Tuesday, August 30, 2016 | Volume 212 | Number 7 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
Progressing toward inclusion Report on diversity and inclusion in colleges released By Alex.Connor @iowastatedaily.com
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he Division of Academic Affairs released a report mid-summer summarizing diversity and inclusion and progress made within different colleges and units at Iowa State. The report also highlighted programs and initiatives at the university, and recognized that while it is proud of its accomplishments during the 2015-2016 academic year, more work needs to be done. The Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost establishes expectations within the Division of Academic Affairs that it hopes “promote activities and best practice, and fosters continuous improvement.” Senior Vice President and Provost Jonathan Wickert commented on the report during an interview with the Daily in early August, when he discussed key findings and the current work being done in a variety of areas across campus. “The discussions we’ve had on campus, and the events that we had on campus last year, as well as, you know the broader context in the United States over the past
year,” Wickert said. “It’s really caused us and has given us the opportunity to really reflect in the Division of Academic Affairs on what we are doing, what our faculty are doing, our colleges are doing to really promote a culture of diversity and inclusion.” The report discussed key findings, including highlighting that BOLD, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, LAS, learning community for students of color, had a 100 percent first-year retention rate. “They reported just a fantastic statistic that they had 100 percent first-year retention,” Wickert said, adding that he likes the approach that LAS took because it also engages upper-division students to be peer mentors and peer mentor leaders. Wickert also cited the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, CELT, which started an initiative last year called the Inclusive Classroom initiative, which was designed as a faculty professional development program. “They started up a steering committee and an advisory committee of students and faculty on a project that we call the Inclusive Classroom Initiative,” Wickert said. “And I think this is a very important initiative because it gets back to that mission of teaching.” Wickert said CELT developed a framework on the best practices to be able to create and foster a
District 45 race heats up in Iowa Contest offers diverse pool of candidates By Chris. Anderson @iowastatedaily.com Story County is home to a three-way race for state representative as Democratic incumbent Beth Wessel-Kroeschell is challenged by Republican Sondra Childs-Smith and Libertarian Eric Cooper. Wessel-Kroeschell has represented Iowa House District 45 since 2004 and recalled being asked to run at the time. “I was asked, which was typi-
By Jake.Dalbey @iowastatedaily.com
RACE p3 Democrat Beth Wessel-Kroeschell.
Courtesy of Eric Cooper
Libertarian Eric Cooper.
Courtesy of Sondra Childs-Smith
Republican Sondra Childs-Smith.
Workshops to aid grad students, faculty of color Eulanda Sanders, the College of Human Sciences’ new equity adviser, is one of five African-American women who are working to build and maintain a community on campus through five professional development workshops. The workshops will take place during the 2016-17 academic year and will attempt to assist ISU grad students and faculty of color in attaining tenure-track positions, achieving tenure and promotion through the ranks and preparing for academic administrative positions, according to a press release. Sanders had one faculty member of color during her time as a student, but not until she was in her doctoral program. When Sanders became a fac-
ulty member, she didn’t have any mentors who were women of color. When she became a professor, the same lack of resources persisted until she took an administrative position. Even in her administrative position, while there were women of color she could ask questions to, nobody had taken the same route she had. “There has definitely been challenges [as a faculty woman of color],” Sanders said. “There has also been support. I can’t say that I have had a bad journey overall. “Could things have been smoother? Absolutely.” The idea for the workshops was sparked when the Office of the Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion called regarding the Women’s and Diversity Grant Program. Sanders and Tera Jordan, as-
sistant professor of human development and family studies, are a part of a “sister circle” of African-American women faculty on campus. They asked themselves what they would be interested in and collectively came up with a fivepart workshop series focusing on helping grad students and faculty of color with development and advancement. Part of the reason Jordan ended up at Iowa State was because a woman of color endorsed the university as a place she could come and be successful. “A woman who represented where I wanted to want to be said, ‘You can come here. There will be some challenges, you’ll be fine. But you can be successful here,’” Jordan said. “It’s that kind of endorsement that can be key in attracting and retaining faculty of color and scholars at a place like Iowa State.”
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Hispanic inclusion forums conclude Roberto Orozco stresses activism
Courtesy of the Iowa Legislature
By Austin.Anderson @iowastatedaily.com
INCLUSION p3
Another aspect to the workshops will be focused on research. Jordan said they would like to identify 20 people total, 10 graduate students of color and 10 faculty of color who would submit to a pre-test interview talking about their own professional development and trajectory. After attending the five workshops, they would go through a post-test interview to discuss what they learned and how it will benefit them. “I think our big, ultimate goal is to see an impact on the numbers of faculty and staff of color that do move along the pipeline,” Sanders said. “Right now, the numbers are not where they need to be for this university at all in comparison to some of our peer institutions. “We’ll see some changes. We know it won’t be immediate, but we are hoping this will ignite it.”
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The final of three open forums for the new Hispanic/Latino affairs project director concluded Monday in the Memorial Union. Roberto C. Orozco, a former Iowa State student and program director for social justice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, led a discussion on the importance of advocacy and activism within Iowa State and the Latino community. Orozco began by relaying the importance of understanding different social identities. “Intersectionality is the relationship of various social identities we all hold and how they work together to form our realities,” Orozco said. Orozco sees intersectionality as a vital component to both advocates and activists, and starts with focusing on identities within the Iowa State community. For Orozco, inclusion begins with changing a campus climate to create a validating and confirming area for all who inhabit the space. Advocacy and activism both play roles in this need for inclusion. “Advocacy is more awarenessand knowledge-based, whereas activism is the skills component,” Orozco said. ”I now have knowledge and awareness, but how can I put it into action?”
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