As part of its report, the Diversity Committee examined the success of past recommendations to improve diversity. The committee looked at proposals made by the U in the 1999 Shape of the Valley Report and proposals made by Loretta Harper, vice president for human resources at the U, which were made in 2001.
Christina Rodriguez, chairwoman of the Shape of the Valley sub-committee, said the university should be self-reflective to recognize areas of weaknesses.
“In some respects the university has been fairly responsive,” she said. “Yet in other areas, there has not been enough done.”
The following are recommendations made in the previous reports and the current status of the response to each recommendation.
Commit to diversity: President Young has made it clear that diversity remains a high priority at the U. In addition, he recently announced 10 new scholarships for promoting student diversity.
Develop training sessions to make employees aware of diversity: These training sessions are no longer offered.
Improve retention of ethnic and minority faculty and administrators: A Dual Career Program has been created-and used to some measure-to aid in finding on-and-off campus work for partners of faculty and administrators.
Hire faculty to respond to diversity issues: Ron Harris has been hired as associate vice-president for diversity in health sciences, but the Graduate School’s position for assistant dean for diversity has remained unfilled for two years due to budget cuts.
Initiate programs to address student retention: The Health Sciences LEAP program has recruited and retained ethnic and minority students. Rodriguez also noted a number of scholarships that have become available since the recommendations were made.
“Other initiatives have been generated than those that were originally anticipated,” she said.