John P. Sauter Jr., Ph.D. Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, Niagara University

NACADA National Conference, October 10, 2014

@JohnPSauter / #NACADA14

• Faculty Multicultural Competence & Practices

• Predictors & Implications

• Understanding Faculty Culture

• Elements of Faculty Culture

• Faculty Collaborative Competence

• Best Practices & Applications

Photos were

submitted by faculty

friends and

colleagues and are

randomly placed

throughout.

• “A conversation that is moral… is one whose

conventions emphasize the fundamental

worth and dignity of each participant in the

exchange…”

• Be respectful of each other

• Work to find a common language

• Take conversational risks

- Dr. Robert Nash “Real World Ethics”

• Discuss your most successful/unsuccessful

interactions or collaborations with faculty?

•What made these successful / unsuccessful?

•Did any involve multicultural issues?

• What’s the biggest issue you deal with

that could benefit from faculty collaboration.

• If you are faculty, consider your interactions

with advising or student affairs staff

Multicultural

Race & Gender

Sexual identity, ability, religion, language

Definition of Multicultural Competence

The ability to work ethically and

effectively with people of similar or

dissimilar cultural backgrounds, by

demonstrating a certain level of

multicultural awareness, knowledge,

and skills (Pope, Reynolds & Mueller, 2004).

Tripartite Model (Pope & Reynolds, 1997)

Awareness

Self awareness

Re-evaluation of attitudes, beliefs, values, and assumptions

Knowledge

Information & Cultural Understanding

Skills

Apply Awareness & Knowledge

Cross-cultural Communication

Willingness to Seek Assistance

Ongoing Developmental Process Constantly Reflecting & Re-evaluating

Multicultural competence and practices of undergraduate faculty and their relationships to racial identity, education, and experience. (Sauter, 2013).

• My Background – 16 Years Advising

• Expand Competence Research

• Outside of student affairs & counseling

• Examine relevant variables

• Relationship of competence & practices

• Adapting to changing demographics?

• Trends toward a diverse student body

• Faculty diversity lags behind nation

• Faculty represent 40-50% of employees

• Considerable Student Contact ~190 days/degree

• Faculty Literature

• Faculty, Institutions & Diversity

• Faculty Roles & Diversity

• Training & Development

• Multicultural Education,

Curriculum, Teaching

• Faculty Diversity

Findings in Student Affairs

Multicultural Competence

Racial Identity

Race/Ethnicity

Identifying with a Socially

Marginalized Group

Multicultural Experience

Multicultural Education

Undergraduate Faculty

S. M. Helms (2003) n=91 (3 liberal arts institutions)

Themes

immersion in different cultures

cultural graduate coursework

work environments which foster cultural contact & interaction

cross-cultural opportunities & relationships

living abroad

willingness to learn & reflect

Model

graduate school preparation in cultural competence

training in cultural competence

campus cultural events

mentoring by other faculty.

Graduate SA Faculty

King & Howard Hamilton (2003)

n=8. Howard Hamilton (2003)

Diversity Educators scored higher than practitioners/students

Pope & Mueller (2005) n=147

Diverse (racial), women, and LGBT faculty scored higher

Positive Correlations

Recent multicultural training

teaching multicultural courses

multicultural research

multicultural programmatic or policy implementation

46.9

52.8

Gender

Female

Male

80.6

19.4

Race

White/ Caucasian

Faculty of Color

87.6

12.5

Sexual Orientation

Heterosexual GLBT

55.6

44.4

Socially Marginalized

Yes No

Age Range 25-84

Mean 51

87.8

9.7

2.1 Highest Degree

Doctorate

Masters

Bachelors

28.5

30

26.4

12.8 1.4

Rank

Full

Associate

Assistant

Lecturer

Other

58.3

38.2

0.7

Tenure

Tenured

Tenure Track

Non-Tenure Track

59.7

38.2

0.7 Highest Institutional Degree

Doctoral

Masters

Baccalaureate

35.8

62.8

0.3 0.3 Institutional Type

PredominantlyWhite

Other

HBCU

Tribal College

Years as Full-Time Faculty Member Range 1-55 Years

Mean: 16.5

35.1

37.2

27.8

Discipline

STEM

Humanities/Languages

Social Sciences

Variables Multicultural

Competence

Multicultural

Practices

Race .248 *** .276 ***

Socially Marginalized -.210 *** -.316 ***

Gender -.337 *** -.324 ***

Sexual Orientation 0.048 0.16 **

STEM / Non-STEM -.361 *** -.510 ***

Racial Identity Phase I -.407 *** -.340 ***

Racial Identity Phase II .522 *** .397 ***

Multicultural Education .280 *** .396 ***

Multicultural Experience 0.200 ** .407 ***

Multicultural Competence -- .636 ***

***p < .001, **p < .01 Correlation does not mean causation.

0

20

40

60

Overall RacialIdentity

M. Exp & Ed

49.4

25.4 25.4

23.5 2.8

M. Ex & Ed

R. Identity

Dem & Acad

Overall

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Overall RacialIdentity

M. Ex & Ed M. Comp

62.2

40 40 40

7.4 11.3 14.5 M. Comp

M. Ex & Ed

R. Identity

Dem & Acad

Overall

Multicultural

Competence

Multicultural

Practices

Implications

• Racial Identity & Multicultural Competence • Developing a Positive Racial Identity

• Ongoing Training & Time

• Racial Identity Stronger than Race & Gender • Overcoming Roadblocks in

Hiring & Promotion

• Address Burdens of Diverse Faculty

• Race & Gender Still Important • Supports Focus on Diversifying Faculty

• Caution: Diversity does not necessarily equal Multicultural Competence

• Multicultural Experience & Multicultural Education • Differences from Student Affairs

Significant Predictors Racial Identity Strongest Predictors

Gender, Stem / Non-Stem / Race

Follow-up only

Multicultural Experiences &

Multicultural Education

Significant Predictors • Multicultural Competence

Strongest Predictor

• STEM / Non-STEM, Sexual Orientation

• Multicultural Experiences & Multicultural Education

Implications

Multicultural Competence

Comprehensive Framework / Goal of Effective Practice

Ongoing Personal Process & Time

Multicultural Experience & Multicultural Education

Personal Experiences / Dialog

Training Focusing on Multicultural Competence & Practices

Support for Multicultural Experiences

Incentives for Both (teaching load reductions, funds, time, etc)

Demographic & Academic Implications

STEM/Non-STEM Relevance to Discipline, Training,

Classroom

Sexual Orientation Visibility, Involvement, Identity

Development

Other variables still important

•Discipline an Important Variable for Faculty

• Targeted Approach Necessary

• In this study (differences gender & social marginalized)

• Predictor of Multicultural Competence & M. Practices

• Perception and Relevance to Discipline/Classroom

• Different Levels of Training & Experiences w/Diversity

• Explore Best Practices for STEM faculty

• Don’t Overlook Development Within Non-STEM Disciplines

•M. Competence Stronger than Academic Discipline

• Focus on Fostering M. Competence for STEM Faculty

• How can understanding

faculty multicultural

competence & practices

inform our collaborations

with faculty?

•Faculty Culture

•Faculty Collaborative

Competence

•Best Practices

• Non-Tenure Track

•Adjunct Faculty

• Lecturer

•Visiting Professor

• Full-Time Non-Tenure

• Tenure Track

•Assistant Professor

•Associate Professor

• Full Professor

• Emeritus

• Research

• Scholarship,

• Publications,

Grant Funding

• Teaching

• Curriculum, Pedagogy,

Instruction, Evaluations

• Systemic/Individual

• Service

• Discipline,

Institutional,

Community

• Variation

• Institutional Emphasis

• Value to Promotion & Tenure

• Requirements for Tenure

• Research (publications, grants)

• Teaching (evaluations)

• Service (institution, community)

• Portfolio

• Time Limits

• Politics

• Variations

• Emphasis

• Bias

• Broad Categories vs. Specific Disciplines

• Business, Education, Humanities, Social Science,

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM), etc…

• Differences

among

disciplines

• Training

• Focus / Methods

• Subject

• Recognition

• Goal: To Become Experts in their Field

• Reluctance to Cover Diversity

• Unprepared or Overwhelmed

• Training & Development

• Graduate School Preparation

• Mismatch in Socialization (Austin, 2002)

• Peers / Mentoring

• Institutional Development

• Professional Organizations

• Limited Time & Budgets

• Best Practices

• Ongoing / Long Term

• Reflection / Dialog

• Level

• Undergraduate

• Graduate

• Mixed

• Load

• 3-3

• 3-4

• 4-4

• 5-5

• Variation

• Overloads

• Downloads

• Sabbaticals

Course Schedules

1, 2 or 3 days

Online/Hybrid

Preparation

• Chairperson

• Faculty Governance

• Collective Bargaining /

Contract

• Shared Governance?

• Involvement

• Campus Politics

• Institutional Climate

• Fiscal Climate

• Departmental Politics

• Functional & Dysfunctional

• Demands of Tenure &

Promotion

• Lack of Time

• Unfilled Lines

• Popular vs. “Marginal”

Programs

• Differences in Teaching

& Expectations

• Multicultural Faculty

• Women Faculty

• LGBT Faculty

• Many positive outcomes

• Interest in grad school, college teaching, research, satisfaction (Astin, 1993)

• Intellectual, Social, & Personal Values along with Educational Attainment (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005)

• Faculty may assume advising and support roles

• Satisfaction / Experience Varies for Some Student Populations

• Outside Influences

• Family

• Health

• Finances

• Mobility

• Unique Identities

• Experiences

• Education

• Different Motivations

• Embrace/Resist

Multicultural Issues

• Different Interests/Skills

• Ability to demonstrate a certain amount of

awareness, knowledge, and skills related to

faculty that fosters effective collaboration.

• Awareness

• Knowledge

• Skills

• Ongoing Process:

• Constantly reflecting,

learning, and

adjusting

our understanding.

• Recognizing faculty issues/needs

• Where?

• Advisement with Students

• Committee Work

• Policy Development

• Event Planning

• Surroundings / Environment

• What?

• Do you need faculty input?

• Does it impact faculty?

• Compatibility with faculty schedules?

• Would faculty involvement help?

• Understanding faculty culture

• What knowledge is needed to collaborate with faculty?

• Rank

• Responsibilities

• Tenure Status

• Discipline

• Course Loads

• Governance

• Inequalities

• Personal Perspective

• How might this

influence your

practices?

• The ability to turn awareness & knowledge into action

• What skills do you need to work with faculty?

• How do such skills impact or enhance your practices?

• Faculty Champions

• Experience

• Involvement

• Relationships

& Respect

“Given our current understanding of learning,

collaboration between faculty and student affairs educators

is not simply an intelligent option: it is a core requirement

for the effective development and achievement of

desired student learning outcomes.”

(Learning Reconsidered 2, 2006, p. 70)

• Who are the faculty that are involved and often willing to assist?

• Similar interests and philosophies?

• Willing to help

• Often on the front lines

• Models for other faculty

• How can we help get other faculty involved?

• Can’t always depend on faculty champions

• All faculty have the potential to offer assistance

• How much do you

interact with faculty

on a daily, weekly, or

monthly basis?

• Working alongside

faculty builds

experience

• Academic Advisors

share some experiences

• Gain a sense of the

needs of your faculty

• Better understand

individual faculty

• Invite faculty to the

table from the beginning

• Committee Procedures

• Avoid Surprises

• Support Faculty Projects

• Promotion, Social Media

Ask faculty their opinions

Gain Input

Gauge Support / Resistance

Be flexible

Be aware of faculty roles

Work around faculty schedules

• Developing Relationships

• Foster Ongoing working relationships

• How can we assist faculty?

• Mutual Respect

• Need to respect faculty

roles & responsibilities

• Proven Track Record

• Narratives

• How we become who

we are

• Natural part of us

• How can you apply faculty collaborative

competence to the issues you mentioned at

the beginning of the presentation?

• What do we need to be aware of?

• What knowledge might be helpful?

• What skills do we need to have?

• What should we consider when asking

faculty to assist with multicultural issues or

projects on our campuses?

• John P. Sauter Jr., Ph.D.

• Twitter: @JohnPSauter

• Email: jps@niagara.edu

•WNY Advising: WNYAdvising.weebly.com

• Presentation & Handouts at WNY Advising

•WNYadvising.weebly.com/johnsauter.html