Recruitment and Retention of Diverse, Faculty and Staff

The College of Education strongly believes that a “a diverse and changing world” requires the efforts and perspectives of individuals from different backgrounds and identities. To affirm our vision statement, the College draws from a number of offices and initiatives to recruit and retain talented individuals from diverse backgrounds.

With an extensive array of research, professional development, coursework, and international partnerships, the Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy (CIMA) is a trailblazer within the College. Through CIMA, the College's continued commitment to the recruitment, retention, and graduation of underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students can be seen in many new and current programs.

While providing culturally competent advising through its group of professional student advisors, the Center for Student Success and Professional Services (CSSPS) continues to innovate its methods of recruitment of students from underrepresented backgrounds. For example, the Call Me MISTER (“Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models”) Initiative was established in 2015 to attract some of the most needed students, men of color, to the teaching profession. Its student members are offered both peer and professional mentorship, as well as professional development opportunities throughout each school year.

Working with Developmentally Disabled AdultsIn partnership with the UFM, K-State Salina, Big Lakes and Twin Valley Developmental Disabilities Centers, and the Wamego, Geary County, and Manhattan/Ogden school districts, the College initiated Project EXCELL in 2010. The project, "Extending College Education for Lifelong Learning,"brings adults with mild development disabilities to the K-State campus for supplemental transition services. Examples of classes offered are sign language, music, dance, vocational exploration, and money management. Classes are offered in two five-week sessions per semester with around 60 participants each session. In addition, Project EXCELL engages College of Education students as volunteers to assist with classes and serve as peer models.

Preparation of Teacher Candidates

As an NCATE-accredited program, the College of Education and its Professional Development Schools are held to the highest level of standards in the preparation of teacher candidates. The Professional Development School Network (PDS) includes the College of Education, the College of Arts and Sciences, and hundreds of teachers and administrators from schools in diverse districts across Kansas; furthermore, partner districts represent inner city, small-town, and rural learning environments ranging from elementary, middle, and high schools. These PDS partners have been engaged in collaborative and simultaneous K-16 reform, including efforts to address social justice and educational equity, since 1989.

The college's Military Initiatives began in 2012 to merge departmental and programmatic activities into a college-wide framework for preparing educators to serve military personnel, veterans and their families in educational settings. This initiative includes plans to:

1. (1) provide professional development for faculty and graduate students
2. (2) develop courses and/or pedagogical adaptations to address military/veteran/family issues; and
3. (3) develop a research agenda to contribute to the knowledge base related to working with military personnel, veterans, and K-12 students and their families.

This is a critical need as military students and families tend to be highly diverse, transient, and from lower SES backgrounds that historically create unique challenges in schools. The college is committed to preparing educators and administrators to understand and address these challenges effectively. For example, 3 of the 4 schools on the nearby Ft. Riley military base are involved in the PDS partnership. Therefore, College of Education pre-service students have the opportunity to participate in field practicums on post, gaining rich experiences working with military connected students.

 

Faculty Guide for Difficult Conversations

This guide and the resources provided with it exist to help K-State faculty engage in difficult and necessary conversations, to serve all of our students and to fully realize our Principles of Community.