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Dear Members of the University of Rhode Island Campus Community,
We, the Diversity Week Planning Committee, wish to express our gratitude to you for your support of URI Diversity Week. In 2009, attendance at Diversity Week was 3800 for 60 events in 5 days. A recent survey of graduating seniors indicated that 50% had attended URI Diversity Week during the course of their matriculation, ranking behind only community service (57%) and internships (53%) as experiences common to URI students.
During 2009, we are pleased to continue our relationship with Lifespan as a co-sponsor. Lifespan’s focus on preparing and recruiting a diverse labor force in the allied health professions.
We ask for your continued support and feedback as we embark on a number of significant changes to our model in our efforts to improve the educational impact and to enhance assessment. First, you will notice that we have codified the events, distinguishing between events recommended for classroom credit, and events recommended for personal growth and enjoyment. Events recommended for classroom credit have been judged to have a component based on reflection, “those intellectual and affective activities in which individuals engage to explore their experiences in order to lead to new understandings and appreciations.”(Boud, Keogh, and Walker (eds.), Reflection: Turning Experience into Learning. London: Kogan Page, 1985, pp. 18-30). Boud, Keogh, and Walker propose three stages in the ideal reflective process: a) returning to the experience: recollecting the salient features of the experience, recounting them to others; b) attending to feelings: exploring positive and negative feelings about the experience; and c) reevaluating the experience: associating new knowledge and integrating it into the learner’s framework. However, the codings are simply recommendations which faculty are free to utilize as they see fit. Second, you will begin to notice a gradual transition toward recognizing the importance of learning outcomes as a means of affirming the contract between diverse learners in the university.
If you have any questions, please email mcc1@etal.uri.edu to let us know. Enjoy the week!
Dr. Judy Van Wyk (Co-Chair)
Melvin Wade (Co-Chair)
Mailee Kue (Co-Chair)
Dr. Paul De Mesquita (Co-Chair)
