Engaging Faculty in Campus Transformation: The Diversity Fellows Program

Abstract

The Diversity Fellows Program (DFP) was an initiative created within a Division for Diversity (DD) in response to imperatives for campus diversity leadership. In the author’s reflection/perceptions, it brought forward a new paradigm for, Bistro University (BU) (pseudonym), as well as expansions in university–community and statewide relations. The DFP employed a multifaceted approach to climate transformation and was a joint development with the highest level of administration and utilized full, tenured, underrepresented, and women faculty to lead initiatives that engaged faculty in research relationships with students, STEM communities, mentoring, and unit accountability for hiring and retention. The result was the creation of several best-practice initiatives, which showcased unsung and/or underutilized student and faculty research as catalysts for recruitment, retention, and promotion, and improved unit accountability for diversification and campus/community relations. The authors assert that the DFP ultimately represented a multipoint approach to climate transformation rooted in relationship building, measurable accountability, and partnership development. This chapter will expound on the creation and impact the DFP had on BU’s diversity agenda and the DD mission. It will also illuminate the author’s perspectives of successes as well as struggles to be expected while setting standards for excellence in academic diversity innovation. Finally, this chapter challenges senior administrators and academics to increase support and reward innovation associated with cultural competence training, multicultural engagement, and best practices for diversity administration.

Citation

Coopwood, K. and Augustine, S.S. (2018), "Engaging Faculty in Campus Transformation: The Diversity Fellows Program", Campus Diversity Triumphs (Diversity in Higher Education, Vol. 20), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 27-43. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-364420180000020002