Vive’ La Diffe’rence!April 4, 2017

Vive’ La Diffe’rence!Celebrating Cultural Differences in Higher Education

Presented by • Jan Belton, Director of Financial Aid, Carolinas campus, Edward Via

College of Osteopathic Medicine• Chansone Durden, Vice President Student Lending, Citizens Bank• Zack Christian, Financial Aid Counselor, SC Tuition Grants

Cultural Heritage

http://www.cultureindevelopment.nl/cultural_heritage/what_is_cultural_heritage

The Heritage Cycle (or circle)

• By understanding culture, we value it• By valuing it, we want to care for it• By caring, we help people enjoy it• By enjoying it, we’ll want to preserve it

Attributes of a Culturally Competent Staff• Awareness – Knowledge of self as it relates to culture; knowledge of

other cultures and how similar or different from one’s own• Understanding – Knowledge about types of oppression and the effect

on different cultural groups; ability to see things from multiple perspectives

• Appreciation/Valuing – Knowledge about elements involved in social change; ability to challenge acts of discrimination; cross-cultural interactions enhance quality of one’s life

• From “Promoting Multicultural Education: A Holistic Approach”

Views of Diversity

• Melting Pot

Harmonious Diversity

• Tossed Salad approach

Identity-aware approaches

• Emphasis on issues of concern to certain groups

Identity-critique approaches• Slavery

• Civil Rights

Identity-influenced coalitional approaches

• Members of minority and majority taking action together while being conscious of group identities

Colleges Cultivating Diversity• Chief Diversity Officer• Three models• Collaborative officer (Small institutions, limited staff, limited budget)• Unit-based CDO – staff, collaboration with diversity and nondiversity

units• Divisional (large staff, resources, larger institutions)

Resources• The Chief Diversity Officer: an Examination of CDO Models and Strategies,

Journal of Diversity In Higher Education, 2014, Vol. 7, No. 2, 77-9.• Model for a Diverse Learning Environment, Hurtado, S., et al, Higher

Education Handbook of Theory and Research, 2015.• Pedagogical Approaches to Student Racial Conflict in the Classroom,

Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 2013, Vol. 7, No. 1, 1-16.• Multiculturalism on Campus, 2011, Cuyjet, Howard-Hamilton, Cooper• Multicultural Competence in Student Affairs, 2004, Pope, Mueller, Reynolds