In recent posts I've been discussing the dangerous tendency in some corners of WestConn to value process or bureaucracy over real solutions. One area where this axiom seems to be taken up on a regular basis is in the Residence Life. I pride myself on being relatively close to a number of WestConn students, so I've come to know about some of the draconian and downright illogical policies that have been promulgated to regulate WestConn's dormitories. It frequently suprises me that WestConn professors aren't up in arms over these policies, deciding instead, apparently to adopt an out-of-sight, out-of-mind attitude.
Here are some of the objects and actions that Residence Life bans, either in or anywhere around residence halls on campus:
Exercise equipment.
Wicker wastebaskets.
Christmas trees.
Parties of any kind (even those not involving alcohol)
Message boards
Water fights.
Snowball throwing in or around the residence halls.
Talk about the Grinch coming for Christmas. I'm glad I don't have to visit any of my students in their dorms. I might be afraid of being carted off for snowball throwing, or there might be too many people in their room and it might be considered a party. On top of all this, the quiet "lights out" hours at some dorms start unreasonably early (at ten or eleven in some locations) and the very restrictive guest policy. If I didn't know better, I'd wonder if these weren't the rules for the military academy.
What's worse is the inconsistency built into the rules. WestConn's alcohol policies are an example: you can't have ten people in your dorm playing cards and drinking Perrier, because that would be a violation of the rules. But if you want to come in with six packs and drink alone in your room until you pass out, by WestConn rules, that would be perfectly fine!
This inconsistency, I have heard, is also built into enforcement. I have had a student and have heard of others who have been threatened with expulsion on marijuana charges even if they were not present in the area in which marijuana was found. The internal process for dealing with such charges is arbitrary at best. Student participation in setting the rules and student self-government is appallingly minimal. In the meantime, students with real concerns, such as stalking or assault, seem to be given the run around, or routinely ignored. Apparently, student life programs at WestConn are too busy imitating the Harper Valley PTA to actually get around to providing for student safety.
Why doesn't this change? I suppose the faculty and staff on campus know to little about these policies to care, and students, apparently, have to deal with a recalcitrant administration, at least on this subject. But this, if anywhere, strikes me as a key area where action is needed.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity at WestConn
Recently I had the pleasure of meeting with and listening to a presentation by Bryan Samuel, WestConn's new Director of Multicultural Affairs and Affirmative Action. Mr. Samuel is bright and energetic, and is certainly going to bring his new and positive spirit to WestConn's efforts to promote equal opportunity. He has a lot of new ideas which I applaud.
Nonetheless, his presentation gave me pause to stop and consider the nature of equal opportunity at WestConn. Though WestConn's hiring process probably isn't perfect, I think WestConn does hire a number of very qualified people from all kinds of backgrounds. The real problem at WestConn is not recruitment, but retention. Once here, people whose backgrounds do not fit with the mold of students (due to race, ethnicity, or--most problematically--class status, both in terms of it being too low in relation to students and in terms of it being too high) have trouble with a thousand little acts of microresistance and rejection from students, who may balk at accents which to them are thick, or different teaching styles, especially if they come from a person who does not look familiar.
What does WestConn do about retention? Well, certainly not nothing. There are international education and film weeks and there are various avenues available in terms of support from the affirmative action offices. But what is really needed is a campus discussion on diversity. This discussion has to take diversity in a broad brush. For example, I'd bet my bottom dollar that conservative faculty are more a minority on campus than faculty of color. Is that necessarily a problem? I don't know--but it should be discussed. What does it mean to have a diverse faculty and student body? What would they look like? The discussion of these questions should happen, and it should be initiated in part out of the Multicultural Affairs office.
Instead, ever since I've been here, I've gotten the impression that the Director of Multicultural Affairs sees her or his job as akin to that of Bartleby the Scrivener. That's why we're always told that the main job of the MA/AA office is to ensure that we fill out all the right forms in hiring, and so on, to protect the University from being sued. Of course, that is indeed an important job of affirmative action officers, especially in a campus not too terribly far removed from really serious racial issues. But what message does it send about how serious the university is about creating a diverse culture if the words on the lips of the MA/AA Director are: "fill out this paperwork. We need more paperwork so we don't get sued."
The key is dialogue, not paperwork; inspiration, not process.
Nonetheless, his presentation gave me pause to stop and consider the nature of equal opportunity at WestConn. Though WestConn's hiring process probably isn't perfect, I think WestConn does hire a number of very qualified people from all kinds of backgrounds. The real problem at WestConn is not recruitment, but retention. Once here, people whose backgrounds do not fit with the mold of students (due to race, ethnicity, or--most problematically--class status, both in terms of it being too low in relation to students and in terms of it being too high) have trouble with a thousand little acts of microresistance and rejection from students, who may balk at accents which to them are thick, or different teaching styles, especially if they come from a person who does not look familiar.
What does WestConn do about retention? Well, certainly not nothing. There are international education and film weeks and there are various avenues available in terms of support from the affirmative action offices. But what is really needed is a campus discussion on diversity. This discussion has to take diversity in a broad brush. For example, I'd bet my bottom dollar that conservative faculty are more a minority on campus than faculty of color. Is that necessarily a problem? I don't know--but it should be discussed. What does it mean to have a diverse faculty and student body? What would they look like? The discussion of these questions should happen, and it should be initiated in part out of the Multicultural Affairs office.
Instead, ever since I've been here, I've gotten the impression that the Director of Multicultural Affairs sees her or his job as akin to that of Bartleby the Scrivener. That's why we're always told that the main job of the MA/AA office is to ensure that we fill out all the right forms in hiring, and so on, to protect the University from being sued. Of course, that is indeed an important job of affirmative action officers, especially in a campus not too terribly far removed from really serious racial issues. But what message does it send about how serious the university is about creating a diverse culture if the words on the lips of the MA/AA Director are: "fill out this paperwork. We need more paperwork so we don't get sued."
The key is dialogue, not paperwork; inspiration, not process.
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