County College of Morris

Case Study - Spring 2006

History and Context

In the late 1980s, County College of Morris adopted a new Visions and Values Statement including a Commitment to Diversity.  This Statement emphasizes the need to “increase the enrollment and success of ethnic minorities,” “maintain a campus climate that encourages multicultural conversations, “ and “consolidate diversity initiatives.”  In addition, the Curriculum Committee adopted in the mid-1990s the criteria for Diversity/Global Perspective general education recommended by the New Jersey Academic Officers Association.  Thirty-five courses in 9 disciplines were selected as meeting those criteria.  Moreover, all Liberal Arts degree curricula require a diversity certified course.

To pursue its commitment to diversity, CCM implemented minority recruitment and retention efforts, created a standing Diversity Committee, and established outreach programs for minorities and partnerships with local schools and community organizations. Specific actions included the dedication of 75% of unrestricted private scholarship funds raised by the CCM Foundation to minority student aid and the successful pursuit of National Science Foundation Scholarship funds to attract underrepresented populations to science, math, and technical careers. An ongoing diversity dialogue was sustained by standing committee through diversity awareness activities, such as films series and community oriented events focused on cultural appreciation, most of which occurred in the late 1990s and early the new millennium.

By 2002, CCM leadership and faculty felt that it was time to move forward on their commitment to diversity. As the only public higher education institution within Morris County, CCM should be a hub for cross cultural exchange and cross class relationships. CCM is situated to act as a central location for learning opportunities for both students and the wider community in order to help develop healthier cross cultural relationships.  As Morris County’s ethnic enclaves grow, as CCM’s student body grows more diverse, and as the realities of economic and social globalization loom larger, it is imperative that its diversity education take a new direction.  With support from The Bildner Family Foundation through the New Jersey Campus Diversity Initiative in 2002, this new direction became a reality.

Campus Diversity Initiative Model 2002-2006

The heart of County College of Morris’ New Jersey Campus Diversity Initiative was Divisional Task Forces. The task forces conducted self assessment of how diversity and global awareness has been incorporated into existing courses and degree programs.  With a baseline established, task forces were charged with identifying strategies for building on existing efforts to integrate diversity and global awareness instruction into every degree program offered by the College. Complementing the self assessment were ongoing faculty awareness seminars and an annual summer curriculum enhancement workshops to assist faculty with enhancing their courses and pedagogy.

Early results from the self assessment revealed considerable resistance to the concept of infusing diversity into the curriculum.  By the third year (2005), much of this resistance had dissipated. The shift in focus over the three years, from top-down activities in the beginning to grassroots activities at the end, helped the CCM community take ownership of ‘diversity’ as a concept.  This transition seemed to be fueled by opportunities for fuller participation in strategies to achieve NJCDI goals through dialogue, which enabled divisional faculty and students to talk through their concerns and allay many of them.

In the third year, 37 faculty devised, submitted, assessed, and recorded new diversity-themed activities or units in their classes. These faculty came from across the campus including history, sociology, nursing, and information technology.  For example, Professor Nancy Binowski of the Information Technology program encouraged her game design students to look at different games from cultures around the world. Expanding students’ frame of reference beyond the games they grew up with provided an entryway for learning about different cultures and a broader sense of game design, flow, and characters.

Accomplishments

The self study approach resulted in curriculum-wide dispersion of projects to ensure that students in every major engage with diversity.  In addition to the 37 revised courses, projects include:

• Business, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology (BMET) Expo: The expo featured discussion groups, an outside speaker, and a series of faculty-run workshops for Morristown High School students.  The intent of this event was to bring students from different cultures together, show contributions that different cultures has made to the student of science and development of technology.
• Diversity Film Series: Through the three years, films from all of the world were screened and CCM faculty moderated discussion. Audiences included CCM students, faculty, and community members.
• Student Panel: The student development office coordinated a panel, “Sustaining an Inclusive Community,” which brought together students from CCM with students from Randolph high school.  Students discussed different views on diversity. After the panel, everyone broke into discussions circles, moderated by CCM faculty, to discuss the complexities of diversity as a lived experience.