University of Southern Maine

Diversity Plan: 2003 - 2005

Lewiston-Auburn College

Growth and celebration of diversity and multiculturalism on the Lewiston campus consists of two interlocking dimensions: cultural and instrumental. Inherent in the integrated structure of LAC's programs, interdisciplinary in nature and absent separate departments, runs the essential groundwork supporting these dimensions. Diversity begins first in our mission statement that overtly embraces diverse cultures and people. It is seen again in our classrooms, as part of our student-centered pedagogy, valuing who and what is there. Becoming aware of differences perhaps not readily apparent - income, age, ethnic or sexual identity - provides opportunities to recognize and welcome diversity. Thirdly, support for diversity is explicitly addressed in all of our hiring processes and has been from the day the college was founded. From here, support for and celebration of diversity continues through interactions outside of the classroom with students, staff, faculty and our community.

GOAL I: Climate

USM continuously strives to make the campus a welcoming climate, inclusive in its understanding and integration across multiple dimensions of diversity, including, but not limited to, diversity based on race and ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, gender expression and identity, religion, and class.

Culturally, the college and campus have as core values honoring diversity and a commitment to fostering a welcoming climate for all people. These characteristics are played out in our mutually sustaining relationship with the local community, which, particularly as it grows more diverse, acts to reinforce the values as set forth originally in our mission statement. An example is our recent response (co-authored with Bates College) to concerns in our city around the effects of immigration. We co-sponsored a night to "Celebrate Immigration in L-A" complete with ethnic buffet supper and speakers on immigration "past and present" for the whole community. The event was planned and executed in less than 6 days and was attended by over 350 people. Additionally, the LAC faculty sent a joint letter to the editor of the Lewiston Sun-Journal commenting on the great value of immigration to our community and affirming the values of cultural diversity. As this report is written, LAC faculty, staff and students are at work with the community's Many and One Coalition to co-sponsor the January 11, 2003, rally and march celebrating diversity, and expressing a positive message about peace, multi-culturalism and unity against messages of hate. During the next three years LAC will:

• Continue to use the mission statement of the College as a framework for recruiting new hires, developing curriculum, and promoting interactions with faculty, staff, and students
  
  
• Institute annual staff and faculty meetings for reflection and examination of progress, issues, and concerns related to diversity
  
  
• Continue the practice whereby faculty members formally share their individual
  
  approaches to diversity during peer reviews
  
• Continue to ensure that there are an array of holidays recognized. For example, last year, a basic explanation of Ramadan was posted around the college. This year, the International Student Organization is being asked to provide more educational opportunities in recognition of the fact that the campus community is still poorly informed about the meaning and practices of this important Islamic holiday. Symbols of Hanukah, Christmas, Winter Solstice, and Kwanzaa are also among our collection to be displayed.
  
  
• Maintain a climate that continues to support both formal and informal exchanges of ideas between faculty, staff, and non-dominant / dominant students. These ongoing discussions are reflective of the role of the University in a changing community. Thus, diversity and multiculturalism are central components of the culture of the Lewiston campus (as a place) and L-A College (as an academic entity).

GOAL II: Academic Experience

The USM academic experience, which includes both curricular and co-curricular activities, increasingly reflects the multiplicity and diversity of communities and cultures locally, nationally, and globally.

More instrumentally, the college sponsors and will continue to sponsor an array of events and exhibits with the express purpose of recognizing and promoting the understanding and valuing of diversity. The Dean's Office will be responsible for maintaining a record of these activities for use in both annual reporting and for reflection and planning in staff and faculty meetings. Over the next three years, LAC will:

• Continue to hold 4-5 art exhibits in the Atrium Gallery each year. These exhibits are visual representations of diversity through art that greets all those who enter the building as the first thing they see.
  
  
• Continue ongoing planning for the following events, with specific timingdependent on logistics and resource gathering: an exhibit of Somali culture, an event to recognize the Africa/Maine connection sponsored by the new International Student Organization, an exhibit and event on the Canada Road (part of Franco-American history), bringing the USM Chamber Singers and/or theater productions that illuminate diversity to the Lewiston campus, a piano concert series based on the original Franco-American scores held in the Franco-American Heritage Collection, and a Franco-American "Road Show" sponsored jointly with Laval University. We will also continue work with the Portland and Gorham campuses on joint events for African-American and Women's History months.
  
  
• Continue multi-media presentations and forums illustrating issues of diversity and facilitating dialogue - as exemplified by the showing of the documentary "Not in Our Town" and the reading of a joint statement by USM's Jean Byers-Sampson Diversity Scholars, expressing solidarity with, and support for, all forms of diversity and multiculturalism. Facilitated discussion followed.
  
  
• Continue collaboration with and support of community events addressing issues of diversity. We are co-sponsors and presenters in the March, 2003, conference on immigration to be held at Bates entitled 'Toward Harmony'.
  
  
• Continue providing Safe Zone training to new faculty, staff, and students annually
  
  
• Continue discussions with our fledgling Alliance for Sexual Diversity campus group around ways to encourage students to share part of the responsibility to create a welcoming campus climate for all students.
  
  
• Continue representation on the Board for the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity, as well as pursuing collaborative work with the Center.
  
  
• Continue to support the operation of the Franco-American Heritage Center with limited funds for supplies, a reading room, office, and archival space, and at least a half-time coordinator/library assistant.
  
  
• Initiate creation and support of the International Student Organization of Lewiston-Auburn (in collaboration with Bates and CMTC)
  
  
• Initiate creation and support of International Studies Program (in collaboration with Portland and Gorham colleagues)
  
  
• Continue ongoing collaboration with the Portland & Lewiston Refugee Collaborative hosting multicultural workshops for the college and the community
  
  
• Continue as liaisons to the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs and Standing Committee on Campus Climate, Civility and Diversity
  
  
• Facilitate multicultural presentations to LAC classes by students from Somalia, Zimbabwe and Kenya
  
  
• Continue development of global curriculum pieces for LOS and MLS, including pursuit of funding for faculty development and student "mini-exchanges" in this area.

GOAL III: Student Recruitment and Retnetion

USM strives to increase the diversity of its student body through active outreach and recruitment. USM increasingly works to develop structures and mechanisms that support the retention of all students of color and other underrepresented populations.

In recruiting students from diverse backgrounds, the College:

• will continue working with the area adult education programs, the newer city and school immigration/resettlement programs, and contacts such as Jose Soto (from Maine Rural Workers Association) whose bodega "Cocqui" is the closest thing to a community center for Latinos in our area.
  
  
• will remain active participants in the L-A Community Education Coalition (LACEC) comprised of all area adult educators and workforce development programs working both with and through them to reach out to underserved populations.
  
  
• will begin discussions with the Androscoggin legislative delegation around establishing a new state scholarship program that will support a number of Somali (or other new immigrant) students who agree to remain in Maine after graduation to work with immigrant populations.
  
  
• will continue early work now underway with USM Advising on prior learning assessment for immigrant students.
  
  
• will continue to offer the USM COEHD ESL courses, certificate, and their masters' in literacy education.
  
  
• is working to extend USM's ETEP and NTEP teacher education programs to increase opportunities for non-traditional and immigrant students to become teachers.
  
  
• is now promoting the new part-time MOT option to reach more non-traditional graduate students.
  
  
• will continue to offer Lewiston Adult Education courses on site, drawing adult and working class students to campus, and collaborating with all area adult education programs and the Parents as Scholars programs for student recruitment.
  
  
• will create and support international/multicultural peer advising and recruiting position
  
  
• will continue collaboration with USM's International Evaluation Specialist to assist international, immigrant and refugee students
  
  
• will continue development of Franco-American Studies concentration and student recruitment.
  
  
• will maintain close liaison to the Office of Academic Support for Students with Disabilities
  
  
• will work with area high schools and ESL programs to inform and recruit international/multicultural students
  
• will explore with area economic developers possibilities for an international student dorm available to all area higher educational institutions specifically for the recruitment, retention, and housing of international students.

GOAL IV: Faculty and Staff Recruitment and Retention

USM strives to increase the diversity of faculty and staff, particularly faculty and staff of color, but inclusive of other underrepresented populations as defined in Goal I.

For faculty and staff recruiting, the Lewiston-Auburn College:

• continues to work closely with the USM officer for Employee Outreach and uses networking to reach out to potential staff and faculty hires
  
  
• works with USM Human Resources and OCED to create flexible, part-time positions when it facilitates an "opportunity hire." Opportunism in the best sense of the term is regularly used to increase staff and faculty diversity.
  
  
• continues our commitment to diversity by including information and discussion as a part of every interviewing situation for new hires, as well as part of both faculty and staff orientation and mentoring.

ADDENDUM

Statements by Programs based at Lewiston-Auburn College

Arts & Humanities
At the heart of the Arts and Humanities curriculum is the understanding that there is no meta-narrative or universal story that speaks for all cultures of North America, much less so for the world as a whole. We acknowledge instead the existence of a mosaic or a tapestry with many different facets or threads that are, of course, interconnected between and among themselves, some tightly, others loosely, but that do not dissolve into a homogenous monoculture. To recognize this fact of our cultural identities and to delight in the richness of texture it brings us is one of our central aims in our program. A study of our pluralism, on the other hand, cannot begin and end with celebration; it must also expose the exclusion, oppression, and exploitation that have unfortunately attended our diversity. Even this study, however, contains a measure of the positive in that we find the oppressed to be not simply victims, but men and women whose courage, strength, resourcefulness, creativity and endurance offer hope and encouragement to all who continue to work toward a more just and humane world.

Faculty are involved in diversity planning through the Women's Studies Council and the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity. We are making efforts to reinstate a language requirement, as well as begin a mentoring program between LAC students and Lewiston High School Somali students. As Russell Scholar Chair, Professor Schaible has conducted seminars examining social justice issues both within and out- side academia.

CLASS PDS
As our society becomes increasingly diverse, with growing multiculturalism and economic globalization, schools are in the forefront of preparing students to live and work in a climate of differing worldviews. The CLASS program formally addresses these issues with interdisciplinary courses and specific subject matter courses (Learning to Teach courses) providing multiple opportunities to learn about, and discuss, the implications of cultural and ethnic differences. These courses, along with field experiences in our partner schools, serve as opportunities for CLASS students to address multicultural issues in a general way and with respect to teaching specific subject matter.

The following statement is the CLASS PDS learning outcome regarding diversity for pre-service teachers:

"The teacher models respect for individual differences among students and co-workers. He or she plans/creates instructional opportunities with sensitivity to individual learners. The teacher creates a positive learning environment for all learners, modeling respect for individuals with differences and the basic worth of each individual; and models and encourages in others an appreciation of cultural diversity and the global community.

Leadership and Organizational Studies
Pluralistic perspectives are integral to the LOS degree on several counts. LOS is distinguished from traditional management or business programs in part because of the level of its integration of pluralistic perspectives. As our description indicates, the program features an ".emphasis on understanding and working with people," "an interdisciplinary focus," and "faculty from diverse perspectives." Furthermore, "understanding and [successfully] working with people" necessitates exposure to, and appreciation of, multiple dimensions of diversity, including culture, gender, age, economic, and political.

The interdisciplinary nature of the program further cultivates students' awareness that multiple, sometimes conflicting, perspectives are a "given" in society, including the workplace, and are increasingly recognized as organizational resources. Through group work as well as the process of critical thinking, students are encouraged to develop the skills to evaluate and "negotiate through" the multiple perspectives they encounter. LOS graduates develop an appreciation for the multiplicity of perspectives they encounter in their colleagues and in their course materials. This diversity is truly an asset which provides them with a set of resources from which to develop stronger programs and solutions than would have been possible when one is limited to a more homogeneous set of perspectives.

Consistent with the interdisciplinary nature of the LOS degree program and the College, the full-time and adjunct faculty offering LOS courses bring diverse disciplinary and professional experiences, as well as varied personal experiences in working and living in different geographical and cultural settings.

Social and Behavioral Sciences
The defining purpose of the SBS program and of each of the courses is to enhance our students' abilities to insightfully analyze complex issues, to creatively address social and psychological problems, and to express themselves clearly and persuasively whether orally or in writing. The SBS curriculum incorporates perspectives from psychology, sociology and anthropology as it seeks to enhance students' appreciation of the historical and cultural influences shaping individual lives and social institutions.

Among the specific objectives of the SBS program, we strive to enable students to gain an enhanced awareness of cultural, ethnic, gender, sexuality and age differences and commonalities among individuals within and across world societies. Our students will appreciate and nurture distinction and diversity as sources of delight, fortitude, increased understanding and enriched living. They will develop the ability to sympathetically entertain diverse points of view, and to become keenly aware of overly simplistic explanations of human behavior. Students will cultivate an appreciation for complexity and a capacity for empathy.

Given SBS's mission and objectives, including its integration of anthropological perspectives, active consideration of issues of diversity are included in the great majority of our courses, as a curriculum thread as well as being more deeply explored in courses such as Culture, Behavior and Personality or What is 'Race'?.

Masters in Occupational Therapy
The MOT program has multiple curricular threads, one of which is Cultural Competence. We operationalize this in multiple ways. The content is presented as a module in OTH 502, Communications for Health Professions. One of the assignments in this course is called Cross-Cultural Partnerships where the MOT students interact with and complete a collaborative assignment with the mostly Hispanic OT students at the University of Texas-PanAm. Diversity and cultural content is the focus of OTH 507, Social Issues and Ethics. One of the assignments in this course includes researching and writing about a diverse cultural group in Maine. This has resulted in a manual titled the Maine Diversity Manual which is available to the community at nominal cost. Currently, this manual is being used at various health care institutions and hospitals, the YMCA in Portland and the Southern Maine Area Agency on Aging.

Cultural content is also infused throughout the rest of the curriculum, where inclusive language is used and encouraged, and case studies are used that include diverse characteristics including sexual orientation, class, age, race and ethnicity, gender, and, of course, varying abilities.

Library
The L-A campus library is committed to enhancing diversity through:

1. Ensuring patrons and staff feel respected and valued.
   
   
2. Providing opportunities for staff to attend workshops or discussions on cultural competency; re-visiting staff training on equipment for hearing-impaired; discussing with staff how language and gestures can be barriers in communication; ensuring all staff know how to handle complaints.
   
   
3. Promoting diversity through collection development efforts. Working with faculty to ensure collection reflects multicultural themes.
   
   
4. Recruiting a diverse workforce for both staff and work-study positions.
   
   
5. Using diversity topics when applicable when giving orientation or instruction sessions.
   
   
6. Tailoring library staff instructional approaches to students' diverse learning styles and experience levels. Are we addressing the needs of visual learners? Tactile learners? Auditory learners? Discussing with staff the different learning styles and exploring ways to integrate them into our daily interactions with patrons.

Developed by: Dana Rickman & Betty Robinson