HBCU Newsletter | Issue No. 3 October 2022

A Culture of Care at HBCUs

This is the third issue in a newsletter series that will serve as a report and thematic summary of content shared in the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition’s multi-pronged engagement of HBCUs in their work with the Advising Success Network (ASN).

The Center has identified HBCUs as spaces where some of the most innovative and effective work is being done to improve student success outcomes and advance equity. Yet, too often, the work at these institutions is not part of the larger dialogue about advising redesign and student success and, thus, the positive impact of their efforts has not been fully shared, celebrated, and modeled. As part of a commitment to engaging HBCUs as critical partners in ASN activities, the Center created several dedicated channels for their involvement.

One of these channels was a one-day Symposium, delivered live in October 2021 via virtual conference platform. The Symposium represented a mix of plenary content delivered by invited speakers and interactive content proposed and presented by participants. Over the course of discussions during the Symposium, a theme emerged around how participating institutions are furthering their mission by capturing a culture of care on campus.

Why Culture Matters

Researchers including Brené Brown (2010) have noted that a caring culture requires organizations to show vulnerability in their personal interactions at multiple levels. Schreiner et al. (2020) went further, connecting higher education institutions’ messages of inclusion and caring with institutional integrity, or the extent that a student’s lived experience at their institution aligns with what they expected from the school:

Consistent messages of inclusion and care, faculty and staff who embody the mission of the institution, and practices that center student learning and meet students’ expectations are indicative of the institutional integrity that builds a sense of community and characterizes a thriving campus. (Schreiner, Nelson, & Louis, p. 216)

Higher ed institutions can show a culture of caring and ignite change and development when staff interact with an open heart and mind.

While culture of care was not one of the scheduled topics for the National Resource Center’s Symposium, it emerged as a clear theme. Several presentations touched on the subject, with speakers discussing how increased attention to their campus culture has positively impacted interaction and student success.

Taking a Nontraditional Route

As times change, so do the circumstances around why people enter college. Traditional approaches to learning and assessment are not always reliable; indeed, incoming classes at many institutions might not at all resemble what many consider a traditional student profile.

In her keynote presentation, “Assessment, Accountability, and Student Success: HBCUs Leading on Learning,” Dr. Verna Orr explored this conundrum and how HBCUs are providing innovative learning experiences while also using assessment to help foster a culture of care. Orr is a special assistant for planning and institutional effectiveness at Benedict College, a co-founder of HB- CU-CEEQA, and a Fellow with the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment.

Historically, some have seen assessment as a process disconnected from students, faculty, and staff – of being more about numbers than humanity. Countering this outlook, Orr posited assessment as a component of a culture of care. She stressed that when institutions, and particularly HBCUs, put assessment into practice, they unlock numerous benefits capable of supporting the student experience.

When the assessment process is driven by informed, data-based decision making, the results have the power to benefit student success and equity, Orr said, while also generating involvement by other stakeholders on campus. Assessment can accomplish this by:

• helping staff review effectiveness and alignment of curricula, including mission statements;

• improving curricular and co-curricular program outcomes;

• informing institutions’ planning and decision making;

• helping staff understand the impact of program changes;

• highlighting program successes; and

• informing students about intended learning outcomes.

While there is no set of formal standards at institutions to address it, “We all know that a culture of caring is pivotal,” Orr said during the Symposium. When HBCUs consider nontraditional approaches to learning and assessment, a culture of caring is one element of a workable strategy, along with:

• providing a social justice-oriented education;

• providing a high-touch educational environment;

• gearing admission policies to provide access to those who have traditionally been denied access to higher education; and

• preparing students for a life of service.

Following up, Dr. Kellie Dixon, director of student affairs assessment and staff development at North Carolina A&T State University, described how the COVID-19 pandemic led her institution to put a sharper focus on equity-minded assessment, which she connected to a culture of caring. Orr advised that a “culture of assessment” for institutions, with intentional efforts made to improve processes and practices, can optimize students’ educational experience.

Regarding assessment, Dixon also emphasized the importance of getting buy-in from all campus stakeholders and ensuring that all parties, including students, know their role in the process. Staff can ensure this happens and reinforce a culture of caring at their institution by sending out inclusive messages that emphasize the benefits of assessment to the community at large.

“A lot of times we do programs and events based on our experiences,” Dixon said of staff at her university. “I want us to get past that because our students are changing every semester, if not every week.”

Finding Strength Amid Adversity

Dr. Will Sheppard is assistant director of university housing and residence life at Appalachian State University; Dr. Brandy Bryson is the university’s director of inclusive excellence and an associate professor of leadership and educational studies. For their presentation, “Black Male Brilliance: Strengths of High-Achieving Black Male Students at HBCUs,” they examined the skills, habits, characteristics, and relationships to learning and achievement of Black males. Their study featured original research data from focus groups of 26 high-achieving first-year students at five HBCUs in North Carolina.

Sheppard and Bryson aimed to (a) highlight HBCUs’ importance in educating Black males in positive ways, and (b) counter a deficit narrative for Black men and Black male learners. In response to this narrative, the researchers sought to focus on these students’ strengths and elevate them as Black Male Brilliance, a concept that comprises:

• high academic success attributes (e.g., motivation, discipline, a positive mindset); and

• persistence despite damaging racial stereotypes and racism, while keeping a strong, positive sense of identity as Black men.

A repeated theme for students in the focus groups was overcoming their own past trauma as Black males while also exceeding the low expectations of others. Their stories highlighted pain from systemic racism – not only from their K-12 teachers and from society in general, but also during their HBCU experience. Students said they had trouble trusting others, making working in groups a struggle.

For institutions espousing a culture of care, trust is a vital component for multiple sides of engagement. When a staff member shows vulnerability, for example, they implicitly encourage others to open up and be more trusting. While Sheppard and Bryson’s participants expressed a strong desire for others to acknowledge and validate their pain and struggles, they often required academic, mental, and social support resources from their institution to help them open up – to be vulnerable. Of those who sought out those resources, many described various Black male initiatives (BMIs) at their institutions as invaluable to their academic success and sense of belonging. Sheppard and Bryson help lead one such BMI at App State: a residential learning community with a holistic focus on life skills called the Black Male Excellence Initiative.

Both researchers stressed the importance of university staff remaining open and vulnerable in their interactions with students. In particular, Bryson spoke of creating a space for students to share with her, a white woman, by relaying her own “story” and identity, thereby allowing her to model vulnerability.

Based on their findings, Sheppard and Bryson identified potential steps for HBCUs to help further the academic success of students, including high achievers, while building on a foundation of care:

• Black male students consistently spoke of their challenging lived experiences with structural racism, highlighting a lack of trust and vulnerability. Institutions could balance these experiences by finding ways to serve students holistically. One solution takes a trauma-informed approach: providing space to process such experiences through advising and mentoring appointments, class discussions, programming, counseling, and other considerations.

• Study participants often spoke generally about their limitations (e.g., time management, pride, procrastination). To better manage this tendency, Sheppard and Bryson recommended creating structured opportunities for students to articulate specific behavioral limitations (e.g., spending too much time gaming, avoiding assignments because of uncertainty), then working with advisors or mentors on solutions. Another possible strategy: working closely with student learning centers and creating faculty buy-in around Supplemental Instruction.

• The researchers emphasized on-campus partnerships as essential to creating a culture of care amid high student–advisor ratios and long workdays for advisors. They suggested a team-based approach to guide students toward programmatic support.

The researchers also developed some specific recommendations from Black male students for educators, which largely related to a culture of care on campus:

• Be consistent, committed, and invested in students’ future. Demonstrate consistent care and commitment by imparting life lessons and supporting students in good and hard times. As part of that consistency, empower students without shaming them.

• Develop intentional, meaningful relationships (one nontraditional approach: checking in regularly within students’ spaces, whether in the classroom or elsewhere on campus).

• “Show us some love and be patient in how we respond.” Trauma can lead to unexpected triggers for students, so using patience is key during interactions.

Staying Open to Change

In a Symposium roundtable that considered obstacles posed by communication and technology, Dr. Jamila Lyn focused on another aspect of a caring culture: the ability to build relationships. Lyn is a student success coach at Benedict College and a senior fellow at Acadeum, a platform that powers online course sharing for colleges and universities.

Lyn responded to a question posed to participants, “What If Every Student Responded to Your Email?” saying institutions should move past mass emails and other impersonal communication methods and seek ways to amplify personalized, high-impact moments between students and staff.

By breaking down the “digital distrust” that can make students hesitant to respond to staff online, Lyn said, institutions can better prepare students to compete in college and beyond. Overcoming such barriers also sends a message of inclusion and care to students.

Other presenters at the Symposium also discussed how their institutions were using technology to boost student support and reinforce a culture of care:

• Tiffany Alexander and Charmaine Whyte, both of Delaware State University, facilitated a roundtable discussion, “Using Technology to Enhance Academic Support Services.” Alexander is the university’s coordinator of student transition; Whyte is director of academic advising and student success. Among other upgrades geared toward students, participants in the discussion have held virtual classes over Zoom, initiated a laptop loan program for students, and created QR codes for curricula.

• Alayna Blash, associate director for student success at Spelman College, said Spelman has used EAB Navigate, an advising software that incorporates appointment scheduling, as an alternative for advisors to communicate with students.

Conclusion

A culture of care might still lack a formal standard at higher ed institutions, but the current movement toward organizations showing consideration for openness, proactiveness, and vulnerability should be encouraging for students and institutions alike. The examples given from the Center’s Symposium involve nontraditional approaches to learning, a move toward serving students holistically, a willingness to be vulnerable and open at all levels, and an emphasis on relationships, among other initiatives. Further, the Symposium reframed assessment, vulnerability, and technology as important tools for crafting a culture of care and as critical components for maintaining it.

While the impact of these still-developing approaches might vary, when institutions focus on supporting students and understanding the challenges they face, those institutions can better ensure that students meet their potential.

References

Brown, B. (2010). The power of vulnerability. TEDx Talks. Retrieved July 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0.

Schreiner, L. A., Louis, M. C., & Nelson, D. D. (Eds.). (2020). Thriving in transitions: A research-based approach to college student success (2nd ed.). University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition.