Very, very challenging, yeah.

How, I mean how is it challenging?

I mean it's challenging kind of on a daily basis, right?

I think, what it means is when I show up to meetings, we are talking about one

topic, we're both approaching it from very different ways, right.

And in that, we often don't come to a place of understanding,

because we're philosophically, kind of at odds with one another, right?

And many times we're engaging in strategy meetings or planning meetings.

It feels like we're talking about the same topic, but

no one's actually really willing to listen to the other side, right?

Because they're only approaching it from their one lens.

And we don't often create enough room to actually explore what is that lens you're

coming with?

How do I understand it?

And then, how do I not misinterpret what you're saying, right?

So lots of conversations.

I think is really where I see the struggle quite a bit.

We can spend hours and we don't get anywhere,

because no one's actually willing to take a different perspective to actually put

themselves in someone else's shoes, necessarily.

Because they actually don't understand the philosophy or the approach.

And so I think it makes it really challenging,

because we sometimes go in circles.

We're always thinking about.

>> Diversity challenge.

>> Yeah, It can make planning for diversity challenging in the sense

that we are seeing diversity through quite different lenses.

In some ways, we academics do a very good job of talking about diversity.

Well, even in some ways increasingly researching it and

publishing about it and theorizing about it.

But we are often much less able to sort of step forward and

take very positive action, even in our own classrooms,

even when we know what the literature says.

But make changes in terms of what we actually do to impact

that culture for students.

So i think we do a good job of the sort of creating backgrounds and

creating theoretical basis to think about it.

I think we do a much less

effective job in terms of actually actualizing it ourselves.

So I think that we really need a person's coming out of other kinds of

cultures of the academy to help us in terms of that process.

And I think we need to be very so cognizant of our ability

to help explain what's happening in our world, but in the larger world.

But we also need to be better at translating what we have sort of

studied and understood into sort of action steps.

I think the place where the faculty needs to begin to step up more is

in the kind of commitments and action that we move forward around diversity.

>> We're an HSI University and so they do have a strategic plan, and all of

our departments have submitted their plans that follow the University guidelines.

But I think a lot of things look good on paper, but

actually when you see it play out, that's what's important.

It's what are we actually doing when we say we are going to do these things,

but how are we doing it, and

how are we supporting our faculty, and staff, and students?

>> It makes it very challenging,

because as I've mentioned earlier, there are often times silos on campuses.

And so you have some divisions that have particular goals that either compliment or

sometimes conflict with others.

And so in my position as a diversity trainer and

someone who's in administration, and actually someone who balances

a faculty role in the administration role, it's important to bring individuals

together to recognize those points of commonality rather than difference.

And that, I have found, is a key to promoting harmony on a campus and

getting individuals across divisions, and no matter what their role is.

Thinking about what is in the best interest, the collective good, for

a university college.

>> So how was that process?

>> Not necessarily a specific plan where I can say we have these three goals and

we're moving towards these.

About six or seven years we got our first, they created a division for equity and

inclusion, and so we had our first Vice President for equity and inclusion.

Dr. Josie de Leon and so she came in.

Through that, we've had a Diversity Council that has been developed.

And that Diversity Council's working with the different colleges to try to create

within each college a Diversity Council so

that there's that across campus conversation.

And the Diversity Council is made up of folks from campus, community, students,

faculty, staff, so it's pretty diverse in that way.

But there's a lot of work to be done.

The original intent of the Division for Equity and Inclusion was to really work

on the diversification of faculty, and we found that that's more

challenging more than, it's not something that you just change overnight, right?

Budgets come into play, expertise, there's so much that's a discussion.

But one of the great things that we've done is that now every faculty hire

has to show that they've been able to work with diverse populations.

And not just show it by saying I was here,

but really this is the work that I've done.

And I think that that's been a great strategy.

We've yet to see those benefits, but

it's a work in place where every faculty member has to go through that.

We've also instituted a diversity credit where it's part of your curriculum,

you have to take at least one course that's geared towards that.

Again, these are small things and small steps, but

I think that that's been kind of the building towards,

I would say that that was kind of the work of the initial diversity plan.

And right now its kind of in that change of whats the next step,

what do we need to continue to do?

And there's a lot of movement around our undocumented students.

Do we or don't we came them sanctuary campus,

the work around our ethnic centers?

I specifically work at Central Larisa,

which is ethnic center specifically dedicated to Latino student success.

How do we empower the different groups on campus to continue to move forward?

So I think that there's a lot of work to be done to really

bring all of the different pieces together and have one strategic plan.

And I think that that's the work of our incoming,

because our Vice President's actually leaving.

And so it'll be interesting to see what the next phase of that means.

Does the institution continue that position, do they not,

what's the next step there?

>> And what challenges do the, is it even going to be challenging?

>> I think because ultimately, if everyone holds a different

ideal of what the value of higher ed is, the mission of higher ed,

it's ultimately going to have conflict, right?

There'll be some cultures that compliment,

and there'll be spaces there to have natural allies.

But then there's always going to be the opposing culture as well.

So when I think about diversity, someone that comes from, again,

let's say the developmental point of view versus the advocacy point of view versus

even the virtual point of view, which is a hot topic on our campus right now.

If we want to build a virtual campus or rather a virtual arm of the campus,

what does diversity look like in an online environment?

So I think those are the challenges.

How do we hold true to making sure that all cultures are representative?

And I mean specific academic-oriented cultures,

while fulfilling the larger mission of the institution,

which is to serve a diverse population,

be inclusive to a diverse population, and an equitable,

in terms of outcomes and results with our diverse population.

>> So, I think what's key to advancing the goals of

higher education is to sometimes reframe old models

of understanding how higher education functions.

And I would like to reframe it by saying, there isn't such a divide

between student affairs and academics in higher education actually.

There has been examples of great collaboration.

In terms of working toward goals of diversity,

I think that one of the strengths in higher education,

in American higher education, whether it's public or private,

is that there is a tremendous amount of autonomy in the work that academics do.

And we need to be conscious of that privilege.

And so when thinking about student affairs, and

academic, and the divide in working towards diversity,

I would suggest that that autonomy is what gives us strength, right?

And that any time there's a new idea,

people are a little resistant probably, because it is a new way of thinking.

Institutional Type Leaders in Action: Part II

Leading for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education

Meet the Instructors