Natasha DuMerville joined HDS in August as the School's first diversity and inclusion administrative fellow.
Harvard University's Administrative Fellowship Program is operated out of the Office of the Assistant to the President, Institutional Diversity and Equity, with the purpose of attracting talented professionals and, in particular, members of historically underrepresented groups, to promote leadership opportunities and careers in higher education.
Selected sites around the University apply for the one-year fellowship positions. HDS applied last spring and was approved.
DuMerville, who works out of the Office of Student Life, recently spoke to HDS communications about her plans for her time at the School, the climate around diversity at HDS, and the new course "Talk About It: How Race Matters."
HDS: Can you tell us a bit about your background, what you're studying, and how you came to be interested in working on diversity in higher education?
ND: I have a bachelor of arts in political science and philosophy and a master of public administration degree. Between my undergraduate and graduate studies, I worked in both the private and nonprofit sectors. Immediately prior to pursuing full-time graduate studies, in 2010, I was the program manager for a prisoner reentry program.
Fast forward five years and I'm a doctoral candidate finishing my PhD in strategic leadership with a concentration in postsecondary analysis and leadership. I'm currently writing my dissertation which focuses on conceptualizations and measurements of intercultural competence.
I began my master's program with a broad professional goal of becoming an administrator in higher education. My interest in diversity and inclusion in higher education grew from a research paper in one of my first classes of my master's program. The topic had to be related to a contemporary issue facing public sector managers, and I selected multiculturalism. That paper really sparked my interest. From that point on, I was very intentional about using research assignments to explore diversity-related topics, and as much as possible, through the lens of higher education. As a doctoral student, I've been very deliberate about continuing this type of focused research.
HDS: What do you hope to accomplish in your role here at HDS?
ND: The projects I've been assigned this year include working with the Racial Justice and Healing Initiative, administering a racial climate survey, developing programs and educational resources on diversity, inclusion, and related topics for faculty, staff, and students, and assisting with the spring 2016 course on race.
HDS: What are some of the ways in which you plan to assess the climate around race and difference within the HDS community?
I plan to administer an online survey, as well as collect qualitative data through focus groups. It will also be important to look at the organization's history of inclusion and structural, or representational, diversity trends. I understand the Office of Student Life has collected data in previous years on how students have experienced the climate at HDS. The historical data will help to inform the evaluation. It's important to take all this information into consideration, as all these factors have influenced the current HDS climate.
HDS: One of your efforts will be to support instructors in the new course “Talk About It: How Race Matters.” Can you discuss your role in that course?
ND: I've helped to identify and organize class materials and I will assist with measuring learning and developmental outcomes for the course. I am really excited to work with the course instructors. They bring unique perspectives, experiences, and pedagogical approaches, so it's a great learning experience for me.
HDS: What do you hope students get out of that course?
ND: I hope the students walk away with a deeper socio-historical and socio-political understanding of race, as well as a deeper understanding of their personal racial identity development. I would like to see students walk away from the course with the ability not just to participate in, but also, to facilitate conversations about race, as well as having developed stronger capabilities to advocate for racial justice.
HDS: What programs or initiatives do you hope to put into place or implement during your time at HDS?
ND: I am creating both a physical and online library of diversity-related materials, as well as developing primers on various diversity-related topics to be disseminated among faculty, staff, and students.
In addition, I am continuing the Vital Conversations group talks that began during the 2015 Orientation program. During the fall semester, the conversations focused on gender, ability, and social justice advocacy. I am currently working on the spring semester conversations. I also hope to facilitate a group this spring where members of the HDS community meet regularly and participate in conversations and activities around dimensions of diversity over the course of several weeks.
HDS: You've only been at HDS for a semester, but can you talk about what you've seen so far in terms of the climate around race and what seems to be working and what may need to change?
ND: What is really evident to me is that there are faculty and staff members, as well as students, who are very interested in improving the climate for all diverse groups represented at HDS. The external environment influences the institutional climate, and much has happened over the past year or two to highlight issues of race. Appropriately, race is a salient topic at HDS. However, I think it's important to also consider the climate for other social groups, such as the BGLTQ community, non-traditional graduate students, international students, certain religious groups, women, etc.
HDS: Your appointment at HDS ends in July 2016. Is that enough time to complete what you want to do? What do you hope will continue after your appointment is completed?
ND: I have intentionally focused on developing sustainable resources because I am aware of my limited time at HDS. After my appointment ends, I am hopeful that HDS will continue to focus on issues around diversity and inclusion. Developing increasing levels of intercultural competence is necessary for maintaining an inclusive campus climate, and intercultural competence development is a lifelong process. As such, diversity and inclusion initiatives must be intentional, pervasive, and continuous.
—by Michael Naughton