Leading in a Diverse & Multicultural Environment
PROGRAM GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Overall Goals
The program is designed to support the College’s strategic goal of building & supporting a
diverse, respectful & inclusive community that reflects Saint Mary’s mission & core values.
The program’s training goals are as follows:
 To create shared commitment & understanding of what it means to lead in diverse &
multicultural environment
 To build skills and practices for leading in a diverse and multicultural environment
 To build capacity of leaders to model inclusive behaviors & to coach others in
fostering inclusive actions and building multicultural competencies
Desired Outcome: Over time Campus leaders model inclusive behaviors in their actions
and decisions, assess their behaviors & decisions on an ongoing basis, and continue to
grow in this process
Learning Objectives
MODULE 1 – Foundations for Leading in a Diverse & Multicultural Environment
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Connect the concept of Inclusive Excellence to your role as a leader at Saint Mary’s
College
Explore the demographic changes at SMC & the surrounding area
Explore the commonalities & differences across the various dimensions of diversity
Increase awareness of the role that power and privilege plays in society, in an
organization, and in one’s life experiences
Increase understanding of how cultural variables & style differences impact
communication & relationships
Use tools for ongoing self assessment of strengths & areas of growth for leading in a
diverse & multicultural environment
MODULE 2 – Communication Skills Using the Lenses of Diversity
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Enhance communication skills of
o Listening
o Dialogue
o Inclusion, recognizing that miscommunication or lack of communication can lead
to exclusion
And their practical use at Saint Mary’s
Examine how your own values, perceptions & expectations about diversity affect
o the assumptions & decisions you make
o the way you behave and communicate with others and
o what you do at Saint Mary’s
Bridge differences by building a common ground of understanding
Goals & Objectives for Leading in a Diverse & Multicultural Environment – 11-10-08
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MODULE 3 – Recruitment & Retention Using the Lenses of Inclusive Excellence & Diversity
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Increase understanding of how cultural variables and personal & organizational
biases impact recruitment & retention
Enhance skills related to the hiring process
o Recruitment strategies
o Screening & ranking
o Interviewing questions & assessing assumptions
o Selection of candidates
Enhance skills related to the retention process
o Orienting employee to the job & organization realities
o Communicating expectations
o Assessing the employee’s success & development and providing ongoing
feedback & coaching
MODULE 4 – Conflict Resolution
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Analyze conflict by looking at both the problems and the emotions
Examine conflict styles from individual, intercultural, organizational and leadership
perspectives
Understand the concept of conflict, including its destructive & constructive elements
Practice conflict resolution skills in situations where there are diverse values,
cultures & styles for approaching conflict
MODULE 5 – Roundtable Review
 Individually share learning goals and action plans for committing to inclusive
excellence at Saint Mary’s and discuss
o the efforts they have made so far,
o the challenges they have faced, and
o the results they have noticed
 Highlight benefits of whole program
Goals & Objectives for Leading in a Diverse & Multicultural Environment – 11-10-08
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