Running head: PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDY PROJECT

Program Development Case Study Project: Paul Robeson Volunteers for Diversity Initiative Ama P. Agumeh Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDY PROJECT Introduction Rutgers University prides itself in being ranked the number one most diverse higher education institution in the United States by US News College Ranking. As part of its quest to

promote diversity, Rutgers houses the Paul Robeson Cultural Center (PRCC) to take care of the needs of its African-American students. The PRCC, as part of its programs to promote diversity, introduced the Robeson International Science and Cultural Explorations (RISCE) program to promote cultural awareness among the students it serves. This paper proposes a new program The Paul Robeson Volunteers for Diversity Initiative that will further enhance diversity as well as cultural sensitivity among both graduate and undergraduate students who are unable to participate in RISCE and other study abroad programs due to financial and time constraints. The Paul Robeson Cultural Center Background Information Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey was founded in 1766 and has three major campuses of which Rutgers-New Brunswick is one. The Paul Robeson Cultural Center (PRCC) was established in 1969 as a response to the challenge of providing a supportive atmosphere to the increasing numbers of African-American students entering the university. It was renamed after Rutgers distinguished alumnus Paul Leroy Robeson, an African-American civil rights activist, in 1972. The PRCC is the first Cultural Center at Rutgers and it is located on the Busch Campus at New Brunswick. The PRCC fosters positive relationships of an academic, cultural and humanitarian nature within the University and surrounding communities (PRCC, 2013, para. 1). The mission of the Paul Robeson Cultural Center is to provide services and programs that engage students in active learning, build a supportive and inclusive community, support the emotional growth and personal development of students, and make a positive contribution to the

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quality of student life (PRCC Mission Statement, 2013). In recognition of the centers efforts to provide a multicultural themed education to the community at Rutgers, the PRCC received the University's annual Human Dignity Award in 2005. Organizational Structure According to Rutgers (2013) organizational chart, the PRCC is a unit under the arm of Student Affairs. Student program coordinators assist in the design and implementation of programs, data compilations and other tasks as assigned. All student coordinators report to the graduate intern. The graduate intern, in addition to supervising student workers, coordinates program activities hosted by the center and serves as an advisor to student organizations like the Black Students Union, United Black Council among others. The administrative assistant effectively manages office routines, personnel records, budgets, coordinates grants and also coordinates conferences among other tasks. The administrative assistant and the graduate intern both report directly to the director of the cultural center. The director of the PRCC in turn reports to the Director of Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance who reports to the vice chancellor of student affairs. The vice chancellor for student affairs reports to the President of the university (PRCC, 2013). The Robeson International Science and Cultural Explorations Program Komives, Lucas and McMahon (2013) highlight the importance for (college) students to develop multicultural competence and awareness positing that it helps them to grow beyond seeing the world only in their own terms to seeing the legitimate views of others (p. 211). In view of this fact, and to help the center achieve its goal to provide opportunities for all students to receive a culturally diverse and enriching educational experience, the center has programs designed specifically to develop multicultural awareness among students: the Sankofa Movie

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDY PROJECT Series which is geared at educating students about their roots; the annual rites of passage ceremony which recognizes and awards graduating African-American and Hispanic students; and Black History Month programs. The PRCC also values the importance of an international

education and service learning experiences for students as it helps students gain understanding of different cultures, leadership skills, service orientation, maturity, and tolerance for ambiguity (Forum on Education Abroad, 2008, p. 8). However, the center understands that most of the students it serves, who are mainly minorities and students from low economic backgrounds are unable to financially afford to participate in traditional study abroad programs available to students of Rutgers University. The PRCC therefore introduced the Robeson International Science and Cultural Explorations (RISCE) program to provide more benefits of study abroad programs to the students it serves. Challenges with RISCE The Robeson International Science and Cultural Explorations (RISCE) program is an allexpense-paid trip, which was established to provide the opportunity for a specified number of low income minority students who are in good academic standing to travel abroad to gain intercultural awareness. This year in December, RISCE will send 15 students to Kenya as a way to introduce students to building intercultural competency. According to Bennetts (2011) developmental model of intercultural sensitivity (DMIS), cultural knowledge and contact may not lead to multicultural competence. She continues to mention, however, that an intentional and developmentally sequenced program design that provides anxiety reduction, facilitating learning before, during and after intercultural experiences, depth of intercultural experiences, language immersion and the willingness of the mind lead to intercultural competence.

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDY PROJECT Although the RISCE program follows Bennetts (2011) DMIS, it is a one-time trip abroad that only immerses participating students in a different culture from their own. The

program offers students the opportunity to do volunteer work at community centers, tour cultural attractions, attempt to learn a language and other activities within a period of two to three weeks. According to Bennetts (2011) DMIS, three weeks is too short a time to build intercultural awareness among students even though it may lead to reduction of stereotypes. However, considering financial restraints and time availability, the PRCC will not be in the position to extend the time period for students to stay longer to experience total cultural and language immersion to build cultural competency. Also, the risks involved in sending students out of the United States expose the institution, as well as staff of the PRCC to severe legal liabilities. There have been court cases involving discrimination, sexual assaults, negligence and institutions duty of care while students participate in cultural trips organized by institutions of learning. Examples are Fay v. Thiel College (2001); Bird v. Lewis & Clark College (2002); Sherman v. University of North Carolina at Wilmington (2008), among others. Since there are only fifteen spots available, not everyone who desires the benefits of an international experience will be selected to go on this trip. This poses yet another challenge to the RISCE program. The Paul Robeson Volunteers for Diversity Initiative I am proposing aims to mitigate the limitations of the RISCE program. The Paul Robeson Volunteers for Diversity Initiative (Study Within) Sobania and Braskamp define study away as a means of integrating the broad range of experiences students encounter when they are engaged in either domestic or international offcampus learning experiences (as cited in Engberg, 2013, p. 467). The Paul Robeson Volunteers for Diversity Initiative (PRVDI) is based on the notion of study within. I will define study

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within as a way to integrate global experiences students encounter while abroad by engaging in similar experiences within an institution without having to travel abroad. Mission The Paul Robeson Volunteers for Diversity Initiative is a program designed to help students who are interested in experiencing and learning about cultures other than their own but have no means of funding or the time to travel outside of the United States to enhance their global learning and holistic development. Meaning that whether a student is first generation, low income, underrepresented, or is privileged socioeconomically, they can still participate in this program to develop tolerance or acceptance for diversity. The goal of the PRVD initiative is to develop intercultural sensitivity among students without traveling overseas. Program Details The PRVD initiative will be a collaborative partnership with the PRCC. The program will be in two parts. One part is structured such that the PRCC identifies host families within the Rutgers community, who have children between the ages of six to seventeen (6-17) years old who need help with their school work. These families would need to be first generation immigrants who have cultural backgrounds completely different from the American culture and are willing to welcome students into their homes to tutor their children in return for an opportunity to gain cultural immersion, as described by Bennett (2011). Prior to the cultural immersion program, there will be a stimulating lecture or movie series on diversity and the journey towards gaining intercultural competence. This will be the other half of the program. The expectation would be to bring in resource persons who are well versed in the issues of diversity to prepare participants for the journey ahead. This part of the

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDY PROJECT program is expected to reduce any anxiety participants may have prior to the actual cultural immersion program.

Students would be placed in communities they are interested in learning about and will be required to participate in activities that will lead to them gaining cultural knowledge such as learning customary salutations in the target familys language, types of food, non-verbal cues for communication, a dance, song in the targeted language etc. The program would be expected to last for a period of six weeks during the summer. This timing will be convenient because during the summer, most students do not take classes hence, they would not have to combine regular academic work with the program. This way, students can have undivided attention while they learn to enhance their global perspectives. Students would also be required to dedicate ten hours per week to the host families by tutoring their children and learning about their culture as well. At the end of each week, participants will meet at the Paul Robeson Cultural Center to reflect on their experiences and share what they have learned. Students would be asked to consider questions like what theyve learned which they did not know already, new words they learned etc. Students will also be required to keep journals of their experiences in order to keep track of their progress. By the end of the program, students should have dedicated about 60 hours of their time tutoring children, gaining intercultural knowledge and contact with the target group, while developing their cognitive knowledge, social interactions and sense of self. Budget and Staffing Needs Because budgets are critical to the implementation of a new program and financial resources are limited, collaboration between departments will be necessary so that existing resources could be reallocated to run this program.

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDY PROJECT Transporting students to and from placement sites will be provided by the center. The program will make use of the PRCCs van and its drivers in transporting participants. Students

would therefore need to meet at the PRCC to be transported to placement sites. The van will then pick them up to be brought back to the center. Advertising will be done electronically through student emails as well as the various social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and the PRCC website to identify interested students as well as host families. Electronic advertising avoids wasting papers and saves trees. Information sessions will also be held to introduce the program to prospective student participants. Interested families will have to go through background checks to make sure that students are placed in safe environments. All information collected about families will remain confidential. With regards to staffing needs, the program would need a coordinator to manage the program. The center will utilize the services of the graduate intern together with undergraduate student coordinators to run the program, with the director serving as the advisor. Student drivers will be assigned to transport participants to their respective placement sites. Areas of Concern Burch (2010) identifies certain risks and liabilities associated with running service learning programs. In the past, students have sued their institutions responsible for service learning programs on the basis of negligence and duty to protect students from acts of third parties. The PRVD initiative qualifies to be classified under service learning programs. The National Service Learning Clearinghouse (n.d.) defines service learning as a teaching and learning approach that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDY PROJECT (para.1). Sending students to individual homes to tutor children in return for intercultural experiences is a huge risk, and program designers need to find ways to minimize the risks of liabilities involved, hence, the requirement for host families to go through background checks. Background checks ensure that students are placed in safe homes to prevent injuries such as sexual harassment and other criminal activities. The issue of financial constraints also arises

when the program requires students to stay on campus during the summer. Students will have to live in campus housing and the PRCC cannot afford to ask students to absorb these costs. Doing that would undermine the whole mission of the program to develop multicultural sensitivity among students from low economic backgrounds. This financial issue therefore becomes a drawback of the program. Consequently, it is proposed that a meeting is scheduled with housing and residential life to discuss the financial responsibilities, and how best they can help. A qualitative method of assessment will be used to determine the effectiveness at the end of the program as the intention of the assessment is not to make any predictions about the programs effectiveness (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007, p. 54). Also, a qualitative assessment would help us arrive at conclusions based on participants perspectives. These methods will generate rich data that will reveal participants perspectives. Open ended interview questions such as tell me about your experience as well as document analysis (journals written on site) will be used to collect data so that students can talk about experiences in their own words. (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007, pp. 64, 103). The program will be deemed effective depending on the responses and themes found after coding. Conclusion According to Engberg (2013), students who participate in international service learning programs develop their cognitive abilities, intrapersonal identities and interpersonal relationships

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDY PROJECT through their willingness to learn about different cultures, their social interactions and assessments of their own cultures with regards to the target cultural group. Engberg (2013)

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continues to mention that incorporating both service learning and study abroad experiences into curriculum can facilitate holistic student development and optimize their preparation as global citizens (p. 478). Although students who participate in the PRVD initiative do not move away from their home countries to foreign ones, it is expected that they will still have an increase in multicultural competency the same way their counterparts who go on traditional study abroad and international service learning do. In fact, the most committed participants have the opportunity to have a much better cultural immersion and are more likely to develop intercultural competence given the relatively long duration of the program.

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDY PROJECT References Bennet, J. (2011). A developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. Retrieved from IDR Institute website http://www.idrinstitute.org(pdf). Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. (2007). Qualitative Research for Education: An introduction to

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theories and methods (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. Engberg, M.E. (2013). The influence of study away experiences on global perspective-taking. Journal of College Student Development, 54(5), 466-480. Forum on Education Abroad. (2008). Standards of good practice for education abroad. Retrieved October 23, 2013, from http://www.forumea.org/documents/ForumEAStandardsGoodPrctMarch2008_000.pdf Komives, S., Lucas, N., & McMahon, T. (2013). Exploring leadership: For college students who want to make a difference. (3rd, Ed.) San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Rutgers. (2013). Paul Robeson Cultural Center. Retrieved October 18, 2013, from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey: http://prcc.rutgers.edu/about-us/