Diversity plan sees scrutiny

by Signe Brewster

Wednesday, December 3, 2008 00:00

With 2008 coming to a close, University of Wisconsin officials are evaluating the successes and failures of the 10-year diversity initiative, Plan 2008.

Vice Provost of Diversity and Climate Damon Williams said though the plan’s implementation fell short of its original goals, it has made a significant impact on the diversity of students and culture on campus.

“I think if we judge the success or lack of success of Plan 2008 aligned 100 percent against the goals that were outlined, it was not successful in any way that anyone who conceived it would have wanted it to be,” Williams said. “But at the same time, to say that Plan 2008 was a failure is also to be unfair in the assessment of its impact.”

The UW System adopted Plan 2008 in 1998 as a 10-year plan to increase diversity on its campuses. It was the third 10-year diversity initiative attempted by the UW System.

After reviewing the former plans, UW outlined seven goals to increase diversity. They chose to target the American Indian, African American, Latino and Southeast Asian American ethnic groups on campus.

Through the seven goals, the hope was to improve minorities’ representation on campus, academic success, the academic and social climate of campus and cultural understanding by other students.

A review of UW publications shows a steady increase in the number of students of color attending the university at the undergraduate level since the adoption of Plan 2008, but only Asian American numbers have reached their goal percentage.

Former Chancellor John Wiley was a provost at the time of Plan 2008’s adoption and was a member of the group that developed the plan.

He said one of the main challenges in recruiting students of color to attend UW is that compared to the rest of the United States, Wisconsin is just not as diverse.

“If we are going to be a national university, we have to be approximately as diverse as the rest of the country,” Wiley said. “It is very important for our students to learn in a diverse environment for educational reasons. It’s a very difficult thing to do because we are not nearly as diverse.”

Wiley emphasized that while numbers are the most visual part of the results of the plan, the rest of the goals were just as important to improving diversity.

“We decided to focus not just on the numbers of people on campus … but we put a lot of emphasis on improving the campus climate — things that made sure that people, no matter their background, felt welcome on campus,” Wiley said. “We never got there, but we got closer and closer.”

Stella Luong, a UW junior and staff member of the Multicultural Student Center, said there are still problems with the perception of Asian Americans on campus.

She expressed concern about shrinking student interest in cultural programs such as her major, Southeast Asian studies. Despite an increase in funding by Plan 2008 for programs like this, she believes further measures will need to be taken to preserve their presence on campus.

Williams said that when it comes to the climate portion of Plan 2008, he has heard over and over again from students that it was a failure. He is confident these failures are a result of strategy, not lack of effort on behalf of the university.

“Each student understands that sometimes you bust your tail,” Williams said. “You do everything humanly possible … and you still don’t get an A. It’s the same thing with Plan 2008 implementation.”

Wiley is confident though that the progress made by Plan 2008 has had a noticeable impact on the UW campus.

“We offer a better education today than we did 20 years ago because we are a more diverse campus,” Wiley said. “We have a lot of bright, creative students who wouldn’t be here if not for Plan 2008.”

Wiley was pleased overall with the recruiting efforts of the university and named the Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence, or PEOPLE, as the greatest triumph of Plan 2008.

Starting as early as sixth grade, minority and economically disadvantaged students across Wisconsin who enter PEOPLE are groomed to attend college. Today, more than 1,200 students are currently participating in the program.

“There are challenges and issues that begin in elementary school or middle school, so some of the issues have some limits to what we can accomplish. Some of the things we’ve done have really laid the groundwork for some fabulous outcomes,” Williams said.

Williams said he will work with the UW system to develop a new diversity plan to be announced in the fall of 2009.