Transcript Diversity Principles, Strategic Goals, and Accountability The need for organizational learning in promoting equity in OUS and EOU Rosemary Powers April 28, 2009

Diversity Principles,
Strategic Goals, and
Accountability
The need for organizational learning
in promoting equity in OUS and EOU
Rosemary Powers
April 28, 2009
Overview
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Brief background on educational attainment in Oregon
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Diversity Principles and Goals
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OUS commitment to increasing participation and completion of
post-secondary education by under-represented students
EOU history and strategic goals
Accountability
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First five slides from presentation to OUS Committee on Participation and
Completion, Jan 30, 2009 by Bob Kiernan of OUS institutional research.
Reflections on our current situation
An example of organizational learning
Recommendations
Educational Attainment: Race/Ethnicity
Highest Level of Educational Attainment in Oregon by Race/Ethnicity
Ages 25 and Older, 2007
Source: US Census, American Community Survey 2007
January 30th, 2009
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The Changing K-12 Pipeline
Proportion of Oregon’s K-12 Population by Race/Ethnicity,
Select Grades, 2006-07
Sources: NCES, Common Core of Data; US Census, 2007 American Community Survey
January 30th, 2009
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Rural/Urban Counties
Rural and Urban Counties as Defined by the Oregon Progress Board
Clatsop
Columbia
Hood River
Washington Multnomah
Sherman
Tillamook
Clackamas
Yamhill
Polk
Umatilla
Wallowa
Morrow
Gilliam
Union
Wasco
Marion
Lincoln
Jefferson
Wheeler
Linn
Baker
Grant
Benton
Urban
Counties
Crook
Deschutes
Lane
Rural
Counties
Douglas
Malheur
Coos
Harney
Lake
Klamath
Curry
Jackson
Josephine
Source: Oregon Progress Board
January 30th, 2009
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Educational Attainment: Rural/Urban
Highest Level of Educational Attainment in Oregon by Rural/Urban County
Ages 25 and Older, 2007
Note: Due to Census geography boundaries, Columbia County is included in rural counties for this calculation.
Source: US Census, American Community Survey 2007
January 30th, 2009
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OUS Graduation Rates
OUS Six-Year Graduation Rates by Rural/Urban County
Ten Year Trend
60.7% - 2007 Oregon
Resident OUS
Graduation Rate³
¹ 1991-92 Fall First-Time Freshman Cohort completing by June 1997
²1996-97 Fall First-Time Freshman Cohort completing by June 2002
³2001-02 Fall First-Time Freshman Cohort completing by June 2007
Source: OUS Institutional Research
January 30th, 2009
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OUS strategic priorities: March 2007
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Lead a statewide effort to deliver a measurable
increase in higher education participation and
success for underserved populations throughout
the state.
Facilitate student success and degree
completion by improving the efficiency and
effectiveness of k-20 learning processes.
(OUS March 2007, An Investment in Oregonians for our future)
State Board of Higher Education
Student Participation and Completion Committee
Goal: Develop strategies
to improve participation,
retention, and success in
postsecondary education
of all Oregon students,
with special focus on the
needs of underserved
populations throughout
the state.
Committee actions in addressing goal
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Developed “Taking Back
Oregon’s Future” Student
Success Policy Option
Package—a $15.5M request to
the legislature for improving
student preparation,
participation, retention
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Convened expert panel on best
practices for retention
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Conducted outreach focus
groups on barriers for
underserved populations
Economic Downturn implications
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Committee identified that deliberate, proven strategies
must be supported to increase access and promote
success for students not already attending postsecondary institutions
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Major components of the Policy Option Package
proposal were unable to be included in Governors
Recommended Budget (GRB)
Key Goals Remain
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Increase college participation rates for Hispanic/Latino, Native
American populations.
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Increase retention for African-American and Native American
population
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Increase college participation and retention for rural and first
generation students
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Pursue efforts to improve participation of other underserved groups
such as LGBTQ, adult students, student parents, students with
disabilities.
Priority # 1 for 2009 work
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Support partnerships and collaboration with existing successful precollege academic prep/outreach and retention programs, strategies
that have demonstrated (i.e. evidence based) success with target
populations.
Ensure that existing successful programs are fully enrolled and
funds are connected to most needed groups.
Priority # 2 for 2009 work
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Develop and advocate for best
practices, alignment of current
campus efforts toward
underserved populations, and
policy recommendations
regarding participation and
completion for underserved
populations
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--to the Board of Higher
Education, campuses, as well
as partner agencies.
Priority # 3 for 2009 Work
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Improve faculty
effectiveness with
underserved populations’
retention and completion
rates;
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focus on improving
campus learning and
environment through
professional
development,
collaboration for these
resources.
State Board Diversity Principles
Approved March 6, 2009
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1. Overall commitment to diversity
2. Commitment to workforce enhancements
3. Commitment to equity in student success
4. Commitment to welcoming campus environment
5. Commitment to vendor and contracting enhancements
6. Commitment to continuous feedback
7. Commitment to key goals
Full Text and suggested actions to address goals
distributed
Diversity principles directly related to
committee priorities
Principle # 1. Overall Commitment to Diversity
Board values perspectives, educational benefits and
robust exchanges of ideas…seeks to promote and
support initiatives that sustain best practices in diversity
efforts.
Board, Chancellor and campus presidents will
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Identify opportunities and promote expectations for diverse
representation, inclusion, and engagement throughout OUS
programs and activities
#3 Commitment to equity in student success
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Board is committed to providing
 Equitable
opportunities to succeed
 Efforts to close achievement gaps among
underserved populations
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Campus presidents and OUS committees will
 identify
strategies and progress relating to student
success among diverse populations
#4: Commitment to welcoming campus
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Board values importance of campus
environment in attracting, recruiting, and
retaining diverse students, faculty, staff
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Campus presidents will
 Identify
campus climate challenges and successes
 Discuss measures taken to promote welcoming
environment
 Describe the possible impact of these measures on
student success
Next Steps:
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Pursue 2009 priorities through:
 Fall Symposium focused on best practices
 Data Summit (sharing institutional research
on student participation and completion)
 Support Senate Bill 906 (creates task force on
increasing the number of students in postsecondary education)
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Seek methods to address longer-term
challenges that require funding
What about EOU?
EOU institutional commitment to
diversity and inclusion
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Established Diversity Committee of the University
Assembly (now reporting to University Council -- 6/02)
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Proposed diversity requirement as part of general
education or as institutional requirement (2003,
2006,2007)
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Determined Strategic Goal related to
diversity/globalization (May, 2007)
Diversity/Globalization
EOU Strategic Goal 2007-2010
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Support and sustain an educational community that
respects racial, ethnic, gender, sexual, socioeconomic,
physical, ideological and other differences.
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Promote a climate of inclusion and equity through
recruiting and retaining a diverse student body, faculty
and staff.
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Promote understanding of global diversities through
internationalizing the educational experience.
Efforts to attract, recruit and retain members
of underserved groups
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Summer programs
Work with high schools
Diversity scholarships
First-year experience
Outreach to rural communities
Rural Initiative grant support Native American
recruiter/advisor
Multicultural Center
Other initiatives
Diversity Requirement
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Several proposals for a diversity requirement exist, but could not find
any official statement that EOU had approved having a requirement.
We did report to OUS that:
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“…a diversity requirement will soon be added to the curriculum…”
May 2008 Performance Report OUS Report to the Oregon State
Board of Higher Education (p. 50).
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“Eastern has adopted a new General Education initiative that
contains a diversity requirement” (Diversity Panel Discussion, State
Board 9/08).
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While there seems to be agreement on some kind of diversity
requirement, we are still debating what form this should take.
Where are we now?
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OUS -- principles and committee work,
proposals for legislative action, data gathering,
summit planning. Direct accountability
measures are being developed.
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EOU – diversity requirement is still being
debated. Accountability measures for moving
towards strategic diversity goal need to be
developed.
A provocative claim
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As an historically white university, part of an
historically white system of colleges and
universities, participating in an academic culture
based on white Western European models of
learning and success, we will be unsuccessful in
reaching our goals regarding diversity and
inclusion without significant organizational
learning.
Accountability:
measurable commitment to equity
“Celebrating ethnic and racial diversity on our
campuses is laudable, but is not the same as
achieving equity. We must deliberately and
energetically remove the conditions that deny or
impede equitable outcomes for all students”
(Estela Mara Bensimon,2004, p. 46).
What will it take to fulfill our
commitments?
An example
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The Diversity
Scorecard
A learning
approach to
institutional
change
Promoting organizational learning to achieve
equity in educational outcomes
…”Evidence, [i.e. factual data] about
inequities in educational outcomes [access,
enrollments, retention, excellence,
graduation]…can have a powerful effect upon
faculty members, administrators, counselors,
and others and their motivation to solve
them.”
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Estela Mara Bensimon
Traditional approach to addressing needs of
under-served students: Deficit model
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Low participation, retention, achievement of
under-served students often attributed to precollege characteristics—attitudes, behaviors,
lack of cultural capital
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Responsibility for learning placed primarily on
the student
The equity model: organizational learning
for student success
Institutional actors (faculty, staff, administrators)
become responsible for the learning needed to
improve educational outcomes for these
students
Attitudes, behaviors, lack of data, lack of
structural analysis by institutional agents
account for significant inequity in outcomes.
What conditions promote organizational
learning?
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The presence of new ideas
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The cultivation of doubt in existing knowledge
and practices
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The development and transfer of knowledge
among institutional actors
Access Indicators
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In what programs and majors are under-served students
enrolled?
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What access do these students have to financial
support?
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What access do they have to graduate and professional
schools?
Retention indicators
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What are the comparative retention rates for
under-served students by program?
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Do these students disproportionately withdraw
from certain programs?
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How successful are these students in completing
basic skills courses?
Institutional receptivity indicators
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How well is our university serving the needs of students of
color?
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Do educational outcomes for these students reveal an
equity gap?
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Are the experiences of students of color acknowledged in
the curricula and the co-curricula ? In what ways?
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Does the composition of the faculty enhance diversity,
and correspond to the racial and ethnic composition of the
student body?
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Does the institution hold itself accountable for the success
of students of color?
Excellence Indicators
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Access:
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Which majors or courses function as “gatekeepers” for some
students and “gateways” for others?
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Are students of color concentrated in certain majors? Why might
this be?
Achievement:
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What are the comparative completion rates in competitive
programs?
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What is the pool of high-achieving under-served students eligible
for graduate study?
Recommendations:
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Initiate a process of organizational
learning regarding diversity and equitable
outcomes. To do this, we need
 to
introduce ourselves to new ideas
 to question existing knowledge and practices
 to develop and transfer knowledge among
ourselves as institutional actors
Suggested steps:
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initiate structured conversation and process regarding
organizational learning and equitable outcomes;
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encourage participation in the OUS fall symposium
focused on best practices for promoting access and
success for under-served students;
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promote creation of diversity action plans for all
university units;
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make approval of specific diversity requirement a priority.
Hold ourselves accountable