action item
Starting in Fall 2016, the university will pilot an innovative student assessment and training program, with the ultimate goal of administering the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) or a similar assessment tool to a large cohort of students annually. The tools will assess intercultural acumen, defined as the ability to shift cultural perspective and appropriately adapt behavior to cultural differences and commonalities. This will be supported by follow-up that includes a customized learning plan, intercultural training and pre- and post-assessments to gauge program effectiveness and inform future program investments.
Year Four Progress
Piloted in 2016, the Intercultural Development Inventory has become a major component of the intercultural learning modules offered within the Trotter Multicultural Center (TMC). Anchoring this work in the TMC has allowed for ongoing development of the IDI alongside other tools such as the Intercultural Conflict Styles Inventory, the Cultural Intelligence Assessment, and the Cultural Values Profile. In year four, we continued to advance student learning through partnerships that integrate these tools into curricular and co-curricular spaces, with the goal of increasing students’ capacity to engage across differences in identity and culture. The Trotter Multicultural Center also increased its staffing levels in support of Intercultural Learning.
In the past year, Trotter Multicultural Center expanded from one Intercultural Learning tool with 1,139 participants to three tools serving 1,254 participants. A total of 53 participants across four cohorts completed the new Intercultural Conflict Styles partnership pilot and 1,311 Intercultural Development Inventories were completed, with 1,116 participants engaging in group interpretation sessions. We also completed 606 Individual Qualified Administrator feedback sessions, with 69.8 percent of individual results-track participants completing their one-on-one meeting, up from 65.6 percent in year three.
We continued to integrate the Intercultural Development Inventory into curricular spaces, with 839 of our IDI engagements taking place in collaboration with:
- Rackham Graduate College (240)
- College of Engineering (140)
- College of Literature Science and the Arts (117)
- School of Nursing (282 students)
- School of Public Health,Epidemiology (60 students)
Student Life’s commitment to holistic student development within a diverse campus has become imperative in these times. Given the increasing importance of intercultural skills in navigating current national and international crises, we quickly shifted our offerings in mid-March from primarily in-person to online delivery. These efforts resulted in 76 participants completing online group sessions and 109 participants completing online individual-results meetings.In year five, Student Life will continue its entire portfolio of intercultural learning initiatives with a focus on academic partnerships, intentional co-curricular, student organizations, and student staff development. Through creative collaborations, we will expand the use of Intercultural Conflict Styles through Trotter Multicultural Center partners such as University Housing and the Office of Student Conflict Resolution. We will also utilize the Cultural Intelligence framework as a program planning tool and share our work with current and potential collaborators such as the College of Engineering and Ross School of Business. Finally, we will explore the Emotional Intelligence in Diversity Inventory assessment as both a follow-up offering for participants and a framework for deepening understanding across differences in identity relative to social climate.
Responsibility: Division of Student Life