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The diversity initiatives project was, without a doubt, a great
success. The freedom of mobility in carrying out the project allowed
for boundless creative growth. Funding was well supplied, and Shane
felt that he had excellent support from his mentors, other Cowell
professional staff, as well as staff members around the university.
Some of the more challenging aspects he encountered were in communication.
It was at times difficult to communicate effectively with other
staff members due to slow responses via email or even being overrun
with a flood of memos.
Throughout this undertaking, Shane was provided a window view into
the bureaucratic systems of the university. He has gained insight
into the necessary nature of persistent questioning in order to
reach a consensus and avoid future conflict or litigation. Not to
say he enjoyed the red-tape of the institution, he merely saw it
function to its ability.
In most cases during his employment, Shane carried out tasks on
his own, occasionally touching base with Minh to make sure he was
on track. The independent nature of his work allowed him to expand
creatively where he pleased. Shane researched ideas that he felt
strongly about, incorporated activities that he thought students
would pull most from, and so on. Though Minh and Shane supervised
the general content of the class, they decided early on to allow
for student direction in meetings as much as possible.
CUIP’s met together and were privileged to participate in
various ‘study groups.’ Shane felt as though it offered
a constructive introduction to bureaucratic systems. The most valuable
products of his internship came from the hands-on experience of
designing the class, and then working closely with his mentors.
The research he conducted greatly increased his knowledge concerning
issues of Social Justice and multiculturalism.
Shane hoped that documentary or other films and musical media would
have been utilized more in the course. Students engaged in deep
conversations about the musical impact on the socialization of differing
identity groups, from women to men and across racial as well as
class lines. It would have been very nice to incorporate multimedia
into the project more for many reasons. The first and foremost is
the importance of catering to different learning styles. Not everyone
can learn from just listening or even listening combined with short
physical activities. In many cases, people adopt classification
of “visual learners.” In the case of such learners,
the more visually and audio-oriented content presented is, the more
well connected students become with the material.
Shane gauged project success through both subjective and metaphysical
perspectives. Student evaluations and feedback provide external
and unbiased information further legitimizing the success of the
initiative. He was very happy to have participated in the CUIP program.
He accomplished a great deal of work towards improving and supporting
the development of an inclusive community at Cowell. Shane’s
only hope that such work will continue and someday soon become the
standard by which we engage with one another. Through his experiences
as a CUIP intern, he has defined a future career path. He is planning
on attending graduate school after graduating. Shane does not know
where yet, but he would like to try the east coast for a change.
He wants to study student affairs in higher education, and then
from there move on to attain a doctorate. He loves history and would
like to find a way to incorporate it into his future plans. Shane
has finished the UC requirements for a History degree and is currently
pursuing a minor in both the classics and education.
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