Luther College
PA-4: Diversity and Equity Coordination

The Diversity committee is a student organization run through the student activities council (SAC). The Student Activities Council (SAC) is dedicated to enriching life on the Luther College campus by providing quality programming to students and the Decorah community. The Diversity Committee sponsors cross-cultural events on campus to promote the celebration of diversity, and is open to all regardless of race, culture, or heritage. Their website can be found here: http://www.luther.edu/studentlife/activities/office/sac/committees/diversity/ Luther College also has an administrative office dedicated to diversity and equity: the Luther College Diversity Center. The Center is located within the student union and is open to all Luther College students and staff. The Center works to: *Promote a greater appreciation and a deeper understanding of the diverse individuals and groups that make up our campus. *Strengthen access to multicultural perspectives within the tradition of a liberal arts education. *Advocate for policies that safeguard the inclusion and participation of all members of the community.

Luther's Diversity Center is a resource for all employees; it provides ideas, classroom materials and presentations to encourage professional development among the faculty. The Diversity Center also conducts training in diversity issues, and provides models. In addition to the various conferences and workshops at regional and national levels addressing various aspects of diversity that Luther employees can attend, the Diversity Center uses the Intercultural Development Inventory to provide individuals and group with a measure of their cultural competence and provides feedback on what they can do to improve. Luther has paid for employees to attend the IDI Qualifying Seminar in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to receive training in cultural competency.

P4. Diversity and Equity Coordination Part I. Active committees charged by the administration or by a governing body to coordinate diversity and equity work on campus. Diversity Council. The Diversity Council acts as the main campus voice on issues of diversity and supports and assist the staff of the Luther Diversity Center; the Council advises and supports campus diversity through programming, training and faculty and staff development. Faculty, staff and students are part of the Council. (Student and Faculty Equity) Executive Director of the Diversity Center. The executive director works with students, faculty, and staff to enhance curricular and extracurricular efforts related to diversity on campus and in the Decorah community. The Executive Director also serves as an advocate for people of color and other historically underrepresented groups on campus. In this role, the Executive Director serves as a resource and advisor in matters related to equal opportunity and non-discrimination practices. The Executive Director teaches two classes per year and serves as an academic advisor. Diversity Liaison. The Diversity Liaison serves as a resource for search committees and produces an annual report on faculty hiring, including information on the racial, ethnic, and gender composition of positions. The Diversity Liaison advises senior administration, academic department heads program directors and search committee to ensure the effective implementation of these guidelines. (Employee Diversity and Equity) Diversity Representative to the College Resources Council. The College Resources Council is a body representative of faculty and staff that assist the administration in making resource-related decisions in the context of short and long-term priorities. The members of the Council include the President of the College, the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, the Vice President for Finance and Administration, three tenured faculty that serve as faculty representatives to the Board of Regents; one representative from the Academic Planning and Faculty Interests Committees, two appointed staff and one appointed member who holds a position at the college and has expertise directly related to matters of diversity, nominated by faculty or staff. (Campus wide diversity) Diversity Representatives to Student Senate. The Luther College Student Senate membership includes six diversity representatives who broadly represent race/ethnicity, culture/religion, and gender/sexuality. (Student diversity) Student Activities Council Spotlight/Diversity. The Student Activities Council (SAC) plans student events and activities throughout the year. The Council has seven committees one of their committees, Spotlight/Diversity, organizes eight diverse Part II. Institution makes cultural competence trainings and activities available to all members of one or more of the following groups: students, staff, faculty, administrators New Student Orientation Maura Cullen presents to the first year class and to leaders on campus. Dr. Maura Cullen is a diversity trainer. Her approach avoids creating an adversarial atmosphere. She invests her audience in diversity by inviting participants to be more inclusive and effective teams by communicating effectively across differences. http://www.mauracullen.com/speaking/invite-maura/ Intercultural Competence Inventory-IDI measures individual and group cultural competence, developed by Mitchell R. Hammer, Ph.D. for IDI, LLC Cultural competence is the ability to shift cultural perspective and appropriately adapt to cultural differences and similarities. Intercultural competence is a key capability that is necessary to work effectively with people from other cultures; intercultural competence transcends ethnocentrism to establish positive relationships across cultures. Based on Development Model of Intercultural Sensitivity by Michael Bennett, Ph.D. Adaptation—ability to shift one’s cultural perspective Acceptance—recognize and appreciate patterns of cultural differences Minimization-a transitional mindset; highlights commonalities in ways that mask differences. Polarization; evaluative mindset that judges differences as ‘us’ and ‘them’ Denial disinterest in and avoidance of cultural differences. Trained Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Administrators The college has a cadre of trained IDI administrators, currently, two faculty members and two staff members who administer the inventory and provide feedback sessions to those who have taken the inventory. The feedback sessions interpret the results and helps participants envision plans for moving themselves along the continuum from ethnocentric to acceptance. The Intercultural Development Inventory is used with the Social Work and Education Departments, in a Paideia 450 class, and with the campus student leadership program, Launching Luther Leaders. Interested Faculty, staff and students complete the IDI on request. http://www.idiinventory.com/ Diversity Training for Residence Life Example of training of Residence Life staff (not including Hall Directors) https://docs.google.com/a/luther.edu/document/d/1ju2u6p5a4RsbsZRSAWoLWRcmBttxguDc_nfMIU5uwgg/edit Diverse Millennial Students—Luther College Diversity Council and LDC https://docs.google.com/a/luther.edu/presentation/d/1lToqWm07MhMKN1gFEwP_8phzlXYd5Ydtx4p5nNPEGdw/edit#slide=id.p13 Optional Staffing. Four full-time people employed the diversity and equity office http://www.luther.edu/diversity/staff/ Diversity and Inclusion URL http://www.luther.edu/about/diversity/ URL for cultural competence trainings http://www.luther.edu/search/?q=IDI