Running head: DIVERSITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR FACULTY & STAFF 1

Diversity Improvement Plan for Faculty and Staff:

Imperial Valley College

Fernando Villalpando

August 30, 2017

California State University, San Bernardino

EDUC 766
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PROPOSAL

Diversity Improvement Plan for Faculty and Staff:

Imperial Valley College

The Imperial Valley is a region in the Southern section of California. To the south, they

have the border with Mexico, and with the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California,

Mexicali. To the east, their border is Arizona and the nearest city is Yuma, Arizona. To the

west, they have the mountain ranges that separate the arid valley from the San Diego

metropolitan area. Even though it is located under sea level, and is considered a desert area, due

to the great access of water established and managed by the Imperial Irrigation District through

canals like the All-American canal and others that get water directly from the Colorado River,

the valley is a successful agricultural area in California (Imperial Irrigation District, 2017).

Many of the people who live in the area, if they do not work in local private and public services,

they have jobs related to the agriculture. Agriculture is one of the main sources of income in the

area, and because of that, it is also one of the main sources of employment.

Another important aspect of the region is the border with Mexico. Because the southern

border is part of the everyday life of the people in the region, there is also a great need of border

patrol and customs officers. The US Border Patrol and other government agencies are major

employers in the area. Schools, government agencies, and medical services are three of the main

employers if this region, and due to the proximity with Mexico, the need of knowing Spanish is

extremely important (Americas Labor Market Information System, 2017). Also, due to the

proximity with Mexico, the movement and influx of people between the two countries is part of

the daily life. Many people from Mexico cross the border every day for work, to purchase good
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and even to attend schools. The regions income is also partly dependent of the border economy

and the people who come from Mexico willing to spend their money in the valley.

The regions population is also reflective of the proximity with Mexico. In the most

recent data from the U.S. Census, 83.8% of the Imperial Valleys population are of Hispanic
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origin, with only 11.1% White, and less than 5% of the rest being a mixture of different origins

(2016). The makeup of the regions population is a driving force behind all the services needed

and provided. Education is one of those services that is greatly affected by these factors.

Imperial Valley College Profile

Imperial Valley College (IVC) is the only community college in the 4,482 square-miles

county. Only a small portion of the northwest corner of the county is not serve by IVC, but by

College of the Desert (CCCO, 2017). With such a dense area, the need for educational services

is an important factor to analyze. Many of the local high school students from the seven

different school districts in the region who want to continue their education in higher educational

institution, have the make the decision to attend IVC to later transfer, or get out the region in

search for other colleges and universities. There is an external campus of San Diego State

University, but it does not offer all the degree options students need, and many of the majors

offer only the last two years of the major. This means that students have to transfer in from IVC.

Problem

Something that is not reflective of the regions population is the makeup of the faculty

and administrative staff of IVC. Even though the Hispanic population in the region is 83.8%, the

student population is made up of 90.5% of Hispanic origin, while only 3.6% are White (CCCO,

2017). This is an issue that needs to be addressed in the region. Faculty and administrative

positions are not reflective of the gender and ethnic backgrounds of the student population of

IVC. In order for student to feel more connected to their educational institution, they need to see

faculty and administrative staff who are meet or exceed the qualifications of the current non-

Hispanic staff. In order for IVC, that is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), to be a more

equitable institution and inclusive of its students, there needs to be a trend of change for the
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future in be more inclusive of faculty and administrators who are more representative of the

student population of IVC.

The gender diversity of faculty at IVC does reflect that of the student population, which

is pretty evenly divided in half. Unlike the faculty, educational administrator positions at IVC do

not reflect either the ethnic or gender diversity of the student population. Of the 12

administrators, only two of those are females with the remaining 10 being males. This is also

another factor that needs to be taken into consideration when analyzing the makeup of the
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college staff. It is imperative for young woman who attend IVC, and any other college, to see

other woman who are successful and who can hold administrative positions in higher education.

It is normal to see many K-12 female teachers and administrators at that level, but this is not as

evident in higher education, especially in this region.

Goals

In order to better represent and serve the students of IVC, it is needed to level the ethnic

and gender representation of faculty and educational administrators of the college. Being a HSI

it is also important to have Hispanic faculty and administrators who reflect, and represent the

ethnic makeup of the campus. In order to accomplish this, both formative and summative

evaluations will respectively be performed to propose immediate information for program

improvements related to hiring faculty and administrators that will equitably represent the

student population, and will also provide information to assist making judgments about the

improvement plan to evaluate if it should be adapted, continued or expanded after the findings.

The two main goals of this proposal are as followed:

GOAL 1 - Increase ethnic diversity of faculty that will represent the student population of

the region, and who will be culturally aware of the students they teach and work with.

As faculty retire, hire new diverse faculty.

Increase diversity of new faculty by 30% in the next 5 years.

Based on the number of faculty who are of age or will be at retirement age

within the next 5 years.

GOAL 2 - Increase gender diversity in administrative positions.

Level gender diversity to demonstrate the gender diversity of the campus student

population.
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Increase gender diversity of administrative positions by 30% in the next 5 years.

Based on the number of administrators who are of age or will be at

retirement age within the next 5 years.

Both formative and summative evaluations will help drive the ultimate goals of the proposal.

They will evaluate cost benefits of the investment on new diverse faculty and administrators, but

also the cost effectiveness of addressing the changes needed to improve the student population

representation on the staff.

Objectives

In order to accomplish these two main goals in this action plan, four main objectives will

be developed by creating a targeted recruitment campaign that will:

1. Promote and provide retirement incentives/buyouts to current faculty and administrators

who are getting close to retirement or who are able to retire now, but choose not to

because they want to continue increasing their retirement plans.

2. Post new faculty positions in specialized journals of higher education this will allow to

outreach to new faculty and administrator candidates who are more representative of the

student population, and who are also aware of the needs of these students.

a. American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education

b. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education

c. Hispanic Review

3. Obtain a pool of diverse candidates of both cultural and gender backgrounds This will

be accomplished after investing in posting positions on specialized journals of higher

education.
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4. Create Diverse Hiring Committees This committee will ensure that new candidates

meet the necessary qualifications for the position, can connect with other staff, and can

relate to the students.

a. Committee members: Faculty, staff, students

b. Candidates to demonstrate understanding of the region, the population and needs.

Levels of Measurement

To successfully accomplish the goals of this action plan, both direct and indirect levels of

measurement will be used to better evaluate the needs of current practices, and implement

improvements, as well as to make recommendations. Triangulation will be utilized to more

confidence in the outcomes of this process.

Direct measures

Student information demographic data on ethnicity and gender.

Faculty and administrators demographic data on ethnicity, gender, and age.

Faculty participation numbers and percentages.

Faculty attrition

Indirect measures

Student satisfaction surveys

Faculty satisfaction surveys

Faculty and administrators evaluations.

Student and alumni focus groups

Faculty and administrators focus groups

Advisory board feedback

Accreditation team recommendations

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Course content and grade correlation

Student interviews

These levels of measurement will allow the evaluation process more rigorous, accurate on the

needs, feasibility, and utility of the improvement plan.

Goals SMART Data Collection Sources Data Collection

(5 years) Objectives
GOAL 1 - Increase 1. Promote and provide Quantitative data Direct measures
ethnic diversity of retirement Demographic Student information
faculty that will incentives/buyouts data of faculty, demographic data
represent the student to current faculty students, on ethnicity and
population of the region, and administrators administrators gender.
and who will be 2. Post new faculty Faculty Faculty and
culturally aware of the participation, administrators
positions in
students they teach and demographic data
specialized journals percentages,
work with. on ethnicity,
of higher education attrition
As faculty retire, gender, and age.
hire new diverse 3. Obtain a pool of Faculty
Sampling
faculty. diverse candidates of Student participation
Increase diversity both cultural and interviews, numbers and
of new faculty by gender backgrounds surveys percentages.
30% in the next 5 4. Create Diverse Faculty attrition
years. Hiring Committees Focus groups
Based on Indirect measures
Students, faculty,
the Student satisfaction
administrators
number surveys
of faculty Faculty satisfaction
who are surveys
of age or Faculty and
will be at administrators
retirement evaluations.
age Student and alumni
within the focus groups
next 5 Faculty and
years. administrators
GOAL 2 - Increase focus groups
gender diversity in Advisory board
administrative positions. feedback
Accreditation team
Level gender
recommendations
diversity to
Course content and
demonstrate the grade correlation
gender diversity Student interviews
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of the campus
student
population.

Desired Outcomes and Conclusion

Equity issues are important to take into consideration in all areas, but in particular in

education. Here is where it all starts and expands to other areas of life. To have an equitable

faculty and administrative staff that represents the cultural and gender diversity of a campus is

necessary to break down barriers of oppression and patterns of a dominant culture or group. It is

important for students to see themselves reflected in those who teach them or who oversee the

campus. This will allow them to feel part of the campus community that is inclusive of them,

and do not feel like even though the entire region is representative of them, those who hold the

higher positions are only for those who are from a dominant and elitist group.

The goal of this improvement plan and desired outcomes are:

Have a more diverse faculty and administrative staff on campus that represents

the student population

Build a more inclusive and equitable community

Increase satisfaction and performance of faculty, staff and students.

Accomplishing this goals with create a more supportive environment for students, faculty, and

staff, and will create better results in the performance of all stakeholders. By taking into effect

the action plan proposed, and with additional recommendations before approval, the goals of

improvement can be accomplished in the next 5 years.

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Reference

2017 Student Success Scorecard (2017). California Community Colleges.

http://scorecard.cccco.edu/scorecard.aspx

Annual Budget Reports. Imperial Valley College.

https://www.imperial.edu/faculty-and-staff/business-services/financial-and-budget-

reports/ccfs311/

Annual Financial and Budget Reports. Imperial Valley College.

https://www.imperial.edu/faculty-and-staff/business-services/financial-and-budget-

reports/ccfs311/

College Scorecard. U.S. Department of Education. https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/

College Navigator. National Center for Education Statistics.

https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

IID History. Imperial Irrigation District: IID History, Imperial Irrigation District, 2017,

www.iid.com/about-iid/an-overview/iid-history.

Major Employer in Imperial County. Employment Development Department, Americas Labor

Market Information System, 2017,

http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/majorer/countymajorer.asp?CountyCode=000025

Management Information Systems Data Mart. California Community Colleges Chancellors

Office. http://datamart.cccco.edu/

U.S. Census Bureau (2016). Quick Facts: Imperial Country, California. Retrieved from

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/imperialcountycalifornia/PST045216#qf-

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