In a previous blog, I spoke about the changes we made to our
nonprofit marketing class. In this blog, I want to spotlight the changes
we’ve made to NMP 610: Diversity in Nonprofits. We wanted the course to
go beyond a simple acknowledgement that we live in a multi-cultural world and
to help students explore the implications of this reality through the lens of
self-awareness, effective organizational leadership, and the societal concept
of social justice.
To that end, Gina Joseph Collins, a former Dean at Bay Path
College and diversity expert, has done a fabulous job totally redesigning the
course to achieve the following learning outcomes:
· Define
concepts and frameworks related to diversity and inclusion;
· Examine
key challenges and opportunities for nonprofits in the 21st century;
· Assess
leadership styles and communication skills;
· Make
the business case for diversity and inclusion;
· Evaluate
and build on diversity initiatives within organizations;
· Design
measurements and results oriented strategies for organizational change;
· Explore
the meaning of social justice; and
· Reflect
on the value of diversity for nonprofit organizations.
Professor Collins finished teaching the new course last week for
the first time and here is a student’s reaction to the course:
"My first lesson learned is that the work to be aware of
the value of diversity and inclusion is never ending. We must regularly
self evaluate to determine how well we think we're doing on the issues and how
well we actually are and how we will measure our success and areas for
improvement.
My second lesson learned is productivity and job satisfaction go
up when diversity and inclusion have organizational top to bottom importance.
Failure to do the work, to walk the walk and talk the talk, can cause both
issues to be relegated to annual seminars that receive emphasis one day a year
and then forgotten. Organizations can't afford to do that.
I thought the course was informative and taught me that as much
as I thought I knew about diversity coming into the class, there is still a lot
left to understand about myself and the environment around me."
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