The mission and functions of the Office of Multicultural Affairs

Multicultural Affairs (texts & notes)

Presentation Notes for " Multicultural Affairs "

Title Slide

Our Mission Statement

The mission of the Office of Multicultural Affairs is to provide a comprehensive academic and social support system for diverse and underrepresented students in a fostering environment.

To become a genuinely multicultural academic community, it is vital for the College and its constituents to affirm the significance of all human cultures and communities "A Complex Mission," n.d. para 1.) the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) helps to achieve this in three ways, specifically by:

(1) sponsoring programs and spearheading efforts that encourage the school community to respect, evaluate, and appreciate other cultures and traditions;

(2) finding ways to recruit and retain more students, faculty, and staff from a variety of cultures and backgrounds; and (3) incorporating awareness of other cultures and traditions into departmental courses, whenever applicable (http://www.calvin.edu/admin/provost/multicultural/mission.htm).

OMA also provides a supportive environment for the learning, social, and personal growth needs of the College's diverse student body. The office has an Educational Resource Center that houses a good collection of multicultural reading and audio-visual materials (http://www.uwsuper.edu/oma/) . Trained staff offers academic, career, and personal counseling, as well as cultural-based student organization advising. Throughout the year, the office also sponsors student leadership and diversity education trainings. These are some of the supporting programs and services that the OMA offers to prepare students to succeed in a diverse and dynamic society ("Goals," n.d. para.1)

Slide # 3. Our Goals and Outcomes

The OMA is basically a student services office dedicated to the academic and social success of students from diverse cultural backgrounds. The key goals and outcomes of the office are:

1. To advance student learning through programs, curricular components, and experiences that promote cultural awareness and intercultural communication;

2. To provide opportunities throughout the year for career and personal enhancement through mentorship, leadership trainings, and various academic pursuits; and,

3. To create a greater sense of solidarity and belonging that permeates all levels of the academic community -- students, alumni, staff, faculty, and administration.

Slide # 4: What do we do? ( Functions of Multicultural Affairs Staff)

Professionals working in Multicultural Affairs perform a wide variety if tasks, most of which correspond to student contact (e.g. facilitating student programs, advising, counseling) or student support (developing/facilitating training programs, mentoring, supervising student staff and paraprofessionals; Burkard et al., 2005, p. 292). The second set of responsibilities is related to administration and management (e.g. participating in staff selection, writing reports, serving in university committees; Burkard et al., 2005, p. 292).

Table 1. Some Common Position Responsibilities for Entry Level Positions in Student Affairs (Burkard et al., 2005, p. 292)

Present/facilitate student programs

Advise individual students and student groups

Mentor student leaders

Supervise and train student staff

Interpret and enforce university policies and regulations

Promote college/university events

Collaborate with other offices/departments regarding campus services/programming

Facilitate leadership development training/workshops

Write Reports

Provide crisis intervention and counselling to individual students

Slide # 5: Now Hiring (Competency skills, knowledge, and disposition requirements for entry-level position in Multicultural Affairs)

A typical job placement ad for an entry-level position in Multicultural Affairs would look like this:

Job Position: Student Development Specialist, Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA)

Basic Job Qualifications: ("Basic Job Qualifications," n.d., para. 1)

1. Experienced with computer and basic office equipment

2. Proven customer relation skills and knowledge of proper office etiquette

3. Thorough knowledge of OMA programs and philosophies

Personal Characteristics: (Burkard et al., 2005, p. 294)

1. Must have ability to interact with students, faculty, staff, and visitors from diverse backgrounds

2. Must be flexible and adaptable.

3. Must have strong interpersonal and communication skills

4. Must have good time management, multi-tasking, and organizational skills.

5. Must be mature, outgoing, and have a pleasant demeanor.

6. Must be an active listener, critical thinker, and problem solver.

7. Must be a good team player.

Looking at the above list, it is apparent that aside from basic OMA knowledge, two competency areas are particularly important in entry-level positions: personal qualities and human relations skills. Personal qualities include characteristics like flexibility, maturity, outgoing and pleasant personality, and strong skills in communication, organization, time management, multitasking, problem solving, and critical analysis. In the category of human relations, multicultural sensitivity, teamwork, and active listening are deemed important.

Slide # 6. The Issues We Face (Common Issues in Multicultural Affairs)

Professionals within multicultural affairs are faced with various issues that fall categorically in the areas of racial identity, and ethnicity, LGBT, religion, and student disability ("Bias incidents," n.d., para. 1; Flowers, L, 2003, Contents, Section 2). Issues that permeate all categories include, harassment, bias incidents and hate crimes.

1. Racial Identity and Ethnicity -- culture clashes, racial tension, bias incidents

2. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Issues- homophobia, bias incidents, harassment,

3. Religion- preferential treatment/discrimination, religious discourses

4. Student Disability-harassment, learning obstacles (e.g. communication, in the science laboratory)

Slide # 7.Professional organizations that support Multicultural Affairs

Professional organizations that support Multicultural Affairs can be varied and focus on one of the following areas/issues ("Multicultural Professional," n.d., para. 1):

1. Racial, ethnic or international -- e.g. cultural minority associations/councils; ethnic professionals associations/societies

2. Women- e.g. women professionals associations, sororities

3. Disability- e.g. professionals with disabilities associations, disability foundations

4. Sexual Orientation -- e.g. gay and lesbian professionals associations/organizations

Slides # 9 & 10. References

1. A complex mission (n.d.). In Mission of the Office for Multicultural Affairs. Retrieved Sept. 17, 2009, from http://www.calvin.edu/admin/provost/multicultural/mission.htm

2. Barrett, W. (2003). Information technology in student affairs. In S.R. Komives, & D.B. Woodard, Jr. (Eds.), Student services: A handbook for the profession (4th ed., pp. 379 -- 396). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Retrieved Sept. 17, 2009, from http://www.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=l9eUK5qBWlgC&oi=fnd&pg=PR15&dq=Information+Technology+in+student+services&ots=XLg6zWzMn7&sig=PDlwDD-i_VQAKMGa_9e1wzh1lUU#v=onepage&q=Information%20Technology%20in%20student%20services&f=false

3. Basic Job Qualifications (n.d.). Retrieved Sept. 17, 2009, from http://maf.dept.uncg.edu/docs/OMAassistant.pdf

4. Bias Incident/Hate Crime. Retrieved Sept. 19, 2009, from http://www.rwu.edu/about/administration/publicsafety/biashatecrime/

5. Burkard, a., Cole, D., Ott, M., and Stoflet, T (2005). Entry-Level Competencies of New Student Affairs Professionals: A Delphi Study. NASPA Journal, 42, 283-309. Retrieved Sept. 17,2009 from http://publications.naspa.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1509&context=naspajournal

6. Flowers, L. (2003). Case Studies. In Diversity Issues n American Colleges and Universities, xix-xxx. (e-book version). Retrieved Sept. 19, 2009, from http://www.ccthomas.com/ebooks/9780398074500.pdf

7. Goals (n.d.). Retrieved Sept. 17, 2009, from http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/multicultural/aboutus/index.php

8. Multicultural Professional Scientific Organizations (n.d.). Retrieved Sept. 18, 2009, from http://www.esf.edu/students/multicultural/prorganizations.htm