentration would be financially supported by the Institute.

 

Develop joint program with local community

            Given the role that the Multicultural Institute can play within and outside the University, it is vital that the development of this project be accomplished with the participation of local community leaders.  Often, conflict arises between members of the community and university that has class or racial elements; acknowledgement of the importance of the residents of  Charlottesville and Albemarle County to this endeavor would make the Insititute’s trustworthiness to the community much greater.  In addition, community representation on the planning committee and an ongoing Multicultural Institute advisory committee could be a model of a true community-university partnership.

 

Develop a state leadership role in multicultural education and diversity

            Once the Multicultural Institute is fully in operation, it will be in the position to offer training and consultation to local, regional, and statewide programs, such as school districts, businesses, state commissions, and so on.  (More on that here)

            In addition, as the Institute grows, and as Morven Farm’s facilities are developed, the Institute could offer summer retreats for teachers, administrators, and others in an environment that would allow time to think and explore these issues away from the chaos of daily life.  Feasibly, these retreats could be offered to individuals and families as well, as a sort of “multicultural camp” in one-week sessions during the summer.

 

Organization of the Institute

            The Institute would be directed by two co-directors of tenured faculty status, one of whom would be a majority member and a second from a minority group. These faculty members would devote a minimum of 50% of their time to this effort. In addition to the co-directors, the staff would be made up of several graduate assistants whose responsibilities would include designing and maintaining the diversity website, providing diversity training, diversity consulting with staff and students, and conducting the University-wide racial attitude surveys. A full-time office manager/secretary would complete the staff. The staff of the Multicultural Institute would be advised by a University-wide multicultural and minority advocacy committee appointed by the president.  Membership would come from the University, including representatives from all the different schools and selected representatives from various student and staff groups with significant community representation. This committee would meet monthly to provide input into the planning, operation and evaluation of the Institutes programs.