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 Brand
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Myles Brand
President, Indiana University
When I appointed Charlie Nelms as special assistant to the president for diversity and retention issues, I had no intention of handing him sole responsibility for making IU a more welcoming place for minority students, faculty and staff.
No, that is a job we all must share. We must strive collaboratively to create a more diverse culture.
IU has addressed diversity issues; in some areas, the university has made commendable progress. But, as the recently released report on IU Bloomington by Nelms and a distinguished team of educators makes clear, we can do better.
That report establishes a clear, compelling goal. Minority enrollment levels at Indiana University should roughly reflect the proportions of minority students graduating from Indiana's high schools, and IU's minority students should persist and graduate at similar rates to non minority students.
Overall, minority enrollment has been rising at IU's eight campuses. IU Northwest has been named the most diverse campus in Indiana and one of the five most diverse in the Midwest for two years in a row.
(Editor's note: see http://www.usnews.com/utils/cosearch)
In seeking to further improve our minority enrollment numbers, the report calls for more outreach into Indiana's K-12 schools to identify and encourage promising minority and low-income students. "Destination Education: IUK" is one example of the sort of community effort that can help students overcome barriers standing between them and a college education.
Bringing these students to campus is only the first step. They also must be given the support services they need to succeed.
The FASE (Faculty and Staff for Student Excellence) mentoring program at IU Bloomington is a commendable model. FASE students, three-quarters of whom are from minority groups, are matched with mentors, mostly IU faculty members. The supportive relationships that result have helped raise retention rates sharply among FASE students.Add in the committed volunteer work of community members such as local businessman Bill Cook, and you have the makings of an impressive success story.
Other IU campuses also are making strides. Expanding effective programs is the route to improved retention rates for all students. We're not planning to direct more resources into administration; we're going to support programs that work.
We're also not planning to let the diversity report be filed away to gather dust on some isolated bookshelf. It will be a blueprint for action, a road map for a journey in which we all must play a part.
What's on your mind? E-mail President Brand at pres@indiana.edu.
Visit President Brand's homepage at:
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