Intercultural Effectiveness in Libraries

In response to the growing diversity represented on university college campuses, libraries are positioning themselves to contribute to student success by implementing cultural competency strategies into their policies, programs, and hiring practices. In this chapter, the authors outline the mutually beneficial relationship between student affairs and the libraries─most commonly situated within academic affairs. A historical review of the literature describes the emergence of student affairs within the academy and their relationship with academic affairs. The literature review is followed by a study in the evolving roles of student affairs and libraries in higher education. The authors go on to present a case study highlighting co-curricular partnerships between libraries and offices throughout student affairs that promote cultural competency and intercultural effectiveness.

Orientation in an IEP as Alignment With Core Value Systems

In this chapter, a comprehensive orientation system for international tertiary students in a new country is presented. Student-run activities (facilitated by expert institutional staff) align teenagers with societal norms, institutional expectations, and personal value systems. This orientation prevents learning inhibitors, leaving students' minds unburdened with navigation of structures new to them (i.e., finance, health, immigration, and administration). Nondomestic students enacting conflict resolution, plagiarism prevention, proper police interaction, and etiquette (among others) is requisite for institutions of higher education in any country.

International College Students' Experience of Racial Prejudice

This chapter intends to discuss the experiences of international college students regarding racial prejudice on campus and explore the role of student associations as a way to increase cross-cultural interactions between domestic and international students. The aim is to examine how prejudice, more specifically racial-ethnic prejudice, affects their college experience. The findings suggest that active involvement in campus activities promote interaction across cultures and reduce racial prejudice. This chapter engages qualitative individual interviews with Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Nigerian, Kenyan, and Ghanaian undergraduate international students (N=31). It is believed that this method is best suited to apprehend their experiences and to fully understand how they create meaning of perceived racial prejudice. Their testimonies are presented through verbatim transcripts of the interview sessions conducted in 2014-2015, in three New York research universities. A discussion of their experiences follows and suggestions for future research conclude this chapter.

Teacher Education Experiences of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse International Students in the United States

Increasing numbers of students from China are choosing to study in American colleges and universities. While education may not be the top choice of discipline for many international students, the field of education has witnessed an increase in international enrollment in recent years. A study was conducted at a state university in the mid-Atlantic region aiming to investigate the teacher education experiences of international students graduated in the past five years. This chapter focuses on five Chinese pre-service teachers and reports findings that include opportunities and challenges in both on-campus coursework and off-campus internship, impact of both cultures on their teaching beliefs and practice, suggestions to the program, and advice for future international students. Culturally responsive recommendations are also discussed to foster academic success of international students in the teacher preparation program.

Supporting ESL Students in Distance Learning Courses

Skill gaps between faculty's expectations around assessments and student work are common pedagogical themes. When misunderstandings are compounded by linguistic barriers and variances in cultural expectations, a simple error can have unforeseen impact on student success and the student-faculty relationship. In this chapter, the author explores sociocultural theory and second language acquisition research for tools that can improve communication between faculty and English language learner students. A proactive strategy is proposed that promotes understanding of the learner, investigates faculty assumptions, uses transparency in communication of assumptions, and provides ongoing support to faculty and students to reduce tension, increase understanding, and promote student success.

Embracing Student Diversity

With an increased focus on internationalization and the worldwide rising enrollment of international students, faculty are recognizing the advantages of transforming their curricula to meet the needs of a diverse student population. International students often experience academic and social dissonance in new learning environments. Information and communication technologies (ICT) offer alternative ways of interacting with students by increasing their engagement while facilitating cross-cultural learning experiences. In this chapter, the authors discuss how ICT can be utilized to support the experience of international students as they navigate the academic landscape and to provide all students with a more holistic education. Research-based best practices are discussed to illustrate the ways technologies can be utilized to facilitate active learning and enhance cross-cultural interactions, thereby allowing students to develop cross-cultural competencies. Examples of applications or tools that support these practices are presented.

Transgressions on Students and Faculty of Color in Higher Education

This chapter considers transgressions that students and faculty of color face in higher education. Specifically, the chapter examines how implicit bias and microaggressions affect the experiences of students and faculty of color. Special attention is paid to strategies that prevent or address these transgressions from both personal and contextual approaches. The chapter ends with a thought-provoking case study that portrays the multifaceted dimensions of these troubling transgressions in the classroom and provides the reader with some reflection questions to consider.

Supporting University International Students Through Supportive ESL Instruction and Corrective Feedback

Teaching and learning in an English as a second language (ESL) course is something that we find essential to international student support not only in overcoming difficulties but also in aiding understanding of the new language and culture that these diverse students are now a part of. Although it can take an almost insurmountable length of time to overcome and understand such difficulties, we know that a supportive environment and welcoming ESL instructors can make a difference. It is especially important that ESL instructors regard international students as assets and make sure that the academic community values their important contributions to the campus. That is, they can be a great motivator for ESL learners to continue to pursue their academic objectives. For this particular reason, this chapter sheds light on corrective feedback as a powerful pedagogical and motivational tool that could help language learners improve their linguistic performance.

International Students and Academic Libraries

Ethnic, racial, and gender diversity remains a feature of the demographic composition of students in higher education. Diversity on college campuses exposes students to new perspectives, research opportunities, and pedagogy practices. International students studying in academic institutions contribute to the ethnic diversity in universities, and this chapter examines their interactions with librarians and libraries. Librarians' understanding of international students' library use can foster the development of appropriate training opportunities, program initiatives, and outreach efforts for these individuals. It can also identify the necessary staff skills for successful interactions between librarians and international students and facilitate their use of library resources and services. To this end, the authors present a literature review of international students and academic libraries.

Diversity and Inclusion in Ontario Universities

In relation to institutional-level policy and planning, the Province of Ontario signed strategic mandate agreements (henceforth, SMAs) with all 45 publicly funded colleges and universities. The SMA planning process is a comprehensive, province-wide exercise that identifies the respective strengths of each university and directions for growth and development. This chapter reports findings from a qualitative analysis of SMAs that was conducted to understand priorities for diversity and inclusion in the province's universities. This chapter finds that the general focus remains on promoting diversity and inclusion in the international and Indigenous contexts. In these contexts, universities are making a range of efforts to support international and Indigenous students and enhance overall learning by internationalizing and indigenizing curriculum. Surprisingly, very little emphasis is placed on diversity and inclusion in the faculty and staff context within all SMA documents. The chapter concludes with recommendations for institutions seeking to bolster diversity and inclusion.