Initiative aims to diversify campus
The Chancellor's Diversity Initiative was launched in December 2004.
Published Feb. 6, 2007
As Elson Floyd spoke Monday night about how educational institutions need to encourage diversity, the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative seeks to do just that among students, staff and faculty.
"What we have to do is to make sure the overall institutional climate is one that's conducive to everyone and with a particular focus on individuals of color, and I'm talking about students and faculty and staff," UM system President Elson Floyd said. "And that's what the initiative is about. It's about creating an environment that everyone is comfortable in."
Those involved with the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative are working to make the campus more inclusive through workshops and a faculty organization restructuring.
On Saturday, the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative welcomed a new semester of faculty fellows to its faculty development program. The Chancellor's Diversity Initiative Office was created in 2004 and is responsible for diversity planning on the MU campus.
"For the first time, we have graduate students who are graduate instructors who are in that group as well," said Noor Azizan-Gardner, coordinator of the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative. "They go through training for four Saturdays, committing their time on how to do difficult dialogues in the classroom."
The faculty development program, as part of the Difficult Dialogues Initiative, aids the faculty fellows in developing teaching plans involving dialogue around controversial topics. Faculty fellows who participate receive a $500 stipend, according to the Difficult Dialogues Web site.
"The Difficult Dialogues fund is probably our biggest grant," Gardner said.
The Difficult Dialogues Grant comes from the Ford Foundation's Difficult Dialogues initiatives, which gave $100,000 grants to 27 higher education institutions in the interest of promoting a safe environment for discussion of sensitive issues.
The Chancellor's Diversity Initiative also sponsors some programs for students, faculty and staff including the You in Mizzou respectful dialogues program. Last year, it sponsored a conference between student leaders to discuss race issues on campus through the Days of Our Lives organization. Rachel Jones, graduate assistant for the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative and project leader for You in Mizzou, was unable to be reached for comment regarding the program.
Previous topics discussed in the You in Mizzou series include discussion on white privilege, which was sponsored Oct. 23. The next You in Mizzou dialogue will be held Feb. 22 and will discuss issues of gender and communication.
Further discussion will be held at three additional white privilege workshops in the upcoming months. One such seminar was held Jan. 24, with an aim of provoking honest discussion among white students, faculty and staff about racism.
The Maneater attempted to gain access to the January white privilege workshop but was denied access by the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative staff. Gardner said the media was not allowed to attend the workshop due to the sensitive nature of the discussion and the necessity for confidentiality among participants.
Although the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative does sponsor the You in Mizzou speaker series, as well as the Difficult Dialogues forums, much of the organization's work is not visible through sponsored programs.
"Our office isn't really a student affairs office," Gardner said. "Our office is out of the chancellor's office, our mission is broad. It's on organizational change. We are working on many, many avenues on the organizational change levels, like improved faculty hiring procedures. Those are things that are not programmatic."
Faculty hiring is an important part of the mission of the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative, Gardner said.
"When you look at faculty hiring, you look at the data we've had over the last 10 years," Gardner said. "Data analysis is something that Dr. (Roger) Worthington has been working on. Data analysis is a lengthy process. We are working with all of the departments, schools and colleges to help the diversity of the hiring pool."
Difficult Dialogues faculty fellow Mary Bixby said the main focus of the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative is "equity for all groups." She also said the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative wants to recruit more domestic minorities and domestic minority faculty, staff and students.
"Sometimes I'm fearful that we're working harder on recruiting than we are on retention," Bixby said.
MU Faculty Council Chairman Rex Campbell said in diverse hiring, there is difficulty in maintaining quality candidates because they often get better offers and leave.
"The chancellor has had a program for two or three years where they will pay up to one half the salary of a good minority person," Campbell said. "This is a considerable incentive for people in some departments.