You are cordially invited to RIT’s Board of Trustees Sponsored Diversity Day 2009 to be held in Ingle Auditorium, Student Alumni Union on Wednesday, April 1, 2009.
The theme of the conference will be Engagement as a Vehicle for Retention: Fostering Passionate, Committed and Successful Faculty, Staff, Students and Alumni.
Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, President Emerita of Spelman and Bennett Colleges will give the keynote address in the morning. Dr. Cole is an anthropologist, author, university professor and administrator with a special interest in Afro-American, Latin American and Caribbean Studies. She has served on the boards of major corporations and assisted President Clinton in the formation of his first Administration. Dr. Cole is now Presidential Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Women’s Studies, and African-American Studies at Emory University. Dr. Cole will provide insight to help us better understand how to utilize the concept of engagement as a tool for retention, with a special focus on underrepresented groups.
Dr. Cole will speak about using engagement as the basis for creating a more satisfying learning environment which supports the university goals for persistence through graduation. All are invited to be part of a very interesting and pivoting discussion that will take our current knowledge of engagement and retention to a new level of understanding and performance.
Date: Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Place: Ingle Auditorium, Student Alumni Union
Time: 8:30 – 9:00 Continental Breakfast
9:00 – 11:30 Seminar
Please register by e-mail at grcpro@rit.edu or by phone at 475-6546.
This is an exciting opportunity for everyone and you don’t want to miss it.
Please note: Real-time captioning and sign language interpreting will be provided.
Engagement as a Vehicle for Retention:
Fostering Passionate, Committed, and Successful Constituents at RIT
An organization does not succeed because it is big or long established; it succeeds because there are people in it who love it, sleep it, dream it, and build future plans for it. — Author unknown
In higher education, leaders are looking for tools and techniques to retain qualified faculty, staff, and students. Those who have met with success have done so by creating the type of working and learning environment where individuals feel involved and emotionally invested in their own and the university’s success. These efforts have evolved into a practice referred to as engagement.
Engagement is characterized as a feeling of commitment, passion and energy, which translates to…
· High levels of effort
· Persistence with even the most difficult tasks
· Exceeding expectations
· Taking initiative
…and results in lower turnover rates, higher productivity, and a culture of success.
An engaged faculty or staff member is less likely to leave a university than one who is disengaged, and is willing and able to produce the kinds of results needed for university success. Engaged students perform well and feel so proud of their university that they are likely to become active alumni upon graduation. Engaged alumni seek opportunities to remain involved and ensure the continued success of the university.
Creating a highly engaged culture requires that universities find ways to unleash the talent and energy of its constituents at every level, while keeping them focused in a common direction. It begins with raising awareness among managers, professors, and support staff about the importance of engagement and equipping them with tools and techniques to lead to higher levels of engagement. Faculty and staff who are not themselves engaged cannot hope to engage students or alumni.
This Diversity Day program will examine the key drivers of an engaged culture and evaluate:
· How we can improve the current level of faculty and staff engagement
· The effect faculty and staff engagement has on our students
· The strategies we use to engage our students
· How engagement strategies apply to alumni
For more ionformation please contact:
Dr. Alfreda Brown
Interim Chief Diversity Officer
Office of the President
Rochester Institute of Technology
2 Lomb Memorial Drive
Rochester, New York 14623-5604
585-475-5453
585-475-5700
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