The Nation’s Colleges and Universities With the Most Diverse Student Bodies
The Rutgers University campus in Newark, New Jersey, was deemed to have the most diverse student body in the country among large national universities. Blacks make up 18 percent of the enrollments at the Newark campus.
Ithaca College Aims to Increase the Diversity of Its Faculty
The new guidelines will include training for search committee chairs on tactics to make their searches more inclusive. Candidates from minority groups will be included in semi-finalist and finalist pools for open positions.
Two Flagship State Universities Report Progress on Student Diversity
Blacks are 5.3 percent of the first-year class at the University of Texas at Austin, up from 4.2 percent a year ago. At the University of Colorado at Boulder, the number of African American undergraduates students is up 8 percent from a year ago.
University of Iowa Offers New Certificate Program in Leadership for Diversity
Students in the program will take courses in coalition building across diverse groups, navigating and defusing conflict situations, and fostering a climate where diverse opinions, backgrounds, and identities can flourish and be respected.
SUNY Announces a New Comprehensive Policy to Promote Campus Diversity
Under the new policy, all 64 campuses of the SUNY System will be required to hire a chief diversity officer. Also, all campuses will be required to develop a strategic plan to increase diversity among students, faculty, and staff.
American Public Schools: White Teachers, Minority Students
From 1987 to 2012, the percentage of minority teachers in the nation's public schools has increased from 12 percent to 17 percent. However, it must be noted that minority students now account for about half of all public school students.
Arizona State’s Kimberly Scott to Lead the National Academic STEM Collaborative
Dr. Scott is an associate professor in the department of women and gender studies at Arizona State University. She is also the founding executive director of the Center for Gender Equity in Science and Technology at Arizona State.
Berkeley Takes Multiple Steps to Enhance Opportunities for African Americans
The University of California has announced its new diversity initiative, a comprehensive effort to address the underrepresentation of African American students, faculty, and staff at the university.
University of Michigan in New Recruitment Effort for Low-Income Students
Prohibited from using affirmative action in admissions, the University of Michigan is embarking on a new effort to seek out and recruit low-income students.
Vanderbilt University Launches New Diversity Initiative
Part of the new diversity initiative is the establishment of three endowed chairs that will bring scholars to the Vanderbilt campus who will be leading figures in disciplines that match the chancellor's vision of a diverse university.
Purdue Commits $1 Million to Faculty-Inspired Diversity Initiatives
Purdue University has initiated the new Diversity Transformation Award program that will enlist current faculty and staff members to come up with strategies to further increase the diversity of the faculty and the student body.
ACE Report Examines Current Diversity Strategies in Higher Education Admissions
A new report from the American Council on Education documents admissions practices of colleges and universities in the current legal climate resulting from the most recent Supreme Court rulings on race-sensitive admissions practices.
Two African American Finalists for Vice Provost for Inclusion and Diversity at Virginia Tech
Menah Pratt-Clarke is the associate chancellor for strategic affairs and the associate provost for diversity at the University of Illinois and G. Christine Taylor has served as vice provost for diversity and chief diversity officer at Purdue University.
Virginia Tech’s Summer Program Seeks to Increase Diversity at Its Medical School
Hampton University students selected for the internship program receive guaranteed admission to the medical school so long as they graduate from Hampton with honors and achieve a threshold score on the Medical College Admission Test.
Increasing the Number of African American Cancer Researchers
The Minority Training Program in Cancer Control Research aims to encourage Black and other minority graduate students to pursue doctoral degrees and careers in research relating to cancer.
New Effort Aims to Increase Diversity Among Academic Librarians
American University in Washington, D.C., the University of Iowa, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia University are hiring resident librarians from diverse backgrounds in the early stages of their careers for a three-year period.
Vanderbilt University Creates the Office of Inclusion Initiatives and Cultural Competence
The new office will be under the direction of Tina Smith, who has been promoted from assistant dean of students to associate dean. She will have oversight over many organizations including the Women's Center and the Black Cultural Center.
Purdue University Eliminates the Post of Chief Diversity Officer
Many colleges and universities across the world have added an administrative post with the title of chief diversity officer in recent years. Purdue University did so six years ago. But now the university has eliminated the position but says all diversity programs will remain.
Cornell University Mounts an Effort to Increase Diversity Among Op-Ed Writers
Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, has mounted a program where the goal is to increase the number of women and minorities who regularly contribute op-ed pieces to major media outlets.
Major New Survey Effort Will Measure Higher Education’s Effect on Students’ Diversity Views
This fall, 100,000 students at 130 colleges and universities nationwide, will begin to participate in a four-year study that will determine how their views on issues of faith and diversity change during their time at college.
Princeton University Funds Initiatives Aimed at Increasing Diversity
Princeton University has endorsed the recommendations offered by a 51-member task force and has announced funding for several initiatives to improve the university's diversity efforts.
Vanderbilt University Is the Latest Partner of Management Leadership for Tomorrow
Under the partnership, MLT will help recruit minority MBA students to Vanderbilt. Then MLT will provide these students with skills and tools needed to be successful in business school and in the corporate arena.
The University of Nebraska’s Innovative Plan to Help Retain Minority Faculty
Under the new plan, faculty members who teach in an academic department and also in one of the ethnic studies programs at the university will be required to teach only five courses over a three-semester period instead of six.
Duke University Task Force Publishes Report on Faculty Diversity Efforts
In the past, Duke University has been a leader in efforts to increase the diversity of its faculty. But a new report finds that from 2005 to 2014 the Black percentage of the Duke faculty increased from 3.8 percent to 4.4 percent.
University of Washington School of Law Aims to Increase Diversity
Students from underrepresented groups who are selected for the new fellows program will receive paid summer internships at area law firms or in the legal departments of area corporations after completing their first year of law school.
Diversity in STEM Fields Is a Social Justice Issue, Study Finds
Amassing critical numbers of underrepresented students is important, but achieving enrollment targets does little to improve the problems in the campus culture that affect students and contribute to their failure to complete degree programs.
The University of Virginia Black Student Alliance’s Call for Action
The authors of the report state that "the University of Virginia must take a lead on issues of diversity, inclusion, and racial equity in order to position itself as a model institution of higher learning."
UCLA Faculty Agree to Institute a Required Course on Diversity
Beginning this fall, all incoming first-year students in the College of Letters and Science will be required to pass a diversity-related course with a letter grade of C or better in order to graduate.
Black Students Admitted to a Select Group of Colleges and Universities
Some of the nation's most selective colleges and universities have released data on the number of Black students accepted for admission into the Class or 2019.
University of Nebraska Establishes the Chancellor’s Commission on the Status of People of Color
The commission has been established to advise the chancellor on issues pertaining to the specific concerns of faculty, staff, and students who are members of underrepresented minority groups on campus.
Study Finds Increased Racial Segregation of Law School Students
The study found that Black students were more likely to enroll in less selective law schools in 2013 than they were in 2010 and were less likely to enroll in highly selective law schools than they were in 2010.
Early Admission of African Americans to Leading Colleges and Universities
Several of the nation’s highest ranked colleges and universities have reported data on students they have accepted under early decision or early action admissions plans. Some have provided data broken down by race.
Diversity Course Requirement at UCLA Faces Another Hurdle
This past October, the members of the faculty of the College and Letters narrowly approved a requirement that all undergraduates take a course on diversity in order to graduate. Opponents have now scheduled a vote among all UCLA faculty, whose support is in doubt.
New Standards of Professional Practice for Chief Diversity Officers in Higher Education
It is hoped that the new standards will advance the professionalization of the chief diversity officer role across institutions of higher education. The standards are meant to clarify and specify the scope, scale, and flexibility of work CDOs perform.
University of Cincinnati Aims to Increase the Diversity of Its Faculty
The provost’s office has allocated $1,170,000 to the faculty diversification effort during the current fiscal year. And the Office of the President has allocated $800,000 over the next three years for the effort.
Dartmouth College Aims to Boost Number of Minority Faculty
Dartmouth College has set a goal that within five years 25 percent of the total faculty would be made up of underrepresented minorities or foreign scholars. Currently, 17.5 percent of the faculty are underrepresented minorities or foreign scholars.
