By Karen Wagner
Public Information
Three years in the making, Penn State's recently completed "Framework to Foster Diversity" will kick into action this month and carry the University through the year 2002.
One of the first action items will be to schedule a series of focus group sessions at all Penn State locations that will give the Office of Educational Equity a broad-based understanding of how diversity is interpreted across the Penn State system. How does the University define diversity?
The focus groups will explore the usefulness of some of the descriptors presented at the November 1993 meeting of the Board of Trustees. The definition included:
* Reasonable representation from different minority groups;
* Representation from different countries and cultures;
* Reasonable balance of gender;
* Diversity in curriculum content;
* A climate supportive of different minority groups and cultures.
Tom Poole, assistant vice provost for educational equity, emphasizes that implementing the plan will be a dynamic process.
"The challenges presented in the plan are not sequential -- we will evaluate and address a number of action items simultaneously."
In addition to organizing the focus group sessions, Susan Shuman, currently the Administrative Fellow for the executive vice president and provost, is analyzing climate surveys that have already been conducted across the University. Although surveys have been administered in several units, this will be the first attempt the University has made to collect the results centrally and make effective use of the information.
The primary objective in analyzing the surveys will be to uncover existing "best practices" and share them with other units.
Other goals outlined in the plan are:
* Develop strategies to recruit and retain nontraditional students;
* Develop strategies to help search committees identify and assess the credentials of women and minority candidates;
* Expand faculty and staff retention programs to include all underrepresented groups;
* Accelerate the introduction of family-friendly policies and programs and expand personal and professional development opportunities;
* Institute curricula and research initiatives that provide students with the skills and orientation to function effectively in multicultural work places and social environments;
* Develop diverse management teams at all levels of the organization;
* Institute organizational strategies and support to meet the University's diversity goals.
The plan outlines several steps that will advance these goals. Among them are plans to assess and strengthen residence life and community education programs for students; to conduct a review of current retention initiatives in each college and create a working committee to establish programs in Asian American, disability, Hispanic/Latino American and lesbian, gay and bisexual studies.
In accordance with recent changes in Penn State's general education requirements, the Office of Educational Equity wants to work closely with faculty who are interested in introducing a multicultural perspective to their courses. Other possible action items include developing information packets and a list of contact people who can assist units in their recruitment efforts and the design and implementation of an exit interview process.
A draft of the plan was presented Jan. 16 to the Board of Trustees.
A Framework to Foster Diversity at Penn State can be found on the Web at http://www.lions.psu.edu/diversity/framework/. The site includes the goals and guidelines of diversity planning, a vision statement, a message from the president and the various challenges encountered in attempting to meet the goals.