Tilford Schedule

Check In: 8:15am

Parlors Room, 5th Floor

Day-of registration also available. A light breakfast, coffee, and tea is available.

Registration tables will stay open until 2:00pm.

Conference Welcome

Chancellor, Douglas A. Girod

Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor, Barbara A. Bichelmeyer

Interim Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, D. A. Graham

Land Acknowledgement by Director of Tribal Relations and President of the Native Faculty Staff Council, Melissa Peterson

Session 1: 9:45am - 10:45am

An Unlikely Cross-Discipline Collaborative Research Project with Extraordinary Impact: Bonding through Books with Incarcerated Mothers and Grandmothers

Sarah Broman Miller and April Terry

Fort Hays State University

The departments of Criminal Justice and Teacher Education share minimal academic overlap, with unlikely odds of interacting with one another, let alone work together on a project of such significant consequence. Yet, this is precisely what 31 students, spanning two academic departments, completed, in partnership with two faculty members and two community partners. This piloted undergraduate research project sought to simultaneously benefit students, alongside inmates, the prison system, and the children/grandchildren of incarcerated mothers/grandmothers through a read-aloud program and unexpectedly offered an important way for the incarcerated participants to connect with family during COVID 19. Furthermore, this project offered a glimpse of the devastating consequences of illiteracy and its prevalence in the incarcerated population. Some students were exposed to the process of research collection, analysis, and dissemination of findings, while other students provided tailored read-aloud tutoring sessions to complement their literacy and assessment experiences. The success of the pilot project has led to a continuation of the program which today involves nearly 50 incarcerated mothers and grandmothers and approximately 100 children and grandchildren. Other institutions can implement similar service-learning and research-based opportunities for students from multiple academic departments.

How collaborative recruiting can increase diversity in graduate STEM education and the U.S. workforce

Mirit Shamir, Dr. Zelia Z. Wiley, and Dr. Melanie Derby

Kansas State University

Broadening participation in graduate STEM education can increase diversity in the workforce, train women and underrepresented minority (URM) students for STEM careers, and enable the United States to thrive in the 21st century. To broaden participation, multiple collaborative recruiting strategies should be adapted. Our NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) program strives to broaden participation in STEM through multiple pathways. The NRT’s most successful recruitment strategies for broadening participation have been collaborating with university diversity administrators, and connecting NRT faculty and students to prospective students through Zoom meetings and email conversations. This collaboration has assisted the NRT in reaching out to students from different backgrounds and connecting them to NRT faculty and students. The K-State Research and Extension (KSRE) Summer Research Fellows program prepares undergraduate for graduate programs, including the NRT, by funding underrepresented students, thereby increasing retention. The NRT’s first and second cohorts comprised of 50% women and 50% men, which aligns with the national population but exceeds STEM undergraduates. The NRT’s first cohort comprised of one URM student while second and third cohorts comprised of 50% and 53.84% URM students, respectively; 97% of the KSRE summer fellows have agreed the program was beneficial to their academic and professional STEM careers.

Introduction to Native American Student Support

Lori Hasselman and Melissa Peterson

University of Kansas

Supporting Native American students in higher education requires a unique awareness around the needs of our students. Participants will learn about Native American students in higher education, the diversity amongst those students within Indian Country, and the responsibilities our institutions have to Native American students. This discussion will also highlight the investments KU has made as it relates to Native American Success Initiatives.

Re-viewing the "Unpacking Whiteness in the Workplace" workshop series

Sean Barker, Kim Conard, Brandy Ernzen, and Brian Moss

University of Kansas

This panel offers a facilitated discussion with the organizers of "Unpacking Whiteness in the Workplace," a three-part workshop series initiated and led by members of KU's Staff Senate Diversity and Inclusion Committee.   Through small group discussions, workshop attendees explore concepts of whiteness, privilege, marginalization, and anti-racism specific to working at KU and unpack how white privilege shapes office cultures that are oppressive to people with marginalized identities. In Fall 2018, the team began hosting in-person sessions for the first two parts of the series, drawing about 50 participants for each session. The group later developed a third session to promote active allyship. The team has now delivered the series over the past six semesters (though incompletely during the Spring 2020 semester), going virtual in Fall 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing to the current semester. In addition, the group has developed summer trainings for Staff Senators, often working with other social justice focused entities on campus, to encourage leadership that centers the concerns of the most marginalized. The goal of this panel is to encourage and inspire others to build similar ground-up programs that are staff-initiated and staff-led to promote grassroots change in our working environments.

Together, we're better - in six words 

Reva C. Friedman

University of Kansas

In this session participants will learn about the power of narrative to shrink barriers, introduce possibilities for genuine connections, and spark hope. Stories of self uniquely blend left- and right-brained thinking. The act of creating a personal narrative can make a chaotic jumble of life experience make sense. However, traditional approaches to writing a personal essay can be cumbersome, and are too likely to result in expected platitudes. And when sensitive topics are the focus, sharing content and related emotions can become problematic.

This session offers an alternative. The Six Word Memoir Project was launched by Larry Smith, founder of SMITH Magazine, in November 2006. Smith claims that his inspiration derives from a popular anecdote (perhaps apocryphal) about Ernest Hemingway. Known for his terse prose, Hemingway was supposedly once challenged to write a novel in only six words. His result – “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

To date, this global project has published over 1.3 million life stories, contributed by a diverse population of 6-word novelists, spanning topics from “How I survived the pandemic” (contributed by University of Kansas faculty, to stories of immigration (“Fresh off the boat”). Novelists range from elementary school children to well-known celebrities. Weekly contests further invite involvement (for example, “Six words on a gender-balanced world”).

In this interactive session, participants will learn ABOUT this form of narrative, and HOW to write one. We will brainstorm ways in which to incorporate six-word memoirs into Diversity/Equity/Inclusion/Belonging, social and racial justice initiatives, and connections among diverse campus communities.

Session 2: 11:00am - 12:00pm

Administrator Roundtable for Executive Leaders

Panel moderated by Dr. D. A. Graham (University of Kansas). Featuring Dr. Teresa L. Clounch (Fort Hays State University), Dr. Marché Fleming-Randle (Wichita State University), and Be Stoney (Kansas State University).

In this session, we assemble a panel of Senior Diversity Officers to discuss their expansive roles in all areas of their organizations as a core driver of its educational imperative. In a candid conversation, these DEI leaders (Vice President and Assistant Vice President level) will discuss effective and transformative diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and why they are required to meet the needs of students, staff, faculty and other stakeholders now more than ever.

Building Connection One READ at a Time

Stephanie Spitz, Jorge Leon, Emely Monsour, John Franklin, and Jason Reid

Pittsburg State University

Tilford Readings for Empowerment and Diversity (READ) program started in 2019 as a pilot program to create a campus reader and has connected diverse campus constituents with one another through its ability of initiating meaningful conversations.  Every year the novel selected has shifted due to the needs and topics students and faculty/staff identify as timely and necessary to cover. As the content evolved, so did the platform in which to hold these conversations from in-person to virtual formats via Canvas and Zoom due to COVID-19. Our roundtable discussion includes a 5 minute highlight video of the 1st READ session that will share student testimony about the process. Further, we will also discuss the creation of OER book discussion study guides to better support facilitation of small group discussions. Participation’s conversation, advice, and connection is encouraged for this session.

Coalition Building Through Inclusive Pedagogy

Valerie Mendoza, Angela Crumer, Erin Grant, Kristen Grimmer, and Jason Miller

Washburn University

Combining Washburn’s Center for Teaching’s strengths in pedagogy and the Title III grant’s knowledge of student needs, we devised a summer workshop on course redesign in 2020. This workshop produced spinoffs leading to a transformation of Washburn’s teaching culture and student success. Discussing personal finance in a math classroom is not culturally neutral. Students of color are less likely to use banks which can lead them to disengage with the topic. It is important to recognize and address this so each student can see themselves in the content. Crumer will discuss changes she made to this lesson and student response. Grimmer redesigned the upper-level course Media Law, Ethics and Diversity, a requirement for all students in the mass media major. She will discuss updates on inclusive-teaching methods for class materials, course content, and relationship-building teaching practices. An increasing number of faculty are implementing inclusive pedagogy to create a more equitable higher education experience. Faculty often struggle to find which approaches work best and do not consider conducting research on their teaching. In 2020, Grant and Miller created an Inclusive Pedagogies Research Group to support faculty to conduct research on inclusive learning in their classrooms and will reflect on this experience.

Lunch & Keynote Address

Lunch provided. Remarks from Kansas Board of Regents President & CEO, Blake Flanders. Keynote Address and Q&A with Rebecca Nagle.

Session 3: 1:45pm - 2:45pm

Assessment of Undergraduate Diversity Attitudes And Experiences during Covid-19 in the College of Agriculture at Kansas State University

Dr. Zelia Z Wiley, Dr. Andrew Barkley, Lonnie Hobbs Jr., Raymond Thomas, and Summer Samtillana.

Kansas State University

With the recent global health pandemic and as populations become more diverse, educational institutions have increased diversity programming for student success. Student openness to diversity and challenge has been found to have a large impact on changes in student attitudes, beliefs, and actions during acceptance to individual differences. This study uses regression analysis of survey data to measure (1) openness to diversity, and (2) diversity experience for students enrolled in the College of Agriculture at Kansas State University during the Fall Semester of 2020. Regression results indicate that student openness to diversity and challenge was found to be statistically associated with participation in diversity workshops, diversity class activities, and other personal and academic variables. The major implication of the statistical results is that there is an opportunity to influence student openness to diversity and challenge through enhanced programming for diversity appreciation and understanding as part of the university experience.  Understanding the connection between factors that affect openness to diversity can help to reveal the best practices for effectively influencing students in a positive way. This presentation will show the results and have activities to offer application for change.

Creating Sustainable and Impactful Native American Programs at KU

Melissa Peterson, Anthea Scouffas, Jancita Warrington, Matthew Gillespie, and Brandy Ernzen

University of Kansas

Participants will learn about the unique collaborations and the sustainable programming created to support Native American students, staff, faculty and community members at KU and in our community. Presenters will guide participants through the development of the foundational Native American program – the KU Powwow and Indigenous Cultures Festival – and how this event has grown and led to other programs and projects across campus. This discussion will include the process creating a committee that represents KU and Haskell students, faculty and staff, as well as Native American and non-Native American community members. We will also detail how this initial program has expanded into other dynamic programs that support our Native American students, faculty and staff while also educating our KU community, as well as our community at large. Most importantly, you will have a chance to ask questions and gain insight from current Native faculty, staff, and community members.

Did We Free Minds?: Lessons Learned from Co-facilitating an Anti-Racist Workshop Series for Faculty

Muffy Walter and Keith Tatum

Washburn University

Presenters developed a ten-week faculty cohort workshop program from across their campus for growth in, and development of, anti-racist pedagogy. Essential elements for commitment to anti-racist journeys were highlighted: importance of leaning into discomfort, critical self-reflection, and connecting personal lives with professional lives as educators (Kendi, Love, Brookfield, Singleton). One goal of the pilot program was building coalitions within, and across, departments and schools; however, four main barriers for coalition building developed over these ten weeks: identity, attitude, diverse levels of knowledge, and specific instructional contexts. This interactive workshop, we include the co-facilitators reflections on the four barriers they faced, including some changes planned for this anti-racist pedagogy workshop program. In this workshop, the co-facilitators will share their experiences while also gaining insight from attendees. They will ask participants to investigate their individual identities and affects those may have in coalition building on their campuses. Additionally, participants will have an opportunity to collaborate in groups, perhaps even build coalitions within this workshop, creating strategies for building coalitions on college campuses, including anticipating barriers and ways to avoid or dismantle them.

Teaching Diversity Through Dance:  Theory & Practice

D. Nicole English

Fort Hays State University

Although academics feel that that teaching Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) is important, how can we teach these ideas to students effectively?   Students often dread or resist coursework that addresses issues related to DEI.  One way is through teaching an embodied cultural practice, such as dance.  By teaching dance as an activity to students, with the goal of DEI in practice, one can see changes in student attitudes and behaviors in a matter of weeks.

Dance is an activity that most students find fun, and dance can be related to many different disciplines, including Physical Education, Theater, History, Sociology, Psychology, Political Science, Anthropology, Languages, and/or Culture.  Other activities could serve the same purpose.    The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate how dance has been used as a strategy for teaching DEI, and its successes.  This demonstration could serve as a model for similar activities to teach DEI.  A theoretical basis will be presented to explain why this strategy works, as well as real-world examples of the strategy in practice.  Additionally, long-term data will be presented indicating the success of using dance as a strategy to teach DEI.  This presentation would be useful for any group which deals with students. 

The Gumbo Analysis of Diversity & Equity and Inclusion

Dr. Marche Fleming-Randle

Wichita State University

The Gumbo Analysis of Diversity & Equity and Inclusion will give you a taste of DE&I that you can cook and serve others! This session aim to enhance participants’ abilities to gain adequate knowledge of differences, inequality, and problems in the post-COVID time and develop knowledge and skills to create resilience in educational settings by facilitating the diversity and inclusion work on campuses. The ingredients are a mix of skills, knowledge and abilities that will promote diversity, equity, and inclusion work and develop resilience in educational settings by building and maintaining coalitions.

Networking & Social Hour

Light food and drinks will be provided.