Developing Multicultural Communication and Relationships:

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Developing Multicultural Communication and
Relationships Improving Diversity, Retention
Recruitment
Presented by Roberto Suarez
Coordinator for Multicultural
International Admission
[phone] suarezro_at_lewisu.edu
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Why is this issue important?

• Close to one out of every three Americans is
  non-white (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004). As the
  United States becomes more diverse, colleges have
  an obligation to teach about and to serve as a
  model of diversity. Minority leadership and
  activities in your college will facilitate
  achieving these objectives.

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ACT Illinois 2006 Class, Ethnicity Breakdown
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ACT Illinois 2006 Class, Ethnicity Breakdown
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Latino Students

• According to a report from the University of
  Chicago, CPS graduates, particularly Latino
  graduates, are less likely to attend college than
  their counterparts in Illinois and the nation.
• The report is a sample of 2002 and 2003 CPS
  graduates fall college-enrollment rate compared
  to high school graduates across Illinois and the
  nation
• Consortium on Chicago School Research at the
  University of Chicago, 2006

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Latino Students
Consortium on Chicago School Research at the
University of Chicago, 2006
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African American Male Students

• In 2002 the proportion of all students enrolled
  in colleges and universities who were
  African-American men was the same -- 4.3 percent
  -- as it was in 1976.
• More than two-thirds of African-American male
  students who enroll in college do not graduate
  within six years, the lowest college completion
  rate across all racial groups and for both sexes.
  
• In 2004, 30.5 percent of all male athletes in
  Division I college sports were African-American.
  They made up 54.6 percent of football teams and
  60.8 percent of basketball teams, while only 10.4
  percent of all male undergraduates were black.
• Jane Porter, 2006
• The Chronicle of Higher Education

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African American Male Students

• Recommendations
• The National Collegiate Athletic Association
  should consider sharing responsibility for racial
  disparities in graduation rates. The NCAA should
  consider financing support programs for black
  male athletes and barring institutions with low
  graduation rates for any racial group from
  competing in NCAA championship tournaments.
• Placing an emphasis on increasing the number of
  black male faculty would also help raise the
  number of graduating black male students.
• Jane Porter, 2006
• The Chronicle of Higher Education

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Improving Diversity

• One definition of insanity, someone once said,
  is to keep doing the same thing in the same way
  and expect different results. Here's another
  Believing that a diagnosis and treatment that
  worked for a patient in one set of circumstances
  will work in all circumstances (William
  Raspberry, 2005)
• The Washington Post

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Improving Diversity Strategies

• Recommended strategies according to Phelps and
  Taber (1996)
• Identify and publicize college goals and
  timetables for diversity reward compliance.
• Maintain clear policies and procedures for
  hiring, tenure, and evaluation.
• Require regular progress reports.
• Enlist the help of consulting organizations that
  specialize in minority
• recruitment.
• Offer diversity training for current faculty and
  staff to create a cordial and inviting workplace.
  
• Create a multicultural committee that consists
  of students, faculty and staff (Lewis University)
• Search for administrative and faculty candidates
  from sources other than the traditional academic
  pipeline

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Improving Diversity Strategies

• Search for administrative and faculty candidates
  from sources other than the traditional academic
  pipeline

Committee on Institutional Cooperation www.cic.uiu
c.edu
Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in
Illinois http//dfi.siu.edu
The PhD Project www.phdproject.org
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Retention Strategies

• The book, Whats Working in Recruitment and
  Retention provides specific steps to retain
  minority students
• Send positive press releases to hometown papers
• Feature regular articles in student newspapers
• Involve minority student organizations in
  retention efforts
• Create a minority student advisory council
• Ask faculty to create a permanent retention
  committee
• Involve minority alumni
• Create mentoring networks (Santos Reigadas,
  2005)

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Retention Role Model

• Name 3 role models from when you were a young
  student in either elementary, secondary or
  post-secondary school.
• Name 3 important attributes of each of the 3
  role models you listed.
• What did the 3 role models have in common?
• Why do you remember these role models?

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Retention Mentoring Students

• According to Silvia J. Santos Elena T. Reigadas
  of California State University (2005)
• Frequency of student mentor contact directly
  influences students attitudinal adjustment to
  college and, in turn, positively impacts
  students academic performance and satisfaction
• Students of color entering a four-year
  institution often experience a sense of isolation
  and alienation form the campus environment (Kenny
  Stryker, 1996 Pope, 2003 Scisney-Matlock
  Matlock, 2001).
• To address these issues, universities should
  develop special programs to enhance support
  networks
• Understanding the Student-Faculty Mentoring
  Process
• Its Effects on At-Risk University Students

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Retention Mentoring Students

• According to Silvia J. Santos Elena T. Reigadas
  of California State University (2005)
• Students of color should be encouraged to build
  relationships with acquaintances that have ties
  to different social environments, in order to
  facilitate a persons access to resources not
  found within his/her extant networks.
• In the case of at-risk students, faculty mentors
  can facilitate a students educational mobility by
  serving as role models and offering information
  and access to contacts that are usually not
  available within these students own social
  surroundings.
• A relationship with a mentor is likely to expand
  a students awareness of resources available for
  coping successfully with demanding academic
  conditions (Evans, 2000).
• Understanding the Student-Faculty Mentoring
  Process
• Its Effects on At-Risk University Students

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Retention Mentoring Students
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Race-Exclusive Programs

• Over the last three years, mainly in response
  to the two June 2003 landmark U.S. Supreme Court
  rulings defining the limits of affirmative
  action, colleges across the country have been
  concluding that they are in legal jeopardy if
  they continue to offer some services or benefits
  solely to minority students.
• As a result, the institutions have been
  abandoning the use of race-exclusive eligibility
  criteria in determining who can be awarded
  scholarships and fellowships or can participate
  in recruitment, orientation, and
  academic-enrichment programs (Peter Schmidt,
  2005).
• The Chronicle of Higher Education

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Race-Exclusive Programs

• In a report issued June 2005, the NAACP Legal
  Defense and Educational Fund argued that the
  Supreme Court's rulings "did not address, much
  less prohibit, considerations of race outside the
  admissions context". But most colleges have
  concluded that changing the eligibility criteria
  for any race-exclusive program is the prudent
  course (Peter Schmidt, 2005)...
• The Chronicle of Higher Education

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Recruitment Minority Students

• The book, Whats Working in Recruitment and
  Retention provides specific steps to recruit
  minority students
• Contact first-year students parents
• Involve minority student organizations in
  recruitment efforts
• Involve minority alumni
• Recruitment activities should go beyond
  traditional college fairs and high school visits.
  Successful institutions recruit students of
  color in community centers, churches, and other
  nontraditional settings (Best Practices, 2002)
• Obtain faculty and staff with multilingual
  skills (Lewis University)

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Recruitment Minority Students

• Work closely with High School Guidance
  Counselors at schools with high populations of
  minority students and ask them what programs they
  would like.
• Develop specialized programs to inform
  prospective students on the college admission and
  financial aid process (Lewis University)
• The key of these programs is to develop
  relationships with prospective students.

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Recruitment Minority Students

• The Si Se Puede Yes You Can Conference
• began at Lewis University in 2004 with the
  assistance of a 50,000 grant from 3M.
• mission is to inform and motivate Latino
  students on the college admission and financial
  aid process through interactive workshops
• in the past 3 years, the has assisted over 1,200
  students from the Chicagoland areas.
• is student led and student organized.

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Recruitment Minority Students

• The Si Se Puede Yes You Can Conference
• has received recognition by La Raza, Extra, La
  Ley 107.9 FM, The Sun and The Herald News.

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Recruitment Minority Students

• The Fulfilling the Dream Conference
• began in 2005 to assist African American
  students in fulfilling the same mission the Si Se
  Puede Conference offers in the way of informing
  and motivating students on considering the option
  of higher education.

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Recruitment Minority Students

• The Fulfilling the Dream Conference
• will have an alumnus of Lewis University as this
  years keynote speaker, who graduated from the
  Success Program (Bridge Program) in 2002 and has
  since completed a Masters at Harvard University
  and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at Loyola
  University in Chicago.

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Resources
Associate Colleges of Illinois (ACI) www.acifund.o
rg
Illinois Board of Higher Education www.ibhe.org

• League of United Latin
  American Citizens
• www.lulac.org

• Pew Hispanic Center
• www.pewhispanic.org