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Faculty Forum

Faculty Forum. Focus Group Findings and Future Actions. Purpose of the Focus Groups. Gain a deeper understanding of what COEDU faculty do to: infuse diversity issues into their curricula and courses; enhance our students’ development with respect to diversity Identify how we might improve

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Faculty Forum

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  1. Faculty Forum Focus Group Findings and Future Actions COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  2. Purpose of the Focus Groups • Gain a deeper understanding of what COEDU faculty do to: • infuse diversity issues into their curricula and courses; • enhance our students’ development with respect to diversity • Identify how we might improve • what we are currently doing • potential ways to monitor our progress individually and as a college over time COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  3. Cultural Competence Defined • The capacity of a person to respond respectfully and effectively to people of all abilities, cultures (languages, races, ethnic backgrounds, religions), genders, sexual orientations, socioeconomic classes, and other diversity factors in a manner that recognizes, affirms, and values the worth of individuals, families, and communities and protects, preserves, and promotes the dignity of each. Multicultural Teaching Competence Work Group Adapted from: Barrera & Kramer, 1997 & NASW Standards for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  4. Participants • Total of seven (7) focus groups • Fall / Spring • Location • Tampa and Lakeland campus • Participants • 52 (13 of whom were involved in more than one session) • All 8 COE departments were represented • Included center directors and administrative staff • Groups ranged from 4 – 6 participants COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  5. DEPARTMENTS Participants COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  6. Questions • Individual level • Department level • College level COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  7. Questions Addressed… • Infusion • Barriers • Assessment • Strategies COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  8. Results • Qualitative analysis using Atlas.ti • Transcripts totaled 145 single-spaced pages • Multiple iterations resulted in 88 codes • Collapsed into 11 families COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  9. Families COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  10. In Brief… • Diversity is both infused throughout the program of study as well as addressed via discrete courses • Multiple activities (service-learning, multi-cultural genogram, lesson planning, self-awareness, case studies) COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  11. Faculty Concerns • Personal development needs Helping students grow while recognizing that we are battling some of our own issues with diversity issues. I don’t know if I really have the skill or enough experience to [engage students in dangerous discussions]… COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  12. Faculty Concerns • Personal development needs I didn’t feel ready to handle that [dangerous discussions] and I don’t think I did a really good job of it and I don’t think it is something that’s part of our training. I don’t believe that I really know whether I’m addressing diversity issues competently or not in my classes. I feel like I need training. COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  13. Faculty Concerns • Contextual factors I am bounded by the context, I cannot discuss gay and lesbian; they’ll run me out of town. We never address gay/lesbian issues in our program because quite frankly none of us felt qualified to be able to really delve into it in any kind of depth. • On-line environments COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  14. Faculty Concerns • Faculty of Color • Diversity considered a personal agenda • Double-edged sword If I’m the one who’s always talking about a specific thing I don’t want it to be mistaken by the students as, ‘Well that’s her thing.’ I want it to be taken as, ‘This is a legitimate issue that we need to be talking about.’ COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  15. Faculty Concerns • Tenure Earning Faculty • Student Evaluations I still feel really vulnerable in my tenure earning status that they could hurt me in my evaluations. …that wouldn’t be a reason for me not to do it. I would still do it but I should say that that’s something that scares me. COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  16. Barriers/Challenges • Student perceptions Some of what we hear from students is ‘Gosh I’ve done this before.’ COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  17. Student resistance Sometimes if we overwhelm [the students] up front, rather than enlighten [them] you get a shut down. They [the students] do not like it because I think it was challenging them and part of the work would be to challenge themselves as participants in power and they might not have recognized that before. COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  18. Assessment • How do you know? … you can give them the skills but does it really change their behavior whey they go out into the field? …what happens when they go into a setting where they’re surrounded by people who don’t have the same values or beliefs? Are they going to be strong enough to be different in a sea of sameness? COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  19. Barriers and Challenges • Competing demands • Time (e.g., course revision) [Not} having the time, release time … to be able to explore curriculum and redefine some courses… and have those communications across and between departments. COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  20. Barriers and Challenges • Lack of a systemic approach (developmental model) ”… some of it may be resistance…but some of it may be we haven’t really sat down with each other and thought through how does this diversity thing get conveyed in a way that it enhances development as opposed to continually hitting people with it. COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  21. Recommendations • Increased opportunities for collegial collaboration within and across departments I’ve already taken two or three ideas from today that I want to start thinking about and circulating right away. Just having other people to talk with about it when you’re experiencing this resistance … for it not going in the direction that we thought it or hoped it would. COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  22. Recommendations • Mentoring program for new faculty* • Consider research focus in recruitment efforts • Professional Development • Provide venues for cross-department collaboration • Duplicate presentation format used for NCATE so faculty can share their work * Already in effect COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

  23. Future Efforts • Today we will be distributing a survey asking you to prioritize what you may want to see provided in the future • If you would take a moment to fill out the survey we would appreciate it COE Diversity Committee 9-22-06

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