Building a Diverse Community > Diversity Plans and Reports > Blue Ribbon Commission

Blue Ribbon Commission on Diversity
Boulder Campus, 2006

CU-Boulder Action Plan Progress Report - Fall 2006 (Addendum I, Addendum II)
CU-Boulder Action Plan in Response to Commission Report (May 2006)
Commission Recommendations for CU-Boulder (March 2006)
CU-Boulder Blue Ribbon Commisson January 2006 Meeting Information

Blue Ribbon Commission Recommendation 1:
Commission members felt that they could not possibly rank diversity programs based on their limited time and knowledge about the programs. The commissioners' overall impression was that the diversity programs that were presented (the 12 CU-LEAD Alliance programs and the Center for Multicultural Affairs) contribute to the retention and graduation of students enrolled, particularly students of color. These programs should be supported with additional financial support.

Response to the BRC recommendation:

Financial support for retention programs for students from under-served populations:

• The University of Colorado at Boulder (UCB) campus will increase the scholarship for students participating in the CU-LEAD Alliance programs from $1000 per year to $1500 per year beginning with the 2006 freshmen class. This will require an increase of $50,000 to our current funding.
• UCB will increase the support for staff in the Minority Arts and Science Program by adding a 1.0 FTE funded through a gift from the Ofelia Miramontes/Bill Barclay Memorial Fund.
• The Ofelia Miramontes/Bill Barclay Memorial Fund will serve as a leverage to increase scholarship funding through support from the Chancellor, Provost, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and faculty/staff to increase scholarship funding for CU-LEAD Alliance programs. The goal is to at least triple the amount of annual funds available through this generous gift.
• The CU-LEAD Alliance Management Team has developed fund-raising goals, and will develop a fundraising plan, with goals and timelines. Financial goals will be articulated for staff, scholarships, and student enrichment support, such as leadership training.
• A corporate relationship has been established with Southwest Airlines to support student participation from the Center for Multicultural Affairs' Collegiate Leadership Program to attend the United States Hispanic Leadership Conference, held annually in Chicago. This year 40 students and staff members attended.
• The Chancellor secured an endowment of $250,000 to support student scholarships in the Diverse Scholars Program in the Leeds School of Business.
• The Chancellor's First Nations Scholarship has been established for non-resident students with verification of enrollment in a state or federally recognized tribe/nation and will provide 15 new students with a $10,000 scholarship per year.

Evaluation of the CU-LEAD Alliance programs:

• In response to this recommendation, all diversity programs including the CU-LEAD Alliance programs will be evaluated every five years by an external review team, similar to the program review process for academic units, centers and institutes. Vice Chancellor Ron Stump will coordinate the first review in Academic Year 2006-2007.
• CU-LEAD Alliance programs are evaluated on a regular basis by the CU-LEAD Management Team. The CU-LEAD Alliance programs evaluate:
• the quality and development of each program's activities, including academic program components and social support program components,
• the adequacy of the financial and staff resources,
• the retention and graduation outcomes, and
• student satisfaction surveys and faculty participation evaluations.
• Additionally, each CU-LEAD Alliance program is evaluated on an annual basis through the regular budget evaluation process at the school or college level, or by the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs depending on where the program resides.
• Some programs within colleges are evaluated at regular intervals by their professional accreditation bodies. The Multicultural Engineering Program (MEP), for example, recently went through a comprehensive evaluation in Fall 2005.

Communication with the BRC members and individual CU-LEAD Alliance programs:

• A group of BRC members will be invited to learn more about the individual CU-LEAD Alliance programs. These members will be asked to dedicate time to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the 12 individual programs and to provide input that can facilitate improvement in the CU-LEAD Alliance as a whole, as well as individual programs. The CU-LEAD Alliance Management Team will coordinate this interaction.
• BRC members will receive the Diversity News Update about every other week. The online news channel has been on the Office of Diversity and Equity website since mid-April.
• BRC members will be invited to key CU-LEAD Alliance and CMA (Center for Multicultural Affairs) events, such as the Welcome Gathering (the CU-LEAD Alliance orientation), the Equity and Excellence Banquet, the graduation celebrations, the annual Diversity Summit, and the annual MLK conference.

Blue Ribbon Commission Recommendation 2:
The highest leadership of the university must express highly public and unequivocal support for diversity and inclusion at the University of Colorado.

Response to the BRC recommendation:

The Chancellor's address at the 2006 Diversity Summit can be viewed on the Office of the Chancellor's website.

The main page of the UCB website www.colorado.edu is being revised to include a direct link to the Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE). The first page of the ODE website states:

"At UCB we are committed to building a campus community in which diversity is a fundamental value. People are different and the differences among them are what we call diversity - a natural and enriching hallmark of life. Diversity includes, but is not limited to, ethnicity, race, gender, age, class, sexual orientation, religion, disability, political viewpoints, veteran status, and gender identity/expression. A climate of healthy diversity is one in which people value individual and group differences, respect the perspectives of others, and communicate openly.

Diversity is a key to excellence in education. UCB is committed to enriching the lives of our students, faculty, and staff by providing a diverse campus where the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and perspectives is an active part of learning."

Recognition from the leadership of the University of Colorado for the work in the area of diversity:

• The President recognizes faculty, staff and students each year with the President's Diversity Awards. These include the President's Fund for the Support of Student Diversity Programming, the President's Diverse Faculty Recruitment and Retention Grants, the President's Diversity and Excellence Awards, and the Elizabeth Gee Memorial Lectureship Award.
• Equity and Excellence Award: This award is given to students who have demonstrated academic achievement, outstanding service to the university community, and service to racially and/or culturally diverse communities. Faculty and staff who receive this award have achieved significant accomplishments in and efforts toward promoting the principles of academic excellence and cultural pluralism and diversity. Presentation of this award takes place each year at the Equity and Excellence Banquet, usually in April.
• Chancellor's Committee on Minority Affairs Service Recognition Award: This award recognizes the continuing efforts of UCB campus units to create a diverse and supportive, learning, working, and living environment, as well as their commitment to promoting an understanding of multicultural issues. This award is presented during the Annual Campus Diversity Summit, usually in February.
• Chancellor's Committee on Women (CCW) Awards: These awards recognize individuals or units on campus that show a clear commitment to supporting women and women's issues in several areas, such as providing women with promotion and training opportunities for leadership roles and creating mentoring opportunities.
• CU-LEAD Alliance Faculty Appreciation Awards: CU-LEAD Alliance scholars nominate and present this award to faculty members who have significantly impacted their lives. The faculty are honored at a special fall luncheon.
• IMPART Faculty Fellowship Award: The purpose of the IMPART (Implementation of Multicultural Perspectives and Approaches in Research and Teaching) Faculty Fellowship Award Program is to further develop a campus environment which supports and encourages gender, ethnic, and cultural diversity in our approaches to scholarly work and teaching.

More information about recipients of these awards can be found on the Awards Page of the Office of Diversity and Equity website.

Response from the UCB leadership to racists incidents and hate crimes:

• Responses from the campus leadership have included:
• A strong statement from the Chancellor condemning these acts of hatred and racist incidents was sent to all faculty, staff and students. The Chancellor's statement is posted on the campus website. The media were promptly informed.
• The Provost requested that faculty have a moment of silence to reflect on ways in which they can personally contribute to the development of a campus that does not tolerate hate incidents and help create a welcoming environment for a diverse student body. Faculty were encouraged to engage students in classroom discussions about the hate crime that had occurred on the campus, how individual members of the campus community can play a role in the prevention of such crimes, the identification of perpetrators, and the development of a diverse campus community.
• When advisable, campus administrators have offered a reward for information leading to the identification of perpetrators of hate crimes and bias-motivated incidents.

Policies for perpetrators of bias-motivated incidents and/or acts of intolerance:

The administration, faculty and staff at the University of Colorado at Boulder are committed to responding to bias-motivated incidents and/or acts of intolerance in a timely and equitable manner. The Discrimination/Harassment Policy related to protected class status was approved in Spring 2005 and implemented in Fall 2005.

UCB's Office of Judicial Affairs (OJA) administers a Student Conduct Code designed to maintain the general welfare of the university community. The code incorporates UCB's policy entitled "Discrimination and Harassment Policy and Procedures" which prohibits discrimination and harassment based upon protected class status and related retaliation. OJA is the office that investigates these allegations when the accused individual is a student.

The mission of the Office of Discrimination and Harassment (ODH) is to prevent and eliminate discrimination and harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation or veteran status at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The ODH investigates all allegations when the accused individual is a faculty or staff member or a student employee. ODH strives to prevent and eliminate false allegations of discrimination and harassment. The ODH does not make recommendations for nor does it impose discipline; rather, discipline must be imposed by the respondent's appointing authority.

OJA and ODH must afford students and employees some level of procedural due process before taking disciplinary action. The Office of Discrimination and Harassment (employees) and the Office of Judicial Affairs (students) has a responsibility to ensure that the facts behind an allegation align with the standards set forth in the policy.

In addition to the discrimination/harassment policy, there is also a procedure for reporting bias-motivated incidents. This procedure can be found on the Building Community Campaign website.

Blue Ribbon Commission Recommendation 3:
The Blue Ribbon Commission recommends that the University of Colorado at Boulder devise strategies to specifically address the barrier that the 103 index standard, set by the CCHE, has upon the relatively low percentage of students of color that apply, are admitted and matriculate at the CU-Boulder. The University of Colorado at Boulder should devise strategies that utilize the "window" for expanding the 103 index. It is unacceptable that there are only 66 African American students out of approximately 5,000 new freshmen.

Response to the BRC recommendation:

The University of Colorado at Boulder has responded to specific questions related to the 103 index and the window. This information can be found here on the Office of Diversity and Equity website.

The vast proportion of students of color who apply to the University of Colorado at Boulder are students with a 103 index or higher. Changes in the index would not result in a significantly higher admission of students of color. No numbers or percentages of any group of admits are "dedicated" to students of color. We admit the applicants that we predict can and will succeed, taking into account available services and support programs. Within the group of applicants judged capable of success given those services and programs, we control admit offers to meet campus goals for total number of freshmen, college and (Colorado) residency distributions, diversity, and special talents such as music and athletics. The percentage of window admits who are students of color is thus a function of numbers of applicants; their academic credentials; their distribution by residency, college interests, race/ethnicity, and special talents; and campus and college size goals.

Increasing the diversity of the student body is a high priority of the Boulder campus. The campus is addressing these issues in other ways. The Deans and their faculty are working with the Office of Admissions to contact individual students and encourage them, once accepted, to attend the University of Colorado at Boulder. Counselors in the Center for Multicultural Affairs and the directors of the CU-LEAD Alliance programs are contacting individual students of color to let them know about the availability of programs on the campus and encourage them to visit and to attend. Two new scholarship programs, the Chancellor's Scholarship Awards and the First Nations Scholarship Awards, have been implemented. The Chancellor's Awards are designed to attract students with high merit who are non-residents. These awards are available to all students of high merit. Students of color are well-represented in this group of recipients. The Chancellor and other administrative officers on the campus are actively reaching out to communities of color within Colorado through greater involvement in such activities as the MLK Luncheon, the Latin American Educational Fund (LAEF) Luncheon, and the National Indian Education Foundation conference.

Blue Ribbon Commission Recommendation 4:
The Blue Ribbon Commission recommends mandatory diversity training for the administration, faculty and staff.

Response to the BRC recommendation:

Training for the Chancellor, Provost, Vice Chancellors, Deans, Department Chairs:

Administrators will participate in training this spring conducted by Professor Judi Komaki, from State University of New York, Baruch College on equitable management strategies. Professor Komaki has developed a training program called Project Justice. She has implemented this program in both private corporations and businesses and federal/state agencies. Professor Komaki is an industrial psychologist with expertise in management and evaluation processes that lead to equitable practices.

In addition, administrators will participate in a workshop that will involve viewing the film "Last Chance for Eden", produced and directed by Lee Mun Wah, and will include facilitated discussion.

Information about effectively dealing with hate speech, freedom of speech and bias-motivated speech within the classroom will also be provided to Chairs and Directors in the next academic year.

Mandatory diversity training for faculty/staff:

Annual mandatory diversity training will begin in Fall 2006. The training will consist of facilitated discussions in each academic unit about hate speech, bias-motivated speech and freedom of speech within the classroom. Additionally, all faculty and staff will be asked to view the film "Last Chance for Eden", produced and directed by Lee Mun Wah, and to engage in a facilitated discussion about the contents of the film. A number of opportunities will be made available for faculty and staff participation.

The Vice Provost and Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Equity will convene an ad-hoc committee to develop a continuing proposal for ongoing diversity training for faculty and staff which includes a viable process for delivering the training. The committee will convene initially in Spring 2006 and will submit a proposal to the Chancellor and Provost by the end of July, 2006. Participants on this committee will include: the Diversity Education Team, the Ombuds office, Organizational Management, the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Minority Affairs, the Chancellor's Committee on Women, the GLBT Advisory Committee and the Physical Access Committee, the Boulder Faculty Assembly Diversity Committee, the Arts and Science Diversity Committee, Interactive Theatre, and Staff Council.

Two staff members, Rebecca Brown and Trent Norman, and Assistant Professor Cecelia Pang attended an Interactive Theatre workshop at the University of Michigan on faculty training in the area of diversity. Professor Pang has written a faculty meeting script based upon her experience at this workshop. Interactive Theatre is available to faculty, staff and students. There are several performances each month.

Blue Ribbon Commission Recommendation 5:
The Blue Ribbon Commission recommends mandatory training for students at the beginning of their academic career.

Response to the BRC recommendation:

A committee was convened in Fall 2005 to develop a proposal for a course titled University 101 that when fully implemented would be required of all incoming freshmen. Several committees consisting of faculty, staff and students are designing the course syllabus and will submit the proposal to the Provost by the end of Spring 2006. A pilot project will be implemented in Fall 2006 to help determine the effectiveness of the proposed course. Based upon the results of the pilot, the course may be revised and is planned to be fully implemented in Fall 2007. Diversity issues will be included in this course.

Student representatives, and administrators from Student Affairs and the College of Arts and Sciences are working to evolve certain existing courses in the current core curriculum diversity and gender requirement in order to more effectively respond to racial bias and multicultural training.

Blue Ribbon Commission Recommendation 6:
The Blue Ribbon Commission recommends that the University of Colorado at Boulder engage the City of Boulder and surrounding cities and communities (Chambers of Commerce, businesses, etc.) to build bridges in order to enhance diversity and inclusion at the University of Colorado. This bridge-building must include the communities of color in Boulder.

Response to the BRC recommendation:

Partnerships with the City of Boulder and the Boulder community: Community relations commission - to improve relationship between the University and the City of Boulder:

In Spring 2005, a task force called Community United Against Hate was organized by the Boulder Human Relations Commission to address issues of racism within the city. This committee consisted of community members, CU students, and the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. They recommended establishing a hotline for victims and witnesses of hate-motivated incidents to provide support, advocacy, and referral for appropriate follow-through for victims and witnesses; create documentation of the types of incidents that occur; and work on changing policies. The committee recommended the implementation of Hate Crime Policies for a Safe Community (strengthening Boulder's current hate crimes policy).

The Chancellor has engaged a consultant to examine "best practices" that other similarly situated universities have used successfully to engage the surrounding communities as partners in addressing diversity. The consultant's report will provide a basis for further dialogue between campus leaders and Boulder city administrators.

Blue Ribbon Commission Recommendation 7:
The Blue Ribbon Commission recommends that interaction with the University of Colorado at Boulder must be more than a one day meeting. The recommendations, goals, and accountability measures need to be re-evaluated on a continual basis. The University of Colorado at Boulder should set some time frame for interactions with the Blue Ribbon Commission and articulate the process.

Response to the BRC recommendation:

Ongoing interaction with the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Blue Ribbon Commission:

President Hank Brown has agreed to a fourth meeting with the Blue Ribbon Commission after visits are made to each of the campuses to discuss this recommendation.

The CU-LEAD Alliance programs plan to extend invitations to a group of BRC members who have expressed interest in learning more about the CU-LEAD Alliance programs so that they can become better informed and provide more knowledgeable input. Specific dates in Summer 2006 and Fall 2006 will be set-aside for these opportunities.

Student BRC members are participating in designing the curriculum for the University 101 course as well as revising the core curriculum gender and race diversity requirement in the College of Arts and Sciences.

BRC members will be invited to participate in activities such as the Equity and Excellence Banquet, the Center for Multicultural Affairs Graduation Banquet, the Fall Welcome for Students of Color, and the annual Diversity Summit.

Blue Ribbon Commission Recommendation 8:
The Blue Ribbon Commission recommends that the University of Colorado at Boulder address the issue of accountability of administration, faculty, staff and students and the need for better metrics around evaluation, particularly with respect to funding and finances of the $1.7 billion dollar system.

Response to the BRC recommendation:

Retention programs will be evaluated on a five-year cycle by an internal and external evaluation team, consistent with the process used by Faculty Affairs for program review. UCB plans to begin this evaluation in AY 2006-2007.

Financial accountability:

Annually, every unit on the campus is required to produce a document of accountability for fiscal management called "Sources and Uses". These documents are reviewed and approved by the appointing authority and their respective financial managers and the fiscal manager of the campus, the Chief Financial Officer.

Accountability of Admissions/recruitment:

Each time Admissions "contacts" a prospective student through an individual recruitment contact or through a campus program, the information is tracked as part of a prospective student's record. Admissions can determine all the different methods used to contact the student as well as the number of times the prospective student contacted the Admissions Office. The Admissions staff also uses evaluations and survey instruments at each one of the campus recruitment outreach programs to gauge the effectiveness of the event.

The overall evaluation of recruitment strategies is determined by the actual matriculation of each freshman class and the diversity represented in each class, as reported on an annual basis.

Visiting high schools is one way we generate the 85,000 senior prospects that are needed to produce approximately 18,000 freshmen applications, which will yield 5,000 new freshmen to the campus each academic year. It is important to note that high school visits are very important but are only one piece of the overall strategy. The most effective recruitment strategies include many points of contact for each individual student.

Accountability of retention strategies:

In the same way that any prospective student has a variety of contacts through a number of different strategies, enrolled students on our campus access a wide variety of programs. Like all students, an undergraduate student of color typically has a declared major in an academic unit, and may chose to participate in many of the student co-curricular activities such as student government, student associations, sororities and fraternities, athletics, counseling services, the Center for Multicultural Affairs, the Women's Resource Center, and many others. Therefore, the retention of an individual student is dependent upon multiple sources of support.

We track retention and graduation rates of the students in the individual CU-LEAD Alliance programs. Three of these programs have existed long enough to produce six-year graduation rates. In addition to tracking retention and graduation rates, student satisfaction surveys are done on a regular basis.

Accountability for diversity of all academic units:

All academic units are required to report on their diversity plans and progress towards diversity annually as well as during their regular program review process that occurs on a seven-year cycle.

Blue Ribbon Commission Recommendation 9:
The Blue Ribbon Commission recommends that strengthening the educational pipeline is a K-16 issue, not solely that of higher education. Cultural diversity and tolerance teachings should be infused in K-16 and money from the legislature should be allocated to this effort.

Response to the BRC recommendation:

UCB will work with state legislators to identify funds to allocate to K-12 and institutions of higher education to teach cultural diversity and tolerance.

The Pre-Collegiate Development Program (PDCP) at UCB serves approximately 800 students from middle school through high school. All PCDP students who matriculate at UCB participate in one of the CU-LEAD Alliance programs. The CU-LEAD Alliance programs ensure continuity of support for these successful high school students.

President Brown has instituted a program to raise $10 million for scholarships for students who participate in the Pre-Collegiate Development Program.

A number of summer programs and K-12 outreach programs exist on the Boulder campus. UCB has over 20 K-12 outreach programs. All programs have students of color participating. Additionally, UCB has approximately 30 summer programs for high school students, several of which specifically target students of color.

Blue Ribbon Commission Recommendation 10:
The Blue Ribbon Commission recommends that the University of Colorado benchmark with other educational institutions and with industry that already have a history of success and lessons learned in areas of diversity.

Response to the BRC recommendation:

The Vice Provost and Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Equity will contact a variety of programs throughout the United States to benchmark successes of other universities and will submit a report to the Provost and Chancellor on findings by the beginning of Fall 2006. This year, UCB has had contact with the diversity programs at the following institutions: Michigan State University, Syracuse University, University of Michigan, University of Connecticut, Loyola University, Los Angeles, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Wisconsin and the University of Arizona. Inter-university communication has centered around racial incidents on the campus, faculty/staff training in the area of diversity, recruitment and retention of faculty of color.

Additionally, ODE has reviewed the 2005 Top 50 companies for diversity listed in "Diversity Inc." to determine what some of the critical variables for the successful recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce. Ninety-four percent submitted data for their entire organization, not just operating divisions. Eighty-eight percent link management compensation to diversity initiatives. Seventy-two percent have CEOs who personally sign off on compensation tied to diversity. The top ten employ 30% more executive-level managers of color than all U.S. employers. The top ten have 40% more people of color in management than the national work force. Some of these characteristics can be applied to a university system. Discussions will begin in 2006 about the applicability, feasibility and potential of implementation at UCB.