Kenai Peninsula Trip Report and Notes Maria Williams, Robert Boeckmann & Open Forum at KPC with Maria Williams, Andre Thorn, Robert Boeckmann. Anecia Tutiakoff is in the far left. On Wednesday April 20, 2016 the Tri- Chairs for the DAP spent the day at Kenai Peninsula College. Diane Taylor helped organize a day- long agenda with specific individuals and groups that are involved in diversity and inclusion at their campus. The Director of KPC, Gary Turner was our first meeting. He informed us that KPC has four locations (KPC- Kenai River Campus in Soldotna, KPC- Kachemak Bay Campus in Homer, the KPC- Seward Extension site, and KPC- Anchorage Extension site at the University Center in Anchorage). He also said that he would recommend that several individuals from his campus form a committee to work with the Tri- Chairs so that the KPC will have a section in the DAP for UAA. His possible members include Diane Taylor, Sondra Shaginoff- Stuart and Dr. Paul Landen. He also mentioned Carol Swartz from the Kachemak Bay Campus. We are awaiting the final word on this committee, and certainly support their involvement. We also met with Sondra Shaginof- Stuart who is the Rural and Native Student Service Coordinator and also teaches two of the AKNSA101 Alaska Native language courses (Ahtna and Dena'ina). She is a catalyst and has incorporated Alaska Native Elders as teachers in a coordinated effort with the residence halls. The Residence Hall provides housing for Elders who come in to teach the Ahtna and Dena'ina Languages. The Elders not only teach the classes, but their presence has also had a positive effect and made many of the students from rural villages feel much more at home. Sondra emphasized that diversity should include generational diversity and that this notion extends well beyond the specific benefits of Alaska Native Elders. Younger students and older students alike are positively impacted by the experiential wisdom that older people bring to campus. Sondra coordinates the Dena'ina language instruction with Dr. Alan Boraas, a well- known Anthropology faculty, and Dr. Pete Snow, Associate Professor and Admin. of Elementary Education.
Sondra coordinates and receives support from the Ahtna Heritage and Chickaloon Moose- Creek Village Associations. In addition to serving as the Rural Student Coordinator, Sondra also maintains a lot of cultural and social activities for the Alaska Native students at the KPC. These included a Cloth Ceremony which was a healing ceremony. Sondra noted that with residence halls now in their 3rd year, they are seeing an increase of students from rural Alaska Native villages. The next meeting we had was with Dr. Alan Boraas, Anthropology faculty and he addressed engagement and inclusion. He felt that these are themes that the DAP should embrace. He also addressed linguistic diversity and expressed his feelings about an epidemic of intolerance for languages other than English. He also felt that research should also be a part of the plan and that the community campuses are involved in research that falls under diversity, inclusion and cultural respect. He mentioned the term inclusive excellence, which is a phrase that Dr. Thorn has also emphasized. He has done research on historic trauma, and received an NSF grant for this. Finally, he framed diversity in broader terms emphasizing that he perceives a shift toward intolerance nation wide and pointing to cultural diversity as a critical element in the long- term survival of cultural systems. This reminder aids us in presenting diversity and inclusion as vital from a utilitarian perspective diversity of culture and thought results in better and more creative solutions to challenges and threats presented to our faculty, students, and graduates in the future. Thus, faculty have a responsibility to encourage discussion of differing view points and to call out intolerance or cultural misperceptions in student dialogues. The Tri- chairs also met with the KRC Student Union leadership. The President, Cheryl Tuttle, Jack Roberts (Vice President), Rachel Bon (Marketing Specialist) Amber Sweetland (Student Activities Coordinator), and Shane Bliss (Student Union Rep.). They have a lovely location, which facilitates spontaneous student interaction and faculty student contact. It is very close to the area where students can purchase food, and study and they had a very welcoming atmosphere and serve free coffee and tea. We had a great discussion about the importance of student involvement in the DAP. The KRC is a two year campus, and because of its mission and size, it is a more integrated campus. They mentioned the rural students who live in the residence hall and the importance of Rural Student Services providing a great transition for those students who are often far away from their families. They also mentioned the role that the KPC Student Union plays in organizing events. They have an LGBT gathering space at the residence hall, which has provided a safe space for students and community members to gather. This space has also opened the door to local community engagement. Other student clubs include the BB Club, the PTR Club, the Games Appreciation Club, and the Psychology Club. They also sponsor Grey Matter - a local community lecture series. The student leadership emphasized the diversity of their students - age ranges and also coming from various parts of Alaska. Students range in age from 15-90. Some students come to KPC for specific programs such as the Process Technology and Instrumentation programs. These students are diverse and include slope workers as well as traditional college age students. They also have a popular EMT and Paramedic
program. They are dedicated to initiating programs and events that empower students and make them feel part of the KPC community. They provide massages at finals and they are interested in getting some steam baths for the Residence Hall students that come from rural villages. They have received this input from the students who are used to steam baths in their villages. The President, Cheryl, also mentioned that she would like the DAP to specifically address the Learning Abled (rather than Disability Services). She felt strongly that the DAP needs to recognize new ways that universities name services provided to students that are hearing- challenged, have dyslexia, or mobility challenges. She felt the undervaluing of students that need additional support is a common occurrence and this needs to be addressed. We toured the Residence Hall, which is now in their third year. It is clear that the Residence Hall Director, Tammie Willis, is highly engaged with the safety and well- being of the residents. They have a creative approach to student engagement in terms of various activities that include a room for Alaska Native Elders who are working with Sondra Shaginoff- Stuart. Each of the Residence Hall wings have a theme, so they pair up students' interests with their location. They also provide a van service to take students on field trips, or to go grocery shopping. We had an open forum in the afternoon and had a great conversation with Anecia Tretikoff who is the Faculty Office Manager. Anecia recommended Talking Circle formats as a way to share and provide new ideas and to create a more inclusive atmosphere on campus. She also asked us to reflect critically on the use of the term inclusive excellence suggesting that while it may be an improvement on the sole use of the term Diversity it also has the western cultural emphasis on evaluation and elitism that can imply exclusivity. We also discussed the Intercultural Committee with Krista Timlin, Career and Community Engagement Center Manager. Krista mentioned the active work that was a result of this committee, but it had become inactive. She felt that committees such as this, need to be more institutionalized or sustainable, otherwise they run the risk of disappearing. Anecia also was intrigued by the misuse of the term Diversity and was interested in how we were going to formulate our plan. We had a meeting with Dave Atcheson, who is the Evening Coordinator administrator and an adjunct faculty member. He coordinates the KPC showcase, which is a very successful 30 year old program that brings the local community to campus for guest lectures, performances and events. Education, the arts, author events and multi- cultural components are very successful and many local residents regularly attend the KPC showcase. In partnership with the KPC Multicultural Consortium, they have developed themes from month- to- month, i.e. November is Alaska Native/Native American heritage month; they have showcased Jack Dalton's Play Assimilation, have had fry bread socials, created language circles, etc. They have a robust lecture series and have featured Aaron Leggett. (Curator for the Dena'ina exhibit), Seth Kantner, and others. In other events they have provided research
presentations by Dr. Alan Boraas on the study of Bristol Bay salmon and the potential impact of Pebble Mine. Dr. Boraas' study has been cited by the EPA and other researchers addressing the impact of mining in that region. The KPC Showcase is self- funded, with some support from the Anna Faust Goodrich philanthropic organization. Dave Acheson said he would like to pursue or have access to speakers that UAA brings in - since Kenai is a 20- minute flight from Anchorage this could easily be a great and easy partnership. The last meeting of the day was a teleconference with Carol Swartz, KPC Kachemak Bay Campus Director and Dr. Mike Hawfield, Associate Professor of History and Political Science. The campus is right in the heart of downtown Homer and they are also interested in getting more UAA speakers or having shared events. In the past they have had Mark Trahant, former Atwood Chair, but would love to see more engagement with the main UAA campus. They have community conversation events that address Civil Rights, Alaska Native Civil Rights and issues of sovereignty. They offered the practical suggestion of developing a speaker database of UAA faculty who are knowledgeable and willing to speak about issues relating to diversity and inclusion who the KPC faculty and administration could contact to invite to speaking engagements at their campuses. When asked about areas of concern for sustainable support of UAA / KPC learners, they explained that the Adult Basic Education grants that support educational outreach to rural students in the region (Port Graham & Nanwalek) may be at risk in the current funding climate. SUMMARY We were so excited after visiting with the KPC faculty, staff and students. The Kenai River Campus is engaged in many academic and non- academic events that emphasize diversity and inclusion. We look forward to working with their subcommittee on the DAP. If the DAP is going to emphasize inclusion as part of our vision, there needs to be more engagement between the UAA main campus and the KPC. Carol Swartz said they read the Green and Gold everyday and reach out to departments or programs that are sponsoring guest lectures or featured speakers in hopes of either having them podcast or having the speaker fly down to present on their campus. We were also impressed with the KRC Student Union and their thoughts on how student's voices and perspectives must be included in the DAP. It was clear from our visit to KPC that UAA Goose Lake Campus can learn from our community campuses as well as support them in fostering are more inclusive and supportive environment for all of UAA s students.
Diversity Action Plan Team Wednesday, April 20, 2016 Agenda 8:40 a.m. Arrival of Maria Williams, Andre Thorn, and Robert Boeckmann (Diane will pick up at Kenai Airport) 9:30 a.m. Meeting with Director Gary Turner 10:00 a.m. Meeting with Sondra Shaginoff- Stuart, Rural and Native Student Services 10:30 a.m. Open 10:45 a.m. Meeting with Alan Boraas, Anthropology 11:30 a.m. Meeting with KRC Student Union Student Union Office Noon 1:30 p.m. Lunch 1:30 2:15 p.m. Meeting with Tammie Willis, KRC Residence Hall Director Residence Hall 2:15 3:15 p.m. Open Forum in Commons for All McLane Commons 3:15 3:30 p.m. Meeting with Dave Atchison, KPC Showcase 3:30 4:30 p.m. Meeting with Kachemak Bay Campus Carol Swartz (Diane will call Carol at her office) 5:00 7:00 p.m. Dinner and return to airport
7:40 p.m. Flight back to Anchorage