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Use this self-evaluation booklet to determine if your campus fully supports racial diversity. This booklet allows you to perform a self-evaluation of 17 program areas ranging from pre-collegiate activities to alumni activities to determine if they are meeting the needs of your students of color.
This booklet provides the framework for assessing institutional commitment to ALANA (African American, Latino/a, Asian and Native American) students. It will help your campus answer questions like: What is our biggest barrier to recruiting students of color? How can we involve the entire campus in helping to create a welcoming environment for students? How has the university prepared to receive students of color? How can we convince faculty that academic standards won’t be lowered in order for retention efforts to work? Are we providing the right types of programs and experiences for our students?
This self-evaluation instrument includes many examples of best practices and the results from your analysis will tell you specifically which programs you think are the most effective. You’ll then have the information you need to help your institution improve programming for your ALANA students.
What you’ll find in this Book:
• Model activities that campuses have used to successfully recruit and retain students of color• Probing discussion questions that will help you identify your basic challenges• A research-based scale that you can use to rank the effectiveness of each program area in serving students of color• A narrative providing background information on each of the 17 program areas that you’re evaluating• And much more!
Why the Instrument is so Effective
This instrument is a direct result of a retention model we developed based on numerous discussions with campus administrators and individuals interested in evaluating their institution’s commitment to diversity and how they are serving ALANA students. This tool allows campuses to take a comprehensive look at 17 critical program areas ranging from pre-collegiate activities, the freshman year, faculty involvement, to overall retention efforts.
This instrument does not attempt to establish one set of standards all institutions should follow, but rather provides guidelines that will assist you in defining what is adequate and proper for your school. It should be completed by a broad range of people especially those responsible for administering the various components listed, as well as by ALANA students who receive the services. It can be used to help your campus prepare for an accreditation visit because it will let you know what areas may need improvement in terms of diversity and inclusion.
Ideally a campus wide committee should coordinate monitoring and follow-up of the data generated from this instrument and be charged with recommending an action plan for implementation. The success of this instrument depends upon institutional leadership and a commitment to diversity.
Instructions for using this instrument
Campuses find this tool to be very easy to use. A narrative (overview) is provided at the beginning of each of the 17 program areas that is being evaluated. The narrative provides an abbreviated introduction of the program area being studied and includes current research on the topic. Following the narrative you will find examples of activities and best practices that are typically found in successful programs according to the literature.
Pre-Collegiate Activities Narrative
For example, the pre-collegiate narrative talks about successful pre-collegiate programs and provides links leading to model programs your campus may choose to replicate. The pre-collegiate program area includes all those activities your institution engages in to get ALANA youth thinking about college at an early age and involved in an actual collegiate experience while still in elementary or secondary school.
Next to each activity listed, you’re asked rank your institution’s current efforts.
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For those activities listed that are absent from your campus, you’re asked to write in 0 for not applicable. Likewise, if your campus offers activities that aren’t listed, you’re asked to fill in the other section. At the end of each program area you’ll be asked to discuss how you would prioritize this area and why. You are also asked to evaluate each area in terms of its effectiveness in addressing the needs of ALANA students. These rankings along with the discussion questions will assist you in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of your programs. They should also provide guidance in helping you target your future efforts.
Sample Discussion Questions
Keep in mind that there are probing discussion questions for each of the 17-program areas being evaluated.
Results you can use Immediately
Once you complete your self-evaluation, you’ll have a clearer picture of where your institution stands in terms of effectively servicing the needs of ALANA students. This instrument is merely the first step, albeit an extremely important one.
Ideally you would have reached consensus on what program areas should be given greater priority considerations.
You’ll have everything you need to develop a plan of action to implement those activities you deem appropriate for your campus.
Dealing with competing interests on Campus
One observation should be emphasized. The very nature of issues presented in this instrument prohibits one person or office from addressing them. It will take the combined efforts of the entire institution for real change to happen.
When you are ranking programs’ effectiveness and prioritizing them you’re not making judgments about their viability – you’re ranking them in terms of where to start in improving services for ALANA students. The reality is that every area can be improved and every area is probably doing many things well but resources are scarce.
As a result there will be many competing interests for limited resources. Creative leadership and genuine commitment from the top will be needed if meaningful results are to occur. Strong leadership explains to the campus community why diversity initiatives are important and how they benefit everyone. Leadership sets the tone and provides the vision needed to gain campus-wide support.
Effective leadership builds institutional capacity and establishes diversity on the short-list of campus priorities with a sense of urgency. Perhaps more importantly is that leadership can hold the campus community accountable for providing the necessary services and support ALANA students need to feel like full members of the campus community.
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