Diversity efforts prepare students for diverse world

Twelve percent of the faculty at Virginia’s 23 community colleges are minority instructors. College leaders could be satisfied that they exceed the national average for diversity, but they’re not.

They want their instructors to more closely reflect the student body, which is about one-third minority. Chancellor Glenn DuBois has been plugging away at this goal for nearly two years through a program that has recruited more than 100 qualified graduate students as part-time instructors. Tidewater Community College had two graduate student-teachers for this spring semester and has already attracted six applications for next fall.

DuBois announced last week he is widening the program to include working professionals.

Under the program, participants are paired with a mentor, a full-time professor who reviews course materials, observes classes and offers guidance. Participants are paid as part-time adjunct professors, and mentors receive a stipend for their extra work. The graduate student program has helped colleges fill empty posts for biology, physics, chemistry and math instructors. Working professionals targeted under the new effort will bring rich life experiences to share with their students.

Diversity programs help to smooth the scars racial discrimination has left on Virginia’s educational system, but their benefits are much broader. More diverse schools and colleges promote the economic health of their students and their communities.

The American work force is already composed of many cultures, races and religions, and those changes are accelerating. U.S. Census Bureau statistics released this month showed one quarter of children younger than 5 are Latino. As the United States becomes more diverse, its citizens also are more closely tied to people around the world through globalization of businesses and mass communication.

Diverse educational institutions encourage critical thinking and teach students to succeed in a variety of situations. In a nutshell, diversity is good for learning.

Virginia’s community colleges have always been adept at predicting what their students will need to be successful and at aggressively pursuing those goals. It’s no surprise that they are taking the lead now on this valuable initiative.