Campus Diversity Plan

Campus Diversity Plan

In Fall 2015 Halualani & Associates undertook a diversity mapping project for the IU Kokomo campus. This process mapped all diversity efforts that were undertaken by the campus from January 1, 2010 through December, 2015.  According to the Halualani report, a “diversity effort” was defined as “any activity or program that promotes the active appreciation of all campus members in terms of their backgrounds, identities and experiences as constituted by gender, socioeconomic class, political perspective, age, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, regional origin, nationality, occupation and language, as well as any activity or program that brings together any of these aspects.”

In August 2016, the campus held a Diversity Retreat where the results from the Halualani report were disseminated and discussed.  This report identified diversity areas where it was recommended that IU Kokomo focus upon, and take into consideration when developing a diversity strategic plan for the campus.  Out of this report and retreat, the campus community decided to focus on the following six strategic priorities for our diversity plan:

  • Institutional Leadership
  • Infusing Diversity and Equity into the Curriculum
  • Campus Climate
  • Serving Diverse Communities
  • Recruitment and Retention of Diverse Employees
  • Recruitment and Retention of Diverse Students

Goal 1: Establish Diversity and Equity as a Campus Priority

  1. Maintain diversity as a key sustained priority in the campus strategic plan
  2. Create and sustain a campus organizational structure that provides diversity leadership throughout the campus and for all constituencies
  3. Establish a web diversity project team to ensure that diversity is a priority on the IU Kokomo website 
  4. Make Equality Project (photos and diversity statements from campus leadership, faculty, staff, and students) an annual program
  5. Share, promote and publicize the campus civility statement in multiple locations and publications

Goal 2: Increase diversity on the various campus advisory boards.

Action Steps:

  1. Review the diversity of advisory board members and make intentional efforts to diversify where needed

Goal 1: Establish clear diversity learning outcomes in the General Education Program

  1. Review and assess the general education courses that have been identified as having a diversity component 

Goal 2: All major programs both graduate and undergraduate will create and assess diversity learning outcomes in their courses and overall programs

  1. Ensure that all programs include learning outcomes beyond General Education that address diversity and equity
  2. Facilitate communication between academic programs and the Office of Student Activities and Campus Diversity to promote greater student engagement with diversity-related events
  3. Initiate the use of Task Stream as a tool to monitor diversity learning outcomes and reports
  4. Begin use of DMAI to track faculty diversity initiatives in and out of the classroom

Goal 1: Assess the current campus climate

  1. Develop and distribute survey instrument to entire campus community
  2. Collect and analyze the data and disseminate results
  3. Establish action plans

Goal 2: Conduct campus climate/diversity training

  1. Conduct “Safe Zone” training for faculty and staff
  2. Conduct diversity training for campus community

Goal 3: Ensure that diversity conversations are part of the hiring process

  1. Add diversity/social justice questions in all employment interviews

Goal 4: Assess new employee perceptions pre- and post-hire

  1. Survey new employees after their probation period to determine pre- and post-hire perceptions of feeling welcome and being part of the campus community

Goal 5: Emphasize the importance of annual diversity training

  1. Make participating in diversity training a goal in the annual performance management/review process

Goal 1: Increase participation of regional community members attending campus  programs that promote and celebrate diversity

  1. Include regional community members on invitation lists for campus diversity programs

Goal 2: Connect earlier with students from underrepresented groups regarding the importance of going to college.

Action Steps:

  1. Explore the feasibility of creating a program/partnership with the director of the 21st Century Scholars program, churches, fraternities and sororities to work with 7th and 8th-grade students and their parents

Goal 3: Have intentional conversations about diversity on campus and in the region

  1. Continuation of programs e.g. Diverse Voices and Table Talks
  2. Invite community members to take part in programs such as Diverse Voices and Table Talks 

Goal 4: Promote our youth opportunities to diverse groups within the region

  1. Reach out to churches/youth centers in our region that serve underrepresented groups and promote our summer camps and other youth-oriented activities

Goal 1: Increase the number of diverse hires

  1. Conduct training for hiring managers on effective strategies to hire diverse candidates
  2. Network informally to encourage diverse candidates to apply for positions (e.g. host receptions at conferences, be proactive at conferences to seek out diverse possible candidates, informal recruiting, etc.)
  3. Utilize IU’s Center for Talent Acquisition to formally seek diverse candidates
  4. Strategically explore venues that may help us connect with diverse candidates (e.g. Institute for Teaching and Mentoring, The Placement Exchange, etc.)
  5. Create a link to the diversity page on the HR webpage
  6. Review advertising for all positions to ensure ads contain language that appeals to a diverse pool of candidates (e.g. diversity statement, social justice, cultural competency, etc.)
  7. Broaden recruitment area to include populations that include underrepresented groups

Goal 2: Increase retention of diverse faculty and staff

  1. Develop formal and informal support structures to help retain diverse employees including mentoring programs
    • Make diversity more visible on the campus website
    • Make Chancellor’s Diversity Statement and Campus Civility Statement more prominent on website and easy to locate
    • Create and maintain a resource page with information that might be of assistance to diverse faculty/staff and students (e.g. restaurants and grocery stores, places of worship, child care and personal care).
  2. Ensure faculty and staff are receiving opportunities for professional growth and development in cultural competency

Goal 1: Increase recruitment of diverse students to IU Kokomo

  1. Make strategic high school visits and programs to schools that have high populations of diverse students (broadly defined)
  2. Attend to all aspects of diversity including but not limited to gender and race/ethnicity in student recruitment
  3. Increase emphasis on diversity (broadly defined) in social media and digital marketing
  4. Highlight diverse student organizations in marketing materials to prospective students
  5. Publish selected recruitment materials in Spanish and other languages as needed
  6. Host special admissions and orientation programs for underrepresented groups (e.g. Latina/o, LGBT, students of color, special needs, etc.)
  7. Engage community leaders from underrepresented groups to participate in recruitment activities
  8. Be strategic in attending recruitment fairs and events that target underrepresented groups
  9. Explore development of a center where international students can study English and prepare for TOEFL testing (first-time or repeat for improved score) 

Goal 2: Increase retention of diverse students

  1. Seek additional scholarship funds for students from underrepresented groups
  2. Continue to create events to bring underrepresented groups together
  3. Encourage students from underrepresented groups to join student organizations
  4. Create a mentoring program for diverse students
  5. Develop a plan to integrate international students into the life of the university community