1. The Committee recommends that a new position in the President's office be established and the person in that position be charged with providing leadership and advocacy for issues of diversity and equity.
   
   
2. We further recommend that the person in this position report directly to the President on issues of equity and diversity (for ease in presenting the information in this document, we will refer to this position as the Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equity while recognizing the appropriate title should be chosen by the President, not this Committee).
   
   
3. We also recommend that the person serving as the Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equity serve as a member of the President's Cabinet.
   
   Comment:

   The Committee believes that it is important that one person on campus be charged with the responsibility of providing leadership and advocacy on issues concerning diversity and equity and that the person directly report to and advise the President on these issues. It may be appropriate for this individual to also serve other roles in either the President's office or the Provost's office but having an individual who can advise the President directly on issues of equity and diversity will effectively serve the interests of the campus. In addition, we recommend that the person should serve as a member of the President's Cabinet. In this way, it will be possible to keep the leaders of the campus informed concerning all issues of diversity and equity and its complex relationships to topics emanating from the offices of Academic Affairs, Administrative Affairs, University Relations, Research and Graduate School and Student Affairs.

4. In order to provide leadership and advocacy for issues of diversity and equity, we recommend that the Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equity be given responsibility for the offices and activities related to issues of equity and diversity. Some of these responsibilities could include the following:
   
   
   • Equity Council
   • Human Relations Office
   • The President's Commissions (Representing the President)
   • The Faculty and Staff Ombuds persons
   
   
   
5. We recommend the Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equity participate in the coordination (with other offices as appropriate) of the following positions:
   
   
   • The Conflict Resolution Network
   • The Equity Officers of the respective campus divisions (Academic Affairs, Administrative Affairs, University Relations, and Student Affairs)
   • The Graduate Student Ombuds person
   
   
   Comment:

   The Committee heard two sets of views regarding the number of offices and programs related to issues concerning equity and diversity. ¹ One set of views expressed concern that there were many different offices with various functions involving equity and diversity. Persons expressing this point of view noted their view that some functions are so complex that individuals requiring services do not know how to proceed. Persons offering this point of view believed that some equity complaints are not made because individuals are confused by the processes they need to engage in so that their concerns reach the correct office. Persons offering this point of view also tended to feel that the campus community was confused by the many overlapping functions represented by these offices.

   Persons expressing a counter view offered the proposition that this campus is indeed very complex and having many redundant systems is very healthy and results in problems being addressed because the redundant parts work together to help the individual find the "correct place to go." It was very difficult for our Committee to sort out these views. However, one aspect that was apparent is that if these various groups and committees coordinated with a single individual, it would be less likely that these possible problems would occur. In some cases, this might mean that some offices should directly report, and in other cases they might coordinate, with the individual in this new position. A good example might be the Equity Officer for Student Affairs who would continue to report to the Vice President for Student Affairs while also coordinating his activities with Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equity. The advantage is that it will be much easier to coordinate equity activities (and ombuds' activities) across the divisions of the university. We note that the activities of the Faculty and Staff Ombuds persons are already supervised by a representative of the President's Office. It might be an advantage to also include the Graduate Student Ombuds person but we will not make a firm recommendation on that specific position as we are not certain we have enough information to do so. Also, through the structure we are recommending, we note that the Ombuds' activities and equity activities would have representation to both the President and the President's Cabinet through the Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equity. In addition, if some aspects of these activities are not working as well as could be hoped, the Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equity could work with the other supervisors involved. In this way, more accountability would be established. We also note that there are other offices that could report to the Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equity, such as the LGBT Office, the Nymbruru Cultural Center, and the Multi-Ethnic Student Education Office. The Committee does not have enough information to determine whether that reporting system would best serve the campus community so we have not made such a recommendation.

   Finally, we note the importance of the President's Commissions in providing a grass roots function in keeping the campus leadership informed about issues being raised by their constituencies. Our recommendation continues the practice of having these Commissions report to the President but we also add that the Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equity should serve as the President's representative during the day to day activities of the Commissions. Several groups noted to us the important role that the Equity Council and the President's Commissions could have in providing opportunities for other persons on campus to learn about practices and policies. We also note the value and importance of regular and frequent renewal of the Commissions and other such committees through terms of appointments and thus regular turnover of members. We encourage the groups to support the development of newer members as part of ongoing renewal of the Commissions and other such committees.

6. We recommend that the Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equity develop multiple communication mechanisms which makes it absolutely clear to all members of the university community how to engage the equity and conflict resolution systems.

   Comment:

   As discussed above, the purpose of this recommendation is to ensure that all members of the community know the appropriate offices to consult concerning their issues. This information should be prepared so that it is user friendly for faculty, staff and students. It is critical that this information be distributed in ways that reach the relevant populations. For example, the information could be distributed as part of the student orientation program and to all new staff and faculty as well as to all persons on the campus.

7. We also recommend that the Assistant to President for Diversity and Equity develop information about all campus-wide events concerning equity and diversity. Based on an analysis of this information, it should be determined if each of these events serves the community well or whether changes should be made.
   
   Comment:

   We were told that some persons think there are many overlapping events and thus the events may not be well supported or attended. It is not possible for us to determine if that is the case or whether the number of events simply reflects the rich spirit of diversity that exists on the campus. The Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equity should take actions to ensure that these events are well known to the community and also should evaluate whether each event serves a useful function for the campus.

8. We recommend the following changes be made in the Equity Council:
   • A. The Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equity and the equity officers of the divisions of the university should form an Executive Committee of the Equity Council and they should be charged with the responsibility to provide leadership and determine an appropriate mission, an agenda and a meeting schedule for the Equity Council.
   • B. The Equity Council should be reconstituted so that it consists only of individuals who have campus responsibilities concerning equity in the colleges and divisions of the university.
   • C. The Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equity should serve as the policy and implementation link to both the President's Cabinet and the Council of Deans in order to provide leadership and advocacy for issues concerning diversity and equity in the university.
   
   
   Comment:

   Nearly all persons who commented, including members of the Equity Council, expressed concern about its function and role. Historically, the Equity Council seems to have expanded so that it includes members who are not as directly concerned with equity review in the colleges and divisions of the university. Some note that this has resulted in the Council addressing many issues which are not directly related to equity concerns. In some of those instances, the Equity Council had not been granted the function or the authority by the leadership of the university to either develop proposals or interventions. Consideration of these types of issues has further frustrated the Council because they found it difficult to accomplish anything substantive. Some of the outcomes of this frustration are made obvious by the fact that many members of the Equity Council do not attend meetings on a regular basis and nearly all perceive that not much is accomplished. It is our view that the Equity Council needs to be reconstituted so that it works on its stated obligations involving issues of equity. We feel that the Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equity should lead that effort along with an executive committee made up of the equity officers of the divisions of the university (e.g. Academic Affairs, Administrative Affairs, University Relations, and Student Affairs). They should develop an appropriate mission for the Equity Council, and set a relevant agenda and appropriate meeting schedule.

   We also feel that all members of the Equity Council and the groups they represent need to be committed to issues of equity. We would suggest that if this is not the case, then the Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equity and the Executive Committee should visit with the appropriate Vice President to discuss any changes that need to be made. It would be the duty of the relevant Vice Presidents to discuss the issues with the relevant supervisors and institute any necessary changes.

   Another set of issues concerning the Equity Council and many other persons who spoke with us are the relevance and usefulness of the Diversity Accountability Reports and the Search and Screen Procedures. We did not receive a very clear message concerning the Search and Screen Procedures. Thus, we simply recommend that the procedures be re-examined to determine whether any revisions are needed to reduce any redundant or unnecessary paperwork but maintain the integrity of the system. Our recommendations concerning the Diversity Accountability Plan are presented next.

9. The Diversity Accountability Plan as presently designed should be replaced. In its place a system of periodic and regular equity reviews for units on campus should be designed.

   Comments:

   At this point in time, almost everyone agrees that the present model of Diversity Accountability Plans leads to a very onerous process that does not serve a useful purpose. Our Committee instead recommends that a model be designed that results in each relevant unit (e.g. for Academic Affairs, this would probably be each college) being evaluated during some relevant time frame (every five years has been mentioned as a possibility). Thus, a number of units would be reviewed in year 1, another group in year 2, such that all units are reviewed every five years. A relevant data set should be designed as input to the review process. These might include data concerning staff and faculty hiring over the five year period. It might also include the development of a student, staff and faculty measure of organizational climate on diversity issues as part of the review (there would probably need to be professionally developed independent instruments for each group). It might also be possible to provide the information first to the unit so that a self-study is done as part of the initial aspects of the review. In order to consider these alternatives, we recommend that the President's Cabinet appoint a committee of representative members of the Equity Council, deans and representatives from each of the divisions of the university to design the process. This type of review process will also carry a resource commitment and we suggest that the development committee also prepare an estimated budget for these activities.

¹ The Committee recognizes that there are also equity issues concerning the recruitment, admission and retention of students. We view these topics as outside of our charge but we believe it is important to acknowledge that these issues are being addressed by offices in both Academic Affairs and Student Affairs, such as the Office of Undergraduate Studies, Office of Admissions, and the Counseling Center.