The University Diversity Alliance set goals Monday to address the institutional barriers for incoming students of color and redevelop the campus climate survey in the Roe Cross Room.
The committee, along with Jason Brooks, assistant dean of students for diversity, equity and inclusion, oversees goal five of the University Diversity and Inclusion plan (UDI) and how it will be enacted within the institution.
Goal five of the UDI states that Emporia State will “develop and maintain a campus climate and culture in which embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion is a core value lived by all members of the Emporia State community.”
The Diversity Ambassador’s training program has started this semester and they will help program diversity events and meet with groups visiting campus.
“The goals of the Diversity Ambassadors this semester is not to be the official Diversity Ambassadors for the institution, but when we have multicultural groups that come on campus, to actually meet with those students,” said Deanna Williams, director of diversity programs.
ESU has also increased the scholarships available to underrepresented populations, according to Brooks.
“We have an increase in funding for our Latino population here, through the Latino Legacy scholarship,” Brooks said. “We also have the Emporia Connection scholarship.”
There is between $8,500 and $10,000 available from those scholarships and currently only about $5,000 of it has been given out, according to Brooks.
They are also in the process of redesigning the campus climate survey, which comes out every five years, to include new questions and potentially a new format.
“It will provide a lot more quantitative data on who’s here, gender identity, maybe sexual orientation if students chose to,” Brooks said.
The committee hopes to receive more responses than it has in the past, which will give them a more accurate look at the student body.
“The odds of completing it are greater if they look at something and instantly connect to the items…and once people start, momentum usually carries through,” said Gary Wyatt, associate provost, director of the Honors College and professor of sociology.
They also discussed creating new programming to help integrate students into the community and retain a larger number of students, as well as the importance of using learning communities and first year experiences to help students make connections.
The University Diversity Alliance will meet again in November and plans on sending out a formal update of goal five of the UDI twice a year, with the first update going out in December.
