To: David Marado From: Gretchen McCall, Kristin Black, Chris Chambers, Taylor Patterson Re: Feasibility Report

Date: 11/18/2012 Letter of Transmittal On behalf of the team, I am pleased to contribute the following feasibility report regarding Miami Universitys diversity issues. This feasibility report provides primary and secondary research, several alternative solutions, and a recommendation for the diversity problem. We made sure to find valid evidence that diversity is, in fact, a beneficial asset for a university to have for the students, as well as the faculty. We also applied criteria, conducted surveys, and completed interviews to find the best alternative according to the student body and other procedures that have worked in the past. From this research, the team has decided that the most feasible solution is to hold a campus-wide multicultural event to increase integration. If the diversity affairs office has any questions, please feel free to contact the team at any time. We are willing to work further with the university to make sure this issue is addressed.

Feasibility Report on Increased Campus Diversity

ENG 313: Technical Writing Fall Semester 2012 Lecture: Mr. David Marado Gretchen McCall, Kristin Black, Chris Chambers, Taylor Patterson November 18, 2012

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The team proposes that Miami University holds a large cultural event to increase integration of diversity on Miamis campus. Miami University has been criticized for its lack of diversity among the student body despite efforts to increase minority population and integration. These efforts include small cultural events, global classes, and others. However, no efforts have prevailed in making Miami University the diverse campus that people desire. Studies show that diversity is known to increase adaptability, broaden service range, and increase multiple perspectives leading to a larger knowledge pool. The team came up with the following alternatives to improve diversity and, therefore, improve the student body: 1 Hold a community cultural event for the entire student body 2 Create a mandatory study abroad immersion program for students returning from study abroad experiences 3 Increase involvement among IFC, NPHC, and Panhel Greek life organizations 4 Implement diversity into the curriculum so that students experience diversity issues in everyday life We recommend the first alternative because it will reach the majority of the student body and is a desirable experience for all of the student body. It is also the most likely to actually increase diversity, while the others are more likely to fail.

TABLE OF CONTENTS E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y ....................................................................................... 3 T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S ................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. I N T R O D U C T I O N ........................................................................................................ 5 O V E R V I E W O F A L T E R N A T I V E S ..................................................................... 5 C R I T E R I A ...................................................................................................................... 9 E V A L U A T I O N ............................................................................................................ 10 C O N C L U S I O N ............................................................................................................ 11 R E C O M M E N D A T I O N ............................................................................................. 13 R E F E R E N C E S ............................................................................................................ 14 S U R V E Y Q U E S T I O N S ........................................................................................... 16

INTRODUCTION Miami University has received a D- when describing the diversity on campus (Miami university--oxford, 2011). Although overall Miami University is a good college, one of its few weak points is the lack of diversity. It has been said about Miami that its the lack of diversity and occasional ignorance that kills the mood (Miami university--oxford, 2011). The object of this report is to address Miami University's diversity problem and propose a way to integrate diversity on Miamis Oxford campus. The Miami University Diversity department has the ability to implement a program that would provide a solution to this problem. Many studies have shown that a diverse institution has positive effects on both minority and majority students, including overall satisfaction and involvement with their institutions and their academic growth (Humphreys). Some proposed solutions to Miami Universitys lack of diversity integration throughout campus are encouraging studying abroad and requiring a re-entry course, requiring a multicultural course, create an event feed on the MU email, or creating a multicultural event available to the entire campus. To investigate these alternatives research was conducted on the results of implementing these solutions on other campuses. The time students spend at college is meant to prepare them for the lives in the business world, hard skills are taught, and mandated in many cases, by an accreditation board, so that we are able to adequately do our job once we leave. One area that Miami lacks in is diversity. A college with a low diversity level will not create culturally aware students ready to confront the ever-changing business landscape. Because the world is becoming more connected, due to the Internet and transportation advances it is more important than ever to stress the importance of diversity at colleges. Some benefits of diversity include increased adaptability, broader service range, multiple perspectives leading to a larger knowledge pool, and differing backgrounds (Greenberg). Knowing these benefits, we decided to investigate possible options Miami could carry out in order to increase diversity, diversity awareness, and integration on campus. OVERVIEW OF ALTERNATIVES Community Cultural Event A proposed option for the educational system of Miami University to host a cultural diversity event and integrate this event throughout campus. A solution to make Miami students more accepting of diverse students and their customs. The application of these students in real life to exposure in different cultural settings will encourage an extraordinary experience which is expected to be beneficial. A Cultural celebration that is a participatory entertainment that doesnt exclude any race or culture. Exposing students to pleasurable activities in different cultures can expose them to a beneficial perspective of cultural diversity. This can include activities, general customs, dances, art, history, and publications. According to Lee et al., they explain that community celebrations have one or more themes such as enjoyment, fun, and relief from everyday life; bringing people Introduction, Overview of Alternatives 5

together and creating a sense of community; building community; showcasing people, the arts, cultural traditions, community assets; educating through providing opportunities for skill development or personal transformation; creative expression; social healing, for example, Aboriginal reconciliation; valuing diversity by providing exposure to a range of ethnic cultures and challenging racist values; social action, in particular advocacy for the most disadvantaged within the community; and the interconnection between self, community, spirit and the earth(Insun). This passage stresses that through cultural celebration, the truly disadvantaged people will help eliminate negative prejudices. Next, student diversity affairs at Upstate in South Carolina stated that students will better understand the importance of healthy and positive social relationships with others and use Multicultural Affairs as a clearinghouse to campus, local and national resources on issues related to diversity(University of South Carolina, 2012). Implementing this creative event into a campus wide promotion of diversity will make a stronger student body in terms of communication and education. Lastly, Lee et al. states, Although cultural expression and preservation form important parts of a minority cultures identity, minority cultures struggle to collectively express, share and thus preserve their cultural heritage in light of a system and structure that favors the dominant population and culture(Insun). This reinforces that instead of taking a rather narrow-minded dominant view, the student body as a whole can gain an appreciation for different skills and mindsets brought to the table. Multicultural events enable students to unknowingly benefit from new experiences that could potentially add beneficial tools to the future arsenal of all students when faced with extreme workforce diversity in the future. Study Abroad Immersion Program Study Abroad is one of Miami Universitys proud accomplishments. According to Miami Universitys statistics, currently 41 percent of students study abroad during their undergraduate career and Miami University has been ranked 2nd in the United States for undergraduate student involvement in study abroad. There are over 350 co-sponsored programs that students are able to participate in, as well as sponsored and exchange programs (Miami University). Even further, Miami University even has its own campus abroad in Luxembourg called the Miami University John E. Dolibois Center and offers many study abroad programs through the university itself. Studying abroad immerses students into diversity situations, opening their eyes to new people, places, cultures, and ideas. This can often lead to culture shock to the student when they first reach the country. This can be solved by keeping in contact with friends and family at home and developing routines. Usually, people will learn to adapt to their new environment in a matter of weeks and truly embrace their new experiences. However, returning home can cause an incident called Reverse Culture Shock. After traveling abroad, many students want to share their experiences with their family and friends but may be disappointed in their lack of interest in their life-changing experiences. It may also be a shock to discover how family and friends have

Overview of Alternatives 6

moved on and changed while the student was gone. These realizations, as well as the students new realizations from their experience, may lead the student to resent their home country, become depressed, or alienate themselves (ABCNews). This can lead to a lack of integration of diversity because the student may reach to anything familiar to try and become assimilated back into the university. Transitioning classes have been proven to help with these issues and help the student to adapt more easily (Miami University). Also, studies show that networking with people abroad has proven to help diversity problems (ABCNews). Using this information, we have come up with one alternative solution to Miamis diversity issue: require students that have recently studied abroad to enroll in a re-entry course. This class would include adaptation strategies, presentations about diverse cultures, and the importance of diversity, among other related topics. Miami University currently offers two classes, IDS 156 Study Abroad Reentry Seminar and ATH 484 Beyond the Field Experience: Processing Cultural Adjustment. These courses intend to help students integrate their study abroad experience into Oxfords campus. However, these are not mandatory and many students choose not to take these courses. If a mandatory course was offered, students would learn how to use what they have learned from abroad experiences to accept and embrace diversity at Miami. Increasing Involvement among IFC, NPHC, and Panhel Miami Universitys Greek system constitutes a large part of campus life, with about a third of the student body involved in more than 50 fraternities and sororities (Miami university-oxford, 2011). There are three different governing bodies within the Greek communities at Miami University, the Interfraternal Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council, and Panhel. Each council governs a different type of organization. The Interfraternal Council governs thirty fraternities located on Miamis Oxford campus. The NPHC is the governing body of Miamis traditionally African American fraternities and sororities, which currently consists of 4 sororities and 3 fraternities. Finally, Panhel is the governing body of sixteen sororities. The panhellenic sororities and IFC fraternities at Miami lack the amount of diversity that is seen throughout the NPHC organizations. This lack of diversity has been identified as a problem at other universities, including The University of Pennsylvania and the University of Alabama. Penns Greek life has been described as really not diverse at all (Anzilotti, 2011). Statistics show that groups such as African American women report lower numbers in the Greek system than in the overall community (Anzilotti, 2011). The Greek community at the University of Alabama was discussed by Author Paul Loeb during a campus event. He spoke about the need to eliminate the racial segregation at the University, which he sees exemplified in the allwhite Greek system and Student Government Association (Smith, 2011). These other universities have the same diversity problems that Miami University is facing and the solutions they have implemented may help reduce Miamis lack of involvement among organizations. The University of Pennsylvania has tried to bridge the gap between fraternities and sororities by organizing mixers between the two different types of organizations. Since this has been

Overview of Alternatives 7

successful, to continue bridging this gap they plan on joining together for philanthropy events (Anzilotti, 2011). The solution proposed by Paul Loeb is to actually increase diversity within every organization on campus and also increase the interactions between Greeks and nonGreeks. Although Greek life is very prominent at Miami University, there is very little interactions between the organization under the three governing bodies- IFC, NPHC, and Panhel. Since similar problems are seen at University of Pennsylvania and University of Alabama, similar solutions may be effective at Miami. By increasing the interactions between the different types of organizations, students will become more aware of the benefits of a more diverse student body and benefit individually. Implementing Diversity Into Curriculum In order to increase diversity on campus, it would be both convenient and beneficial to start in the classroom. It would be convenient because, whereas with cultural events attendance is optional, by implementing diversity issues and segments into the curriculum students would inevitably be exposed merely by attending class. In the fields of engineering and business, for example, in the curriculum is a dedicated portion to making ethical decision and analyzing case studies to learn from, this would be the same form a diversity portion of the curriculum would take. In some classes, such as a history class, diversity is easier to blend into the already planned class schedule. In these classes open discussions would be a viable way to examine diversity and its positive effects on people and organizations. In classes such as a technical engineering class diversity topics are more difficult to introduce fluidly. In classes like this, a group project which required a certain amount of diversity per group, whether this be diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, or engineering discipline, by working with a diverse group the benefits would be easy to see how diversity allowed for more perspectives when solving problems. In each class requiring reflection papers would force students to critically analyze diversitys positive effects. Rather than merging diversity into a normal class, Miami could also require students to take a multicultural course, at a minimum during their freshman year. A study conducted at the University of Cailfornia-Berkerley showed that a multicultural course had a greater appreciation of works of culture in different societies. By implementing diverse topics directly into the curriculum students are given the opportunity to increase their cultural awareness and the school becomes more appealing to underrepresented groups because diversity is being stressed as an important avenue of student development. Another study showed that students whose professors included racial and ethnic materials reported a higher level of satisfaction with their college experience (Humphreys). There are many benefits to increasing diversity on college campuses, including increased recruitment, increased retention and increased satisfaction of college courses. According to Ten Core Ingredients for Fostering Campus Diversity Success, key elements to include in campus

Overview of Alternatives 8

diversity plans are retention, uneven graduation rates among different diversity groups, and overall satisfaction of college experience. Based on this, one can see how a diversity awareness program in the classroom could be advantageous in terms of both student growth and preparation for the business would. CRITERIA The criteria were the specific questions and goals we set to rate the success of our alternatives. In some cases the criteria shows the idea is not feasible, because costs are too high. It will also show which alternative is more desired, if costs were lower on one compared to another we would be more interested in the cheaper alternative (based only on the first criteria). The following criteria were chosen to compare the alternative solutions for Miami Universitys diversity issues. The chosen suggestion was based off of the following: 1. Is it affordable to implement our idea? Because Miami will be less willing to pursue ideas that are more expensive so keeping the costs of our programs low is important. 2. Is the idea desirable? Desirable in this case mostly refers to students, if the idea is not attractive or desirable to them they will be less likely to take part in its success. 3. Is it possible for the university to implement the idea? We need alternatives that are feasible for the university to implement; increasing the awareness of diversity on campus is easier than changing the entire marketing plan for the admissions office. 4. Will the implementation help make the university a better place? Using now as a benchmark we would like university satisfaction and retention to increase due to our program. 5. Will the chosen tactic improve integration of minorities on Miami Universitys campus? So far, it has not. However, a more aggressive approach to minority planning and involvement may allow for better results in the future. 6. Will the implementation help make the university a more diverse place? A new era of globalization is upon us, therefore making it important to have an academic institution that reflects the world into which the graduates will enter. So, hopefully yes. 7. Will the idea affect a majority of the university? That would be ideal, as it will take the majority (in our case mostly Caucasian and wealthy) to make the minority feel welcomed.

Criteria 9

EVALUATION Multicultural Event This tactic could be very beneficial for students that are willingly open to experience new perspectives. A campus-wide event that is well-promoted will improve integration of minorities into campus at a reasonable rate if held annually. According to an interview with Dr. Ronald B. Scott, the multicultural event Global Rhythms is held annually as a symbolic worldwide event in which different cultures of the student body came together and formed a cohesive bond through music (Scott). Fundraisers, alumni donations, and further approval of the event prove possible in the future. College students are looking for things to do and be entertained with, so the multicultural event will attract many students with the proper approach to advertisement. The institution will produce a more diverse output of students every year this multicultural event is hosted. This would help promote a more visible minority culture at the school and therefore promote the influx of more culturally diverse students, as they would feel more comfortable. When implemented, a multicultural event impacts all different areas of the student body who choose to attend. More decisions will be faced by students everyday regarding their diverse environment and how they treat what is around them. The idea may very well affect the majority of students if advertised in a way that is entertaining and informative. Further promotional approaches in classrooms will also help events like Global Rhythms expand and be more prevalent in the future. Study Abroad Immersion Program This tactic could be very beneficial for students coming back from abroad, as well as the people they encounter. Because 41% of undergraduates study abroad, this program would not directly reach a majority of the school. However, because the 41% will be encountering others, this program has the possibility to indirectly reach a majority of the campus. Learning how to work with different people is a valuable skill for anyone and studying abroad is a great way to appreciate diversity. This will make the university a better and more diverse place by allowing study abroad students to not forget everything that they learned abroad, but use it in their everyday lives. Because some transition classes are already offered by the university, the cost of this implementation should be minimal. The university would probably have to pay for more class sections and for the redesign of the course, but these costs would be minimal when compared to some other tactics. This is a desirable idea because, even though those who study abroad may not expect to get reverse culture shock, this will be a preventative action. Therefore, the student will be less likely to feel depressed or alienated when arriving back at the university. It will make the transition easier for students and allow them to get the most out of their college experience. This may be slightly difficult to implement due to the fact that the class would be mandatory. With complex class schedules and costs, this may discourage people from studying Evaluation 10

abroad. However, if the course was made to be a small number of credits or possibly a sprint course, the possibility of this implementation rises greatly. Increasing Involvement among IFC, NPHC, and Panhel This tactic would benefit affiliated students by increasing the interactions between the more diverse and the less diverse organizations. These interactions may increase students interest in joining more diverse organizations that they were not originally interested in. It would increase students understanding and appreciation of diversity and also increase their understanding of the importance of increased diversity. An increase in diversity on Miamis campus as well as an increase of integration among minorities and non-minorities would be beneficial to the entire campus and make it a better place to attend school. Since the Greek community only consists of a third of Miamis student population, the entire student body would not be affected by this tactic. Therefore, a better tactic would be to implement a solution that affects more than a third of Miamis student population so more people will benefit. Implementing Diversity Into Curriculum This strategy would improve integration of minorities because it would purposefully put minority members into groups with members of other demographic groups. This program would cost the university very little money. The biggest expense would be diversity training, if needed, for professors to undergo before teaching about diversity in the classroom. This could be done in a span of a couple days led by either the Diversity Affairs department at Miami or by an outside source; because this is the only requirement this idea is very possible to do. While the idea might not be desirable from a students perspective, because it is more information to retain, from the perspective of the school, it is very desirable because a more diverse and accepting school leads to more regional, or national, awareness and applicants from minority groups. By educating students about diversity issues the school would, most likely, become a better place because minority groups would feel more accepted and all students would be more sensitive to cultural differences. If this program was successful, Miami, as a whole, would be a much better place, in terms of diversity, and would hopefully climb up from the D- given by US Weekly. CONCLUSION As well as analyzing the results according to the criteria, a survey was also conducted to see how the students felt about these alternatives. The alternative believed to have the greatest effect was a campus-wide event followed sequentially by integration of diversity in the classroom, a mandatory Return from study abroad program, increasing Greek integration, and finally an online simulation. These results were taken into consideration when choosing the best alternative. The team also compared the criteria of each alternative to each other with certain criteria holding more weight. The most important criteria included cost, desirability, and

Evaluation, Conclusion 11

reachability to the majority of campus. Of course the other criteria were held as important, but these were the topics most discussed. Unfortunately, faults in the criteria led to automatic rejection of some alternatives. Increasing involvement in diverse Greek life organizations and creating a study abroad immersion program would affect the campus. However, the majority of students would not reap the benefits of these implementations. This projects goal is to integrate all of Miami, not just the Greek life or study abroad students. This led to the elimination of these two options as the chosen alternative. However, integrating diversity into the classroom or hosting a campus-wide event would affect everyone at the university, students and faculty alike. One drawback of the event is the fact that is on a volunteer basis. It would most likely attract people who are already interested in diversity rather than the people who need educated about it the most. When integrating diversity into the classroom, this is not an issue. Also, to make the event a success, the diversity will need funds that it does not currently have access to while integration into the classroom would be relatively inexpensive for the university. However, a voluntary event is much more desirable for students than another topic to worry about in the classroom. This is shown by the survey as well. However, surprisingly, these two options were very close in the survey depicted by the graph below. The lower the ranking, the more students agreed to the alternatives success.

Figure 1. This graph shows the results taken from a survey taken by Miami University students and staff. It displays the average rankings chosen by survey takers with the smaller values representing a more beneficial technique for integration, and larger values representing a less beneficial technique.

Conclusion 12

RECOMMENDATION Using the criteria and survey, the team compared the results as shown in the evaluation and conclusion. From these analyses, the team has decided that it is feasible to implement a diversity program into Miami Universitys curriculum. We feel that this is the best option out of all of the alternatives by reaching all of Miamis students and faculty, being cost efficient, and successfully educated the student body about why diversity in life is important.

Recommendation 13

REFERENCES

Anzilotti, E. (2011, March 31). Greek Community Faces Lack of Diversity. The Daily Pennsylvanian. Retrieved from http://www.thedp.com/article/2011/03/greek_community_faces_lack_of_diversity City of Oxford. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.cityofoxford.org/Files/GeneralCharacteristics.pdf Greenberg, J. (2004) Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions. Ezinarticles. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Diversity-in-the-Workplace:Benefits,-Challenges-and-Solutions&id=11053 Humphreys, D. (1998). The Impact of Diversity on College Students:The Latest Research. Retrieved from http://www.diversityweb.org/research_and_trends/research_evaluation_impact/benefits_o f_diversity/impact_of_diversity.cfm Miami University. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.miami.muohio.edu/about-miami/history-and-traditions/historicaltimeline/index.html Miami University. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.miami.muohio.edu/about-miami/diversity/snapshot/index.html Miami University-Oxford (2011). U.S. News. Retrieved from http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/miami-university-o xford-7104 Scott, Dr Ronald, B. Implemented Diversity Plan. Christopher Chambers (Interviewer). (11/12/2012). Smith, T. (2011, September 22). Greeks Should Encourage Diversity. The Crimson White. Retrieved from http://cw.ua.edu/2011/09/22/greeks-should-encourage-diversity/ The Key Characteristics of Multicultural Festivals: A Critical Review of the Literature. Manuscript Submitted for Publication, School of Tourism, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Austrailia. Retrieved from

References 14

http://www.eventsandfestivalsresearch.com/files/proceedings/LEE ARCODIA LEE FINAL.pdf

Thomas, D. A. (2004). Diversity as strategy. Harvard Business Review Harvard Business Review, 1-11. Retrieved from http://www.tedchilds.com/files/HBRDiversityStrategy04 University of South Carolina. (2012). Multicultural program: Benefits . USC. Retrieved from http://www.uscupstate.edu/studentaffairs/multicultural/default.aspx?id=8994

References 15

SURVEY QUESTIONS Rate your answers from 1 to 5: 1. Miami University has a diverse campus. 1 2 3 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral 2. Miami University has a diversity issue. 1 2 3 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral

4 Agree

5 Strongly Agree

4 Agree

5 Strongly Agree

3. You feel that you are sometimes excluded or treated differently than others because of your race, sexual orientation, or gender. 1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 4. You feel that you sometimes treat others differently (intentionally or unintentionally) due to their race, sexual orientation, or gender. 1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 5. Diversity is beneficial for learning. 1 2 Strongly Disagree Disagree

3 Neutral

4 Agree

5 Strongly Agree

Answer YES or NO for the following questions. 1. Is it possible to integrate communities that seem to be separated due to minorities? YES NO If so, do you think it is possible for Miami to become a more integrated community? YES NO 2. Do you think hosting large events that encourage integration within the Miami student body would improve diversity integration? YES NO 3. Do you think a Return from Study Abroad program would help students take what they have learned about diversity abroad, and incorporate that within their daily lives at the university?

Survey Questions 16

YES

NO

4. Do you think that a required online class or simulation would help integration on Miamis campus? YES NO 5. Do you think integrating diversity into courses would help improve the universitys diversity? YES NO 6. Do you think that getting Panhellenic Association, IFC, and NHPC (the womens, mens, and African Americans Greek communities) more involved with each other would improve Miamis diversity integration? YES NO

Please answer the following questions: Gender? _____ Male _____ Female Ethnicity? _____ American Indian or Alaska Native _____ Asian _____ Black or African American _____ Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander _____ White How are you affiliated with Miami? _____ Student _____ Faculty _____ Staff _____ Not affiliated _____ Other Please specify your age in years? ___________________ Thank you for taking this survey! Your participation is greatly appreciated.

Survey Questions 17