Mission
The Multicultural Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock is on a mission to support all students at UA Little Rock by providing culturally-responsive programming and education to promote student success, personal growth, and a culture of respect and inclusion. We strive to fulfill our mission by providing programs and resources for the UA Little Rock community.
Summary Narrative
1) Enhance recruitment and retention efforts to increase enrollment
- Summer Bridge Academy enhances the division’s retention efforts by providing students with a community of peers, mentors, faculty, and staff that stays with them as they transition into the Student Affairs Diversity Initiatives in the fall.
2) Strengthen student-friendly operations and customer service
- The Multicultural Center made several adjustments throughout the year regarding space and layout due to student needs and requests. This includes transitioning unused office space into a prayer room for Muslim students, a lactation room for breastfeeding/pumping parents, and a meditation/nap/quiet room for all students.
3) Improve diversity and inclusion efforts to provide a safe and inclusive environment for students
- The Multicultural Center strives to create a safe space for students, especially students from underrepresented communities. This is reflected in the Center’s physical space as well as programs and support provided to students and the campus community.
4) Align financial and human resources to operate more effectively and efficiently
- Assessing the effectiveness of SADI’s student leader structure helped us make mid-year adjustments in order to better support our students and their programming efforts.
5) Promote student development, engagement, and leadership
- The creation of student leader positions for the Initiatives and Summer Bridge Academy provides students with opportunities for skill building and tangible experience.
Assessment 1
Type of assessment (learning outcome or operational)
Operational
Alignment with UA Little Rock Goal
Prepare students for success
Activity or experience being assessed
2021 Summer Bridge Academy (SBA) Participant Experience
Assessment artifacts
Survey
Time period assessment was done
Last day of SBA: 7/24/2021 (SBA 2021: 7/17 – 7/24/2021)
Results
All participants gave their overall experience with SBA either 4/5 or 5/5. Many of them enjoyed the opportunity to meet new people, make friends, and have small group time with their peer mentors. They also enjoyed math classes, giving the instructors high praise for their teaching methods. Most participants also enjoyed composition classes, where they read essays and gained perspective on how college essays differ from the ones they wrote in high school. Some students also gave feedback about instructors getting off-topic, however.
Suggestions that participants gave included adjusting the schedule to give them more downtime in between classes and activities. They also wanted a copy of the schedule for their own reference, instead of having to rely on their mentors to know when to go to the next activity.
Continuous improvement process
Based on the feedback and suggestions of participants, we made several adjustments when planning SBA 2022:
- Extended the length of SBA from 7 days to 10 days, dedicating the first 3 days to students building bonds with each other and their mentors, and beginning classes on the 4th day.
- Adjusting the schedule to begin later in the morning, and giving participants more downtime after classes and before evening activities
- Retained the math instructors and made adjustments to the composition instructors and their directives
Based on adjustments made for SBA 2022, conduct similar assessment and incorporate participant feedback into planning for SBA 2023.
WHEN: During the planning of SBA 2023: December 2022 – May 2023
Assessment 2
Type of assessment (learning outcome or operational)
Operational
Alignment with UA Little Rock Goal
Prepare students for success &
Improve diversity / inclusion / equity / and global understanding in the campus community
Activity or experience being assessed
Student Affairs Diversity Iniatives (SADI) Mentee Experience
Assessment artifacts
Survey
Time period assessment was done
May 2022
Results
While the survey participation was low, there was helpful information gathered. It was noted that the highlights of being involved in SADI included making friends and organizing activities. They also highly rated their peer mentors, appreciating that they checked in with them and shared flyers for events and activities. It was also noted, however, that their professional mentor did not engage with them as much as their peer mentors. They would recommend joining SADI to a friend or peer.
Continuous improvement process
- Before recruiting professional mentors for FY23, we restructured the requirements of professional mentors to focus more on mentoring the peer mentors, and having the peer mentors focus on mentees.
- We also encouraged professional mentors to reach out and introduce themselves to mentees, as well as attend events when possible so that mentees could put faces to names.
WHEN: May – June 2022
Assessment 3
Type of assessment (learning outcome or operational)
Student Learning: Intrapersonal Development & Interpersonal Competence
Alignment with UA Little Rock Goal
Prepare students for success
Improve diversity / inclusion / equity / and global understanding in the campus community
Activity or experience being assessed
SADI Student Leader Structure, including Chairpersons for African American Female Initiative (AAFI), African American Male Initiative (AAMI), Hispanic/Latinx Initiative (HLI), Cultural Events & Diversity Programming (CEDP), and Membership Engagement & Outreach (MEO)
Assessment artifacts
Observation and interviews
Time period assessment was done
May – June 2022
Results
Spring 2022 was the first semester that we implemented student chairpersons for SADI. Chairpersons for AAFI, AAMI, and HLI focused on programming for their respective populations, as well as assisting with cultural celebrations; the CEDP Chairperson took leadership on Black History Month planning, and the MEO Chairperson was intended to focus on engaging SADI Mentees and supporting SADI Peer Mentors.
This restructuring was largely a success. Having students take leadership of event planning allowed the Assistant Director to focus on the higher-level functions of the Multicultural Center and planning the Summer Bridge Academy.
- AAFI started “Circle of Sisters,” a safe space program for women of color to focus on their health and wellness.
- AAMI started “The Man Cave,” a safe space program for men of color to come together in community.
- HLI hosted a “Noche de Baile (Night of Dance)” and a field day for “Día del Niño (Day of Children)”, celebrating culture and sharing it with the campus.
- CEDP hosted a plethora of activities in celebration of Black History Month, a highlight of which was the “Black Excellence Expo”, a celebration of Black campus organizations, Black-owned businesses, and Black joy.
- MEO struggled this semester. While we wanted the chairperson to focus on engaging mentees and supporting mentors, they struggled to grasp the concept of those responsibilities and wanted to focus on advertising. However, they did support the other chairs in the execution of events and served as on-site support.
Continuous improvement process
All chairs chose to renew their term for one additional academic year (2022-2023). With the MEO chair, we created a more structured job description and reviewed that with the chairperson. The MEO Chairperson position will be discontinued after the current chair resigns, and proposed duties will be reassigned to student workers and the MC graduate assistant.
