by Erin Brown, Communications Specialist
Washington state is home to one of the most diverse populations in the United States, according to a report released by the Office of Financial Management in 2004. Additionally, Washington ranks fourth in the nation in terms of total minority population growth, a trend that is forecasted to continue.
Learning to work and live in a global society has never been more important. Governor Gregoire and other state leaders have emphasized that the state’s economic survival depends on it.
Washington state community and technical colleges play a critical role in providing education to a diverse population. Two-year colleges serve as the gateway for many students who are first in their family to go to college, and provide an open door to students learning the English language and receiving the skills they need to get a good job.
“Our system has a tremendous role in expanding access to those who would have never been able to get into colleges or universities,” explained Seattle Central Community College’s President Dr. Mildred Ollée. “Not because they are incapable, but because the system was not set up to support them.”
The community and technical college system serves a more diverse student population than any other sector of higher education, said Ollée. And because of this, they are poised to be leaders in shaping our state’s growing diversity.
According to a 1997 statewide poll conducted by Elway Research, 65 percent of those polled said that colleges and universities have a role to play in addressing diversity issues and that diversity programs on college campuses help to bring society together.
“Providing education and training that prepares students for meaningful participation in our diverse communities is a challenging and complex task. And, it’s a challenge that we have to meet,” stated Nani Jackins Park, State Board director for student services. “We know that there is a tipping point related to educational attainment, and those who do not reach it will continue to struggle to earn livable wages. If large segments of our population are excluded from the opportunity to reach that tipping point, all of our communities suffer.”
Meeting the needs of a diverse population requires expanding the way the college system understands and defines diversity to include broader populations of students who have traditionally been under-represented in academic communities, Jackins Park added. These groups include students of color, students with disabilities, adult returning students, low-income and first-generation students, and others.
In the early 1990s under the guidance of (then) new president Jean Floten, Bellevue Community College began embracing their culture of “pluralism.” To BCC, pluralism meant focusing their diversity efforts in a very intentional way by making every student, college staff or community member, regardless of their background, feel welcome and valued on campus.
“Where diversity is the definition of differences,” stated Lucy Macneil, vice president of human resources, “pluralism is our way of celebrating those differences...our call to action.”
Macneil further explained that while there has been a long history of interest in pluralism on campus, none has been as rewarding as the work done through their Diversity Caucus and Beyond Diversity programs, which were formed four years ago.
Supported by the president and board of trustees, both in charter and in funding, BCC’s programs have opened dialogue around issues of diversity across campus, including faculty, staff and students.
“This is a tremendous value to our community,” said Macneil. “The real challenge for our society is for us to understand the consequences of our actions. We’re afraid to talk about our differences, but when we do, it’s truly liberating. We are not the same, therefore we cannot treat each other the same. Our conversations allow for people to talk and learn from each other about the way the world impacts us all. It’s incredible.”
BCC was recently awarded the national Association of Community College Trustees’ Charles Kennedy Equity Award for its diversity and pluralism programs on campus.
An important part of the discussion is the question of how students view the college and its ability to meet their needs. To find this out, several colleges have conducted a rigorous assessment process to measure how well they serve their community.
“At South Puget Sound Community College, we needed to be a little more intentional about diversity in general,” explained Dr. Rhonda Coats, vice president of student services. “The assessment looked at more than just access, retention, faculty, student services and environment. It told us what people see when they come to our campus and where we needed to make improvements.”
This was also true for Everett Community College, which utilized the assessment tool in order to measure how effectively the college was serving students of color.
“Two years later, we’re seeing the pay off for that work,” stated Christina Castorena, EvCC’s associate dean for diversity and equity. “We knew that the changes wouldn’t be immediate, but we’re beginning to see improvements in the increased academic success and retention of our students of color.”
SPSCC’s Coats assured that “one size does not fit all” when it comes to diversity on campus, and that each college has to decide how it is going to define its diversity efforts. For some, this is determined by region and the unique population surrounding the college.
“Diversity is more than just a statement,” said Coats. “It’s a way of conducting business and being intentional about the community a college serves.”
For Peninsula College’s President Dr.Tom Keegan, the “Longhouse Project” started with a vision of how to connect the college to the Native American tribes in its community. Keegan hopes that when the Longhouse building is completed, it will provide a welcoming environment for students, college staff and the community to share and honor the cultural heritage of the Peninsula’s indigenous people.
“The project has two primary missions,” Keegan explained. “The first is to provide a safe, inviting environment for young Native Americans to attend cultural events on campus, so that they may develop a connection to the college and pursue higher education. And the second is to educate the local community by bringing people together to experience our diverse culture and shared history.”
When it comes to building partnerships, it’s what Yakima Valley Community College does best. To address the needs of their predominately Latino/a community, YVCC reached out to their local community and K-12 school systems through grant partnerships, and as sponsors for community events, such as a series of one-act plays by the culture-based group “Living Voices.”
“We wanted to take a more comprehensive look at student retention,” said Dr. Bernal Baca, counselor for recruitment and retention at YVCC. “We got involved in K-12 issues and brought school counselors to our campus to educate them about the things we needed to get students prepared for college. We wanted to get students thinking about their future as early as possible.”
In addition to K-12 partnerships, the college took a hard look at the infrastructure of the institution to make sure efforts were being made to ensure student success. They researched their courses to see which had the highest drop-out rates and infused them with programs designed to provide students with support services such as advising and tutoring.
Looking strategically at the college’s infrastructure was also critical to Columbia Basin College because of its close proximity to a scientific workforce. In fact, the college has just dedicated a new 98,000 square foot facility, the Washington Institute for Science Education, to attract students to study the sciences.
“We have a responsibility to our community around math and science education,” stated Evangelina Galvan Holt, CBC’s vice president for diversity. “We wanted to send the message to our Hispanic students that math and science are viable options for them and to understand the role they play in the economic development of our community.”
In 2004, CBC received two National Science Foundation grants. The four-year Computer Science, Engineering, Math and Science and Science Technology Engineering Program grants provide funds to recruit people of color and women to program areas in which they are traditionally underrepresented.
All the assessments in the world won’t do anything for student success unless a college is able to respond to students’ needs. This can be difficult in times where budgets are tight and resources are scarce.
It takes not only the committed vision of college leadership, the dedication of faculty and staff and partnership with the community, but also funding to provide the necessary infrastructure to accommodate student needs.
Not commonly discussed when looking at diversity issues are the needs of students with disabilities. Colleges are required by law to provide students with disabilities the appropriate core services to ensure they receive equal access to higher education.
“The cost to provide disability accommodations, such as for hearing interpreters for the deaf, increases substantially every year,” said the State Board’s Jackins Park. “In fact, these costs have more than doubled in the past five years, far exceeding growth in state and tuition funds.”
Last year for example, Tacoma Community College received $37,000 from the state for disability accommodations, but by year’s end had spent over $74,000 on in-classroom expenses, supplies and technology.
“People don’t realize the breadth of services we are required to provide,” stated Kathryn Held, TCC’s assessment process and accommodations coordinator. “For example, our hearing interpreters often assist in Adult Basic Education classes where they perform double-duty. Not only do they assist students with hearing, but they help students learn the structure of the English language.”
“This student population has always been a part of our college’s diversity, but has not always been included in the entitlement group,” Held said. “Additional funding would really make a difference in meeting the diverse needs of our students.”
As part of its 2006 legislative request, the two-year college system is asking for $1.5 million in order to maintain services for students with disabilities.
An additional challenge for the college system is to ensure that the instructors who teach reflect the population of students they are teaching. Colleges acknowledge that this is one of the most important and most difficult obstacles to overcome.
According to current data, colleges are making modest gains in the diversity of their staffs, though neither the full-time faculty nor the part-time faculty of color percentages are keeping pace with growth in the percentage of students of color or the populations of their service districts.
Because of this, many colleges have taken serious steps to attract a more diverse candidate pool when hiring faculty, staff and leadership for their institutions. For YVCC, this meant bringing in a specialist to assess its recruiting and hiring practices.
Integrating diversity into every aspect of the college takes time and commitment from every level of the institution.
“Diversity is both an opportunity and a challenge,” expressed Seattle Central’s Ollée. “We all must be willing to ask ourselves the difficult questions and be willing to make mistakes. And it’s a journey we must all take together. Diversity is an investment with great return, and through this investment we are creating opportunities for our communities.”
The House Higher Education Committee will hold a work session on student diversity in higher education at its hearing on December 2.