T HURSDAY , J UNE 19, 2014
3:00-5:00 pm Conference check-in
5:00 Opening reception
6:00
7:00
Dinner
Concert by Dr. Jonathan Latta,
Assistant Professor, Music
Center of Southwest Studies
Center of Southwest Studies Portico
Center of Southwest Studies Portico
Roshong Hall
F RIDAY , J UNE 20, 2014
7:30 am
8:00
9:00
Late conference check-in
Breakfast
Opening Plenary
Ballroom Lobby
Ballroom
Ballroom
Century America - A multi-campus Digital Liberal Arts Project
10:00
10:30
Student Presenters: D ARA F ILLMORE , C HRISTOPHER H IGHTOWER , C OLIN N IMER , R YAN
S UCY , J ACK H YLAN , J ULIA W OOD , AND L EAH T AMS
Break
Concurrent Sessions
Ballroom
Teagle Steering Committee
Native American Studies working group
La Plata Room
Senate Chambers
Presentation session Noble 140
Fort Lewis College: Enhancing Success of Low-Income Students Through an
Institutional Four-Year Graduation Initiative
Presenters: D R .
C AROL S MITH , Associate Vice President for Enrollment
Management and R OBIN C OLE , Coordinator of Strategic Communication
Initiatives
Eastern Connecticut State University: A Dual College Program to Enhance Ethnic,
Socioeconomic, and Regional Diversity
Presenter: D R .
R HONA F REE , Provost
Presentation session Noble 135
Midwestern State University: Dominance, Denial, and Dialogue: Introducing Pre-
Service Teachers to Non-Dominant Perspectives
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12:00 pm
1:00
2:00
3:30
4:00-5:30
Presenter: D R . A NGELA C ARTWRIGHT L YNSKEY , Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction
Keene State College: Beyond Tolerance, Acceptance and Inclusion: Co-creating
Sustainable Diversity and Multicultural Initiatives in Higher Education
Lunch
Presenter: D R .
D OTTIE R.
M ORRIS , Chief Officer for Diversity and Multiculturalism
Ballroom
Presidents/Chancellors/CEOs La Plata Room
Plenary Session Ballroom
Keynote Speaker: W ILLIAM M ENDOZA , Executive Director of the White House
Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education
Concurrent Sessions
Presidents/Chancellors working session Colorado Room
Native American Studies working group
Presentation session
Senate Chambers
Noble 140
University of Illinois-Springfield: Engaging Community: Using a Speaker Series to
Build Partnerships and Promote Engaged Citizenship
Presenters: D R .
K AREN R.
M ORANSKI , Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate
Education and K IMBERLY C RAIG , Assistant to the Associate Vice Chancellor
Fort Lewis College: Building Community Through Academic Courses
Presenters: D R .
C ATHY S IMBECK , Professor of Exercise Science and D R .
E MILY
H OUGHTON , Assistant Professor of Exercise Science
Presentation session Noble 135
Ramapo College of New Jersey: Bringing Class into Class: Community
Ethnography
Presenter: D R .
M ARTHA E CKER , Professor of Sociology
Fort Lewis College: Getting social with social: Using social media education to
Break build community relationships
Presenter: L YNDSAY N YQUIST , Social Media & Video Coordinator
Ballroom and outside Noble 130
Concurrent Sessions
COPLAC business meeting
Teagle Steering Committee
Colorado Room
La Plata Room
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Presentation Session Noble 140
Fort Lewis College: Scholarship “Boot Camp”: Collaboration to Support Student
Success
Presenters: W ENDY J AVIER , TRiO Talent Search Director; J ESSICA A DAMS , Talent
Search Academic Advisor; L AUREN D ELLE , Writing Program faculty; M ICHELLE
B ONANNO , Writing Program faculty; and D R .
B ILL M ANGRUM , Writing Program faculty
6:00-7:00
Georgia College: Navigating the Challenges of Transforming Liberal Arts
Education Toward Institution Inclusive Excellence
Presenters: D R .
V ERONICA W OMACK , Director of Institutional Equity and
Diversity; D R . O LUFUNKE A.
F ONTENOT , Associate Dean of the College of Arts &
Sciences; D R . R OSALIE R ICHARDS , Professor of Chemistry and D R . T SU -M ING
C HIANG , Professor of Psychology
Reception
Dinner on your own downtown
Sorrel Sky
S ATURDAY , J UNE 21, 2014
8:00 am
9:00
Breakfast
Concurrent Sessions
Provosts/VPAA working session
Native American Studies working group
Ballroom
Colorado Room
Senate Chambers
10:30
11:00
Presentation Session Noble 140
Fort Lewis College: Town and Gown: How to build transformative community relationships
Presenters: E LIZABETH B USSIAN , Business Manager, Office of Marketing and
Communications and J ACK L LEWELLYN , Executive Director, Durango Chamber of
Break
Commerce
Concurrent Sessions
Teagle Steering Committee
Presentation Session
Ballroom and Outside Noble 130
La Plata Room
Noble 140
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12:30 pm
1:30-2:30
3:00-6:00
6:30
SUNY Geneseo: Real World Geneseo: An Assessment of the Comprehensive
Benefits of a Diversity-Related Program
Presenters: D R .
M ONICA E.
S CHNEIDER , Associate Professor of Psychology; D R .
J ULIE M.
R AO , Director of Institutional Research; and D R . D IANTHA B.
W ATTS ,
Director of Student Teaching
Presentation Session Noble 135
Fort Lewis College: Supporting and Retaining Diverse Students in Science,
Engineering, and Math
Presenters: D R .
K IM H ANNULA , Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences; A NGIE
R OCHAT , Director of Sponsored Research and Federal Relations; S USAN D ECKER ,
STEM 3 (Department of Education TRiO SSS); D R . S HERE B YRD , Biology,
Department of Education Title III SIP; D R . L ES S OMMERVILLE , Chemistry, NIH-
MARC; J ESSICA P IERCE , CO-AMP (NSF-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority
Participation); E LIZABETH M ASON , Native American Center
Lunch
Campus Update Roundtable:
Ballroom
Ballroom
COPLAC in 2020: A Vision for the Future
Off-campus Activity
Southern Ute Cultural Center/ Traffic circle outside Concert Hall and Center of Southwest Studies
Center of Southwest Studies
Raider Ridge Hike
Dinner
Traffic circle outside Concert Hall and
Center of Southwest Studies
Ballroom
Closing remarks, Gift Exchange and Entertainment by Ballet Folklorico
(Ballet Folklorico de Fort Lewis College is a dance group that embraces Hispanic culture through dancing traditional Mexican Folklore)
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C ENTURY A MERICA C LASS AND P ROFESSORS
During the fall semester 2013, COPLAC asked member institutions founded before 1914 to nominate a student for participation in the Century America Digital Liberal Arts Project. Nominees then applied and fourteen student researchers representing eleven COPLAC institutions were selected for the project for spring 2014. The students have built a digital history website that offers a snapshot of life and community at small colleges at an important time in America’s history. Using special collections and other library, campus and community resources, students researched their college communities in the year 1914, just as Europe plunged into the Great War; in spring 1917, when America entered the War; and in 1919, when a major influenza pandemic swept across the globe. A cohort of participants will present their research and newly-created digital archive here at the COPLAC conference; a second group will present at the annual meeting of the Council on Undergraduate Research in DC next weekend.
Student researchers worked under the direction of two faculty mentors: D R .
J EFF M C C LURKEN , Chair of
History at the University of Mary Washington and recipient of Virginia's State Council of Higher
Education’s 2014 Outstanding Faculty Award; and D R .
E LLEN P EARSON , Associate Professor of History at
UNC Asheville and recipient of the UNC Board of Governors 2012 Award for Excellence in Teaching; both received their PhDs from Johns Hopkins University.
The student researchers presenting at this conference are:
D ARA F ILLMORE , a Public History major at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
C HRISTOPHER H IGHTOWER , a History major at the University of Montevallo.
C OLIN N IMER , a senior from Southern Utah University majoring in History with a minor in English.
R YAN S UCY , a senior from the University of Maine-Farmington and a double major in History and
Political Science.
J ACK H YLAN , J ULIA W OOD , and L EAH T AMS , History majors from University of Mary Washington who have acted as both participants and advisors to their peers in the Century America project.
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William Mendoza
William (Bill) Mendoza was appointed as Executive Director of the White House
Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education in December 2011. Bill,
Oglala-Sicangu Lakota,grew up on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Sioux reservations in
South Dakota.
Bill has experienced, firsthand, through his professional and life experiences, the multitude of challenges facing American Indian students, educators, and tribes. In addition to being a teacher and principal, Bill has worked at the school, professional and community level to help foster leadership development and civic engagement among
American Indians. Integral to his professional and academic capacity has been his experiences as a tribal college student at Haskell Indian Nations University, Sinte
Gleska University, and Oglala Lakota College.
Bill previously served as the Deputy Director and Executive Director for the White
House Initiative on Tribal Colleges. Since his appointment in January 2011, he has provided leadership to key administration initiatives including: Executive Order 13592,
Tribal Leaders Speak – The State of Indian Education 2010 Report; State-Tribal
Education Partnership Pilot; and 2012 ED-DOI Memorandum of Understanding. Before coming to Washington, DC, Bill was working towards a Doctorate in Education
Leadership at Montana State University (MSU). He earned his Bachelor of Arts in
Humanities from Fort Lewis College in 2005 and a Master of Education from MSU in
2010.
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Fort Lewis College
Enhancing Success of Low-Income Students Through an Institutional Four-Year Graduation Initiative
Providing access to a high-quality, student-centered, residential higher education experience to students from low-income backgrounds is a special contribution to our society made by public liberal arts colleges. This role and responsibility requires us to institutionalize strategies that enhance economically disadvantaged students’ success. Fort Lewis College’s four-year graduation initiative is based on the
Complete College America premise that “time is the enemy” of student success, especially for lowincome students. This presentation will describe our campus’ initiative and review findings on how it is leveraging success of low-income students.
Presenters: C AROL S MITH , Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management and R OBIN C OLE ,
Coordinator of Strategic Communication Initiatives
Eastern Connecticut State University
A Dual College Program to Enhance Ethnic, Socioeconomic, and Regional Diversity
Partnering with urban public high schools and Quinebaug Valley Community College (QVCC), Eastern coenrolls each fall a cohort of high school graduates who have the determination and potential to succeed, but who had not planned to attend college due to extremely challenging economic and family circumstances. Students complete course work at QVCC in their first semester while taking one course at Eastern, living in Eastern's residence halls, and fully participating in campus activities. After the first semester most become full-time Eastern students. Advising, tutoring, counseling and mentoring services are provided, and all participants are assigned to on-campus jobs. This presentation will address the challenges and successes of the program.
Presenter: R HONA F REE , Provost
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Midwestern State University
Dominance, Denial, and Dialogue: Introducing Pre-Service Teachers to Non-Dominant Perspectives
Due to the demographic divide, it is increasingly important for teacher educators to help their preservice teachers engage with multiple perspectives. Educators who introduce students to non-dominant perspectives will encounter varying levels of resistance based on their students’ pre-existing exposure to counter-narratives and personal ideologies. The purpose of this study is to identify strategies from the literature that could be implemented to address pre-service teacher resistance to multiple perspectives.
As a teacher educator at a small university in Texas, the author has observed students wrestling with multiple perspectives in introductory education courses and sought to implement strategies developed from the literature. The inquiry that drives this review of the literature is to determine what strategies derived from the literature can be implemented to address pre-service teacher resistance to multiple perspectives.
Presenter: A NGELA C ARTWRIGHT L YNSKEY , Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction
Keene State College
Beyond Tolerance, Acceptance and Inclusion: Co-creating Sustainable Diversity and Multicultural
Initiatives in Higher Education
This presentation will focus on how institutions of higher learning can move beyond diversity efforts based on assimilationist and pseudo-independence stage of development inspired practices. Many of the strategies to address issues of diversity, social justice and multiculturalism stress “supporting” underrepresented students. Even though these efforts can be helpful to the student, there is a tendency to require the underrepresented students to adjust to a system deeply rooted in the dominant group narrative and worldview. Often, these strategies take the form of diversity initiatives directed at
“giving the student the skills necessary to navigate the system”. Keene State College is attempting to address all three areas of diversity (structural, diversity related initiatives, diversity interactions). The focus is not only on the underrepresented student. It is also on the system and the behavior of the individuals representing the majority groups as factors contributing to creating a more diverse community where the spirit and essence of social justice, multiculturalism and equity can be sustained.
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Presenter: D OTTIE R.
M ORRIS , Chief Officer for Diversity and Multiculturalism
University of Illinois-Springfield
Engaging Community: Using a Speaker Series to Build Partnerships and Promote Engaged Citizenship
Engaged citizenship is a core component of the General Education Curriculum at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Every undergraduate completes a 10-hour upper division core known as the Engaged
Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE). Students take course work in the categories of U.S.
Communities, Global Awareness, Engagement Experience, and Speaker Series. Speaker Series was designed to supplement the curriculum by engaging the campus and Springfield community in a dialogue that surrounds the 6 ECCE themes. Speaker Series is more than just a set of events, however: it is a one-hour course that every undergraduate takes. In the course, students attend at least 4 events, and they are charged with reflecting on issues raised by the speaker through discussion postings on
BlackBoard, including responses to other students, and through an integrative essay. The presentation will deal with practical details that may be useful to other campuses, including enrollments and tuition revenue generated, costs, logistics of event development, the syllabus and course policies, staffing of courses, and other specifics that would allow other campuses to use the presentation as a model for speaker series development or change.
Presenters: K AREN R.
M ORANSKI , Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education and K IMBERLY
C RAIG , Assistant to the Associate Vice Chancellor
Fort Lewis College
Building Community through Academic Courses
This presentation describes through explanation and pictures the Adapted Exercise and Adapted
Aquatics courses that include the participation of FLC students with Individuals with Disabilities from the
Durango community. In addition the diversity, activities, and course content of the Exercise Science
Majors Learning Community will be discussed.
Presenters: C ATHY S IMBECK , Professor of Exercise Science and E MILY H OUGHTON , Assistant Professor of
Exercise Science
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Ramapo College of New Jersey
Bringing Class into Class: Community Ethnography
First and second year students enrolled in "Social Inequality" are asked to analyze their community of residence. Initially, using census data, they develop a profile providing information about the average resident in terms of gender, marital status, income, education, occupation, type of housing, and unemployment rate. Comparing the data with that of the United States as a whole, they are able to contextualize the relative affluence or lack thereof of the community.
In the second part of the project, students interview residents, business owners and public officials about their perceptions of the community and their expectations for the future. Students are then asked to analyze the data they have collected utilizing the conceptual materials we have discussed over the course of the semester.
Understanding their own communities in the context of increasing inequality in the United States (and in both the global north and south) allows them to understand these issues in context and as structural problems.
Presenter: M ARTHA E CKER , Professor of Sociology
Fort Lewis College
Getting social with social: Using social media education to build community relationships
Fort Lewis College, like many institutions, uses social media to reach out to a large audience of prospective and current students, alumni, and supporters. But Social Media Coordinator Lindsay Nyquist also builds relationships within the community by sharing social media knowledge. Nyquist regularly offers courses to Durango area business professionals who can utilize her expertise to get on the right track with limited resources. In addition, she founded a social media collaborative, comprised of larger businesses with successful social media strategies, which compares tactics and cooperates on city-wide campaigns. By reaching beyond the higher education population, the college has become a resource for small and large businesses throughout the region.
Presenter: L INDSAY N YQUIST , Social Media & Video Coordinator
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Fort Lewis College
Scholarship “Boot Camp”: Collaboration to Support Student Success
This presentation will highlight collaboration between the Fort Lewis College Writing Program and
Writing Center and TRiO Talent Search to support high-achieving first-generation, low-income, collegebound students in crafting scholarship application essays, polishing resumes, and developing interviewing skills. The “Boot Camp” theme informs a focused, intensive event setting designed to sharpen student skills for the scholarship application season. Panelists will present an overview of the
Scholarship “Boot Camp” design from faculty, advisor, and student tutor perspectives, as well as highlight successes and learning experiences. Fort Lewis College and Talent Search have hosted the
Scholarship Boot Camp in the fall for two consecutive years, serving approximately 50 local high school students from Ignacio, Durango, Mancos, Cortez, and Pagosa Springs, and engaging seven faculty, three
Talent Search staff members, and five student tutors.
Presenters: W ENDY J AVIER , TRiO Talent Search Director; J ESSICA A DAMS , Talent Search Academic Advisor;
L AUREN D ELLE , Writing Program faculty; M ICHELLE B ONANNO , Writing Program faculty; and B ILL
M ANGRUM , Writing Program faculty
Georgia College
Navigating the Challenges of Transforming Liberal Arts Education Toward Institution Inclusive Excellence
This presentation will engage participants in candid dialogue on the challenges of creating and sustaining a culture of inclusiveness at a small public liberal arts university. Using a travel motif
(complete with road signs, construction barriers, and similar conventions) as an organizing principal, strategies and programs will be shared. Additionally, participants will have opportunity for planning their own campus navigation. Georgia College began as a Southern women’s institution and took on varying missions over time, including its present designation as the Public Liberal Arts College of
Georgia. A less diverse and more economically privileged student body emerged over the years, creating a sharp demographics contrast with the state and community in which the university resides. Given this milieu of challenges, a diversity taskforce was formed with a strategically-placed core group of committed champions who have advocated for institutional diversity infrastructure, resulting in over a
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decade of institutional assessment and campus climate studies, an office focused on campus diversity, and a changed vision.
Presenters: V ERONICA W OMACK , Director of Institutional Equity and Diversity; O LUFUNKE A.
F ONTENOT ,
Associate Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences; R OSALIE R ICHARDS , Professor of Chemistry and T SU -
M ING C HIANG , Professor of Psychology
Fort Lewis College
Town and Gown: How to build transformative community relationships
Over the past five years, Fort Lewis College has identified the development of relationships with surrounding area schools, organizations, and businesses as a strategic level activity. The Office of
Marketing and Communication manages sponsorship and engagement to help build community and drive enrollment, as well as enhance town/gown relationships. It is important to be “indispensable” so that in any environment (present or future, intellectual or economic, cultural or political), Fort Lewis
College is established as an integral partner tied to the success and viability of this area. Presenters will discuss some examples of engagement (welcome center, cycling events, partnership with Chamber of
Commerce) that build community, drive enrollment and strengthen opportunities for financial support.
Presenters: E LIZABETH B USSIAN , Business Manager, Office of Marketing and Communications and J ACK
L LEWELLYN , Executive Director, Durango Chamber of Commerce
SUNY Geneseo
Real World Geneseo: An Assessment of the Comprehensive Benefits of a Diversity-Related Program
Although diversity programs are a common feature on college campuses, rigorous assessment of these programs is often lacking. Research conducted on these programs tends to focus on one outcome, is conducted immediately after the program, and assesses the impact for one set of participants. Our project assessed the comprehensive benefits of a diversity program over time. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected prior to and approximately four months after students completed the program. Results are reported from three separate iterations of the program in order to demonstrate replicability of the outcomes. Significant changes in students’ cross-cultural competency skills, comfort
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interacting with diverse groups, comfort discussing diversity issues, attitudes toward diverse groups, and diversity-related behaviors were found. The implications of these benefits for both underrepresented students and the general student population, as well as the institution, are discussed.
Recommendations for assessment of diversity programs are provided.
Presenters: M ONICA E.
S CHNEIDER , Associate Professor of Psychology; J ULIE M.
R AO , Director of
Institutional Research; and D IANTHA B.
W ATTS , Director of Student Teaching
Fort Lewis College
Supporting and Retaining Diverse Students in Science, Engineering, and Math
The federal agencies that support education of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) students value programs that increase the diversity of STEM graduates. Fort Lewis College has received a number of grants aimed at supporting STEM students, including Department of Education Title III SIP
(Strengthening Institutions Program) and TRiO Student Support Services, NSF-STEP (STEM Talent
Expansion Program), NSF-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority participation, and NIH-MARC (Minority
Access to Research Careers). These programs have overlapping goals to support students from underrepresented ethnic groups, first-generation college students, and low-income students.
Representatives of each program, plus FLC’s Grants Office, will discuss what makes a successful proposal to these programs, what kinds of services and opportunities have been effective in retaining diverse
STEM students, and how we have collaborated to best serve the needs of our students given the disparate requirements of the various funding agencies.
Presenters: K IM H ANNULA , Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences; A NGIE R OCHAT , Director of Sponsored
Research and Federal Relations; S USAN D ECKER , STEM 3 (Department of Education TRiO SSS); S HERE B YRD ,
Biology, Department of Education Title III SIP; L ES S OMMERVILLE , Chemistry, NIH-MARC; J ESSICA P IERCE ,
CO-AMP (NSF-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation); E LIZABETH M ASON , Native American
Center
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