Tutela a guiding influence

Happy New Year! Welcome back to all returning tutors. I hope your way of celebrating or relaxing during the break has provided you with the synergy you need to have a successful spring semester.

Suzi Steffen, our tutor coordinator, offered me her usual space to talk to you about this special issue of Tutela. It is no coincidence that Tutela is reaching you now. We planned this issue around the theme(s) for the events and activities taking place this week on campus in commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Week at the University. This time has been set aside to pay tribute to the civil rights legacy of Dr. King and contemplate its contemporary meaning. The other is the celebration of Human Rights Week, which involves lectures and activities focusing on this theme from varied perspectives.

The staff of Tutela believes this is a good time to look at human rights issues at The University of Iowa and to talk about their impact on students. We were very fortunate and honored to have Dr. Philip G. Hubbard, professor emeritus of engineering and former vice president of Student Services and dean of Academic Affairs, available to discuss human rights at Iowa. In 1996, Dr. Hubbard authored New Dawns: 150 Years of Human Rights at The University of Iowa. On December 4, 2000, I talked to Dr. Hubbard about human rights at the University. You can read the results of our discussion below.

Tutor Coordinator Suzi Steffen has written about services that have evolved in responding to the spirit of the human rights policy at Iowa. Our student editor, Erin McKee, looks at Student Disabilities Services (SDS) and the technological aids that provide support to persons with specific disabilities. We also say goodbye to our Learning Coordinator.

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On December 29th, the staff said farewell to Learning Coordinator Terry Ishitani. Terry, who graduated with his Ph.D in July of 2000, is moving to Terre Haute, Indiana, to undertake a new career. Terry is now the Insitutional Research Analyst at Indiana State's Office of Institutional Research and Testing. Congratulations to Terry. We wish him well.

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On December 4, at Oaknoll Retirement Residence, I met with Dr. Philip G. Hubbard, who is a professor emeritus of engineering and a former vice president of Student Services and dean of Academic Affairs. I asked Dr. Hubbard to share his perspective on human rights in his lifetime, especially at the UI. Dr. Hubbard chose to talk about some events meaningful to him while growing up in Iowa and as a student, faculty and senior administrator. His personal accounts of some of his experiences as a child and undergraduate student at Iowa illuminated the rationale for a human rights policy.

Through his tone of voice, the look in his eyes, and the recitation of the list of trailblazing firsts for the University, I recognized immediately that Dr. Hubbard is proud of Iowa's efforts and accomplishments in human rights -- without being blind to the faults and missteps comprising state and University history. For example, he shared that his much-beloved mother encouraged and supported the family move to Iowa to enhance educational opportunities for her children at a loss to her own career in teaching. In Hubbard's youth, though African-American children could attend public school alongside white children, African-Americans could not teach in these schools.

Dr. Hubbard also recounted that while enrolled as a student at Iowa, African-American students were not allowed to live in the residence halls. He said, "While my financial situation would not have allowed me to be able to live in the residence hall, there were other African-American students who could have afforded living in the halls but were denied doing so because of their race."

Though Dr. Hubbard recounted many firsts related to historically underrepresented populations in higher education -- such as Iowa being the first university in the United States to graduate a woman and an African-American man with degrees in law and the first university where an African-American woman earned an MFA -- he also recognized that these groups of students did not enjoy full access to opportunities and services. Dr. Hubbard explained that in higher education prior to the 1960s, many leaders shared the negative beliefs, stereotypes, myths, and fears that were prevalent in society at large related to women and people of color. These leaders often initiated or adhered to policies and practices supportive of those perspectives.

The first committee for human rights was established in 1963 with Professor of Law Willard "Sandy" Boyd serving as the chair and leading architect of the first policy on human rights at Iowa. Dr. Hubbard credits the influence of Professor Boyd during his tenure as Vice President and then President of The University of Iowa, from the 1960s to 1981, for the continued commitment of succeeding administrations at The University to principles, policies, and practices related to human rights.

The goal of the human rights policy has always been, in part, to ensure that all students -- regardless of group affiliation or identity -- could enjoy all the opportunities and services available in the university community. The policies and practices were established to make sure that those in the University community who held negative stereotypes about other groups could not injure students through their prejudices. As Dr. Hubbard simply puts it, after the human rights policy came into being, "Students were no longer at the mercy of any individual professor, administrator, or staff member."

When asked about human rights in the 21st Century, Dr. Hubbard intimated that people would always struggle with gaps between the ideal and the reality of human practices. Consequently, he said, it is important to have policies in place with recourse for corrective actions. He also explained that in general, he believed that people would work toward complying with policy more readily than against it.

For those of you interested in more information on the origins and evolution of human rights at The University of Iowa, read Dr. Hubbard's book, New Dawns: 150 Years of Human Rights at The University of Iowa.

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Can you learn effectively if you're trying to understand yourself in an entirely new light? What if your identity is one often reviled by your peers, your family, and popular culture? For students who come out in college as lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, or gay, schoolwork might take a distant second to the traumas and discoveries of selfhood.

Diane Finnerty, coordinator of diversity resources at the Office of Affirmative Action, explains that coming out in college can draw attention and energy away from academics. "Sometimes grades drop because the student's attention is elsewhere, and this can lead to an experience of isolation and depression," Finnerty says.

If your student talks to you about sexual or gender identity, Finnerty lists some things to remember. "First of all, you need to be aware of your own perspective and not let anything get in the way of quality tutoring." If you need information, the Office of Affirmative Action has material; Finnerty is also available for consultation.

But if your student needs more help, Finnerty has other recommendations. "If a student is having trouble, remember that their sexual orientation is not the problem. The problem is that their environment is not supportive of their identity development." Finnerty explains that tutors should be aware of the resources available on campus.

Finnerty suggests that any student dealing with sexual or gender identity questions make an appointment with University Counseling Services. Students who are already out might attend programs by the Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgendered People's Union or groups at the Women's Resource and Action Center. To focus on academics, a student might take a course in the Sexuality Studies program. "Students who are coming out need and deserve positive academic role models," says Finnerty. As always, remember you're not the student's counselor -- you're the tutor. If you chose, you could simply show your student our resource list!

Resources on campus:

• University Counseling Services: 335-7294

• GLBTU: 335-3251

• Women's Resource and Action Center (WRAC): 335-1486

• Office of Affirmative Action: 335-0705

• Sexuality Studies Program: 335-1984

The GLBTU's website also provides many links: www.uiowa.edu/~glbtu

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Inside Student Disability Services (SDS) shines some of the coolest equipment on campus! Devices such as remote real-time captioning and trackballs are part of the assistive learning technology that SDS and Information Technology Services (ITS) bring to UI students with disabilities.

Audrey Berglund from SDS works with seeing-impaired students and said that the Braille embossers, which print Braille, and the Duxbury Braille Translators, which translate text into Braille, are great for her two students. Real-time captioning provides on-screen text of lectures for hearing-impaired students while the professor is speaking. A stenographer types speech much like in a courtroom, except in the classroom; it's displayed directly on a screen.

If you tutor a student with a disability, Berglund says, "You need to talk to the student and ask them what they want instead of assuming. Lots of students don't need a lot of help and when they do, they'll be able to tell the tutor what they need."

If your student requires assistive technology, the UI has many options. Other than the devices listed above, assistive machines found in the Burge ITC, the Education ITC in N188 Lindquist Center, and the SDS office include the following:

• Voice syntheses and Screen Reading, which reads onscreen text to seeing-impaired students

• Screen enlargement software, large monitors and document magnification system

• Kurzweil Reading Edge system, which scans papers and reads them aloud

• Voice recognition, which allow a user to enter text using speech instead of typing

• Trackball, which is another way to orient on the computer if a student can't use a mouse well.

Check out SDS on the web at: www.uiowa.edu/~sds

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Where do students of color on the majority-white Iowa campus find space for relaxation and sharing their concerns? Carlos Fernandez-Serrato explains that the Latino Native American Cultural Center (LNACC) and the Afro-American Cultural Center (AACC) are two sites that serve this function for many students in their respective populations. Serrato, who oversees the Cultural Centers as an Assistant Director in the Office of Student Life, says, "The centers are spaces for UI groups to get together, support each other, and celebrate their cultures."

Both centers are located on Melrose Avenue in houses which contain full-size kitchens and a variety of different rooms for relaxation, studying, and meeting space. Each is run by a graduate student assistant, who devotes time to the day-to-day operations and supervises the work-study students who staff the centers; the students provide information referral to various campus offices and city resources. Serrato explains,though the centers themselves have a limited budget and no full-time staff and can thus provide only limited programming, they do provide space for a variety of student groups like the Black Student Union and the American Indian Student Association.

When visitors come to the University, Serrato says that the cultural centers make a statement. "The cultural centers support human rights symbolically, just because they exist," says Serrato.

Find out more about the cultural centers by stopping in and/or by visiting their web sites:

• LNACC www.imuis.uiowa.edu/osl/cultural/lnacc

• AACC www.imuis.uiowa.edu/osl/cultural/aacc

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Sexual assault (rape, incest, etc.) can affect a student's ability to sleep, eat, read, even leave a dorm room or apartment. Plus, explains Liz Fitzgerald, education director at the Rape Victim Advocacy Program (RVAP), the time it takes to heal from assault can interfere with schoolwork.

What do you do if your student shares a story of sexual assault? Fitzgerald has some recommendations for you: "First, I'd encourage tutors to listen to the very real impact sexual assault has on a student, and not minimize or deny the impact, or blame your student." Though you can listen with kindness, remember you're not a counselor. At this point, you can refer your student to RVAP's Crisis Line, (335-6000 or 1-800-284-7821). If you have some reactions to your student's story, the Crisis Line can be a resource for you as well.

Next, Fitzgerald recommends that you ask your student what kind of academic support he or she needs. Find out if your student isn't sleeping or if the student's mind is wandering in the middle of studying. Depending on the student's answers, you might alter the study techniques you recommend, says Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald explains that if your student thinks s/he can make it through the semester but finds out that the trauma is simply overwhelming, RVAP can help. "We can write letters of advocacy on behalf of students to professors, even in some cases asking for retroactive withdrawal because of assault," Fitzgerald explains.

RVAP's academic advocacy program can be reached through the Crisis Line. RVAP offers a range of services from individual counseling and support groups to library resources and advocacy. To utilize these services, all you need to do is call -- the Crisis Line is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year.

For more information, visit RVAP'S website: www.uiowa.edu/~rvap

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Community and personal development, says Undergraduate Programming Coordinator Megan Levad, lie at the heart of the Women's Resource and Action Center (WRAC). "Students do better in school when they can set goals," Levad explains, "and students set better goals when they have opportunities for personal development."

The WRAC provides a variety of ways for students to learn and develop personal and professional skills, explains Levad. The Center houses support and discussion groups on topics ranging from journalling to single parenthood and offers to students volunteer opportunities from running kids care to facilitating groups to working on special projects. Furthermore, if students have difficulty in school for a variety of reasons, the WRAC provides help: individual counseling from UI graduate student interns and (with co-sponsors) a free credit counseling service (335-3239).

But one of the key components of the WRAC, says Levad, is that staff members work to create a feeling of community. Levad began volunteering at the WRAC as a first-year student and stayed for all of her undergraduate career; now, post-graduation, she's a staff member and knows how important community can be to student success. "Making people feel welcome and included in the University of Iowa is part of the WRAC's mission," she says. "You feel better when you're part of a community."

For more information on WRAC, visit them at: www.uiowa.edu/~wrac

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Page last modified April 2001. Site maintained by University of Iowa Office of Support Service Programs.  Copyright © 2001 The University of Iowa. OSSP site developed by Ray Mescallado.