COLUMBUS - Ohio State's newly released Diversity Action Plan includes recommendations to establish a multicultural center on campus, conduct a sweeping evaluation of all minority recruitment programs, develop summer programs for at-risk freshmen and establish a Peer Partners program that would match minority students with other students enrolled in the same disciplines.

The plan, released last week, focuses on the long-term future of the university's diversity profile. The plan has been revised since its first distribution across campus last November. In a memo also issued last week, Ohio State President William E. Kirwan and Provost Edward J. Ray asked university deans and vice presidents to outline strategies to advance diversity within their units by Sept. 22.

"I think this is an excellent report," Kirwan said of the revised action plan. "I am very supportive of it and very appreciative of the outstanding work done by the committee in developing it. The report sets appropriate goals and identifies meaningful initiatives to realize those goals. It's a roadmap for taking Ohio State to a better place with regard to diversity."

The Diversity Action Committee cautions that the final plan is considered the next step in a long process of increasing diversity at Ohio State. The committee also clarified the intent of its aggressive pursuit of creating a more diverse institution.

"This is really linked to a quality education," said David Williams II, committee co-chair and vice president for student and urban/community affairs. "This is an initiative for all - it's not just to assist women and minority students, faculty and staff. It's to assist in creating a learning environment that prepares students to live in a diverse world. It's our position that if we in the University community do not work collectively to enhance diversity, we're ultimately doing our students a disservice.

"Preparing this plan is also the right thing to do to correct historical underrepresentation of segments of the population. There are constituencies addressed in this plan who will get chances to succeed that their parents and grandparents never had."

"This is a work in progress," said committee Co-Chair Carole Anderson, dean of the College of Nursing and assistant vice president for health sciences. "I think it gives an outline of specific things that can be done. It is not our intent to say this is the plan for next year."

Anderson and Williams noted that the committee does not consider the plan an exhaustive list of all strategies that could advance diversity. They said the committee emphasized throughout the report that it is not intended to be a "one-size-fits-all" plan; campus units, which all have different diversity issues to address, are encouraged to customize the plan so it makes the most sense to them.

The committee was asked to focus primarily on strategies that would be particularly effective for "increasing the number of women and racial/ethnic minorities and improving the campus climate for all, including persons with different sexual orientations," the report states.

Faculty and staff-related recommendations include instituting "theme quarters" to provide dialogue on diversity; establishing seed grants promoting interdisciplinary study of diversity issues; creating a faculty exchange program with historically black institutions; initiating an outreach program by which deans and chairs would visit institutions with high concentrations of minorities; and revising the freshman survey course to add more content on living in diverse communities.

New to the document is a call for the appointment of a Universitywide Council on Diversity that would monitor the university's progress in meeting its diversity goals, foster collaboration between initiatives concerning gender and race issues, carry responsibility for keeping the Diversity Action Plan updated, and issue annual reports to the University community.

"This is our best thinking about how we can achieve diversity," Anderson said. "We identified areas and assigned responsibility. If the University does all of the things outlined in the plan, the climate on this campus will change."

The objectives associated with the plan remain the same as indicated last fall during its initial release. They are:

· Creating a supportive environment that is welcoming for all individuals;

· Recruiting and retaining greater numbers of women and minorities into faculty, staff and administrative positions;

· Recruiting, retaining and graduating greater numbers of ethnic minority students;

· Providing incentives to academic and academic support units for developing models of excellence for increasing diversity;

· Collecting and organizing data to systematically and effectively assess progress and to align/realign programs intended to enhance diversity; and

· Assigning accountability to achieve the progress envisioned in the action plan.

Ray affirmed that the objectives represent the university's commitment to diversity. "Ohio State's wish to be among the best universities in the nation includes our determination to serve as an example for the advancement of diversity in higher education," he said. "The quality of education, scholarship, career preparation and the overall student experience are enriched by a diverse environment, and we owe it to all students, faculty and staff to create a diverse community in which they can realize their potential."

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(LO)