Building Trust and Visibility Through Community-Based Participatory Research at Rural Minority-Serving Institutions

Universities and colleges are producers of knowledge and play an important role in shaping culture, policy, political agendas, and in many ways, the flow of resources to communities. To increase the potential for those living in rural communities, as well as the vibrancy of these communities, researchers can and should center rural voices, ground the production of knowledge in these voices, and address power imbalances in research and practice. Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) play a crucial role in this strategy for empowering rural communities. In our latest research brief, the authors explore how rural MSIs and approaches to community based participatory research can be used to better understand MSIs' nature and practices

Using Critical Race Theory to Redefine the Standards of Professional Practice For Chief Diversity Officers

To meet the needs of the evolving student demographics that has seen a 300% increase in URM college going rates, higher education institutions began developing the Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) position to govern and lead their mission as it relates to diversity, equity, and inclusion. More than 60 colleges have created a CDO position over the last 20 yeas with many more heading in that direction. However, because CDOs are relatively novel in the higher education space, the leading authority of diversity officer research, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE), developed a set of guidelines to serve as a source of consistency for diversity officers. Although these guidelines have been very useful, we suggest that when viewed through a Critical Race Theory lens, the guidelines are laden in passive and color evasive language, supports slow-moving incremental change, and is absent of language associated with racism, sexism, gender bias, homo- & transphobia, ableism, and xenophobia among other discriminatory practices. Thus, in this conceptual critique, we report on how we use CRT to critique and identify improvements for the Twelve Standards of Professional Practice for CDOs

An Exploratory Study of the Five Cs Model of Positive Youth Development Among Indiana 4-H Youth

The purpose of this study was to explore the levels of positive youth development (PYD) among Indiana 4-H club participants. Questionnaires were collected from a convenience sample of [State] youth (n = 453). Findings indicated that youth who participated in the 4-H program reported significantly higher total positive youth development than those who had never participated in 4-H. Youth who participated in the 4-H program also reported significantly higher scores on four of the Five Cs of PYD (Confidence, Connection, Character, and Caring). The findings of this study contribute to the Developmental Systems Theory by confirming the role that 4-H has in contributing to positive youth development. Recommendations are provided to guide future research related to the Five Cs aspect of positive youth development among 4-H youth