Goals & Recommendations

International Festival

The long-term goal of the College is to create a climate where difference is looked upon as an asset and where curiosity and a desire to engage are the first response to difference.

To this end, the College will:

• Engage in an on-going effort to recruit and retain students, faculty and staff from diverse geographic, socioeconomic, racial and cultural backgrounds
• Create a climate that celebrates difference
• Provide the entire college community with opportunities to experience “otherness” outside the Burlington campus
• Become a model of inclusion for academic institutions and businesses throughout the state
• Infuse multi-cultural perspective throughout the curriculum and co-curricular education and activities

To achieve this long-term goal, the Committee makes the following recommendations for immediate action (2006-2007) as well as mid-range recommendations (2007-2011):

Immediate Recommendations (2006-2007):

• Develop and publicize a written College philosophy on Diversity and Inclusion
• Continue to support Current Programs and Services
• Commit to establishing an Office of Diversity and Inclusion and advertise the Director position for implementation not later than Fall 2007
• Continue conversations about the nature and role of an Office of Diversity and Inclusion to ensure that the Office is seen as a campus-wide resource and safe/comfortable space for all students, faculty and staff (i.e., visits to offices on other campuses, draw upon resources in community, review recommendations from Multicultural Committee)
• Pursue the Posse program (http://www.possefoundation.org/) as a possible source of identifying and recruiting underrepresented students.
• Identify ways in which HR Department can intentionally grow the applicant pool in all searches to include underrepresented candidates and strongly encourage faculty, staff and students to participate in interviewing/hosting
• Offer off-campus groups that bring diversity to the campus free use of facilities (i.e., the “Africans in Vermont” group)
• Develop expanded program to celebrate diversity through library book displays, speakers, art, music, and related programs
• Begin planning/grant-writing for campus book discussion/speakers with multicultural/inclusion focus
• Discuss opportunities for on-campus admissions event(s) focused on diverse populations with new Director of Admissions
• Explore and formalize visiting professor opportunities and business/community partnerships that focus on diversity
• Continue to develop an annual inventory/directory of programs and services with diversity/inclusion focus
• Engage the campus community in diversity discussions through campus-wide diversity training workshops with assessment of current climate as one of the primary goals for the program (i.e., during May collaborative, staff development days, orientation, student leadership training, etc.)
• Expand scholarship opportunities for populations consistent with the goals of diversity and inclusion
• Integrate diversity across the curriculum and into the core curriculum design including specific modules on diversity
• Identify ways to focus America Reads program on refugee tutoring
• Expand refugee connections and partnerships through majors, admissions, programming opportunities
• Continue regular meetings of the Task Force to continue to gather input, to assess progress on immediate recommendations, and to continue to provide specific annual recommendations toward the long-term goals

Mid-Range Recommendations: (2007-2011):

• Increase faculty and staff education around issues and perspectives of underrepresented students (i.e., workshops, required reading, panel of underrepresented students, faculty, and staff)
• Increase multicultural co-curricular programming for students and expand budget to allow for year-long multicultural programming
• Provide campus-wide support for the development of cultural immersion experiences for students, faculty, and staff (i.e., study abroad fair, dissemination of information on cultural immersion programs, faculty/staff/student presentations)
• Increase the diversity of the College’s Board of Trustees
• Increase number of underrepresented students on campus
• Increase number of underrepresented faculty and staff on campus
• Draw additional underrepresented students, faculty and staff from the local community to the College
• Use dramatic presentations to convey messages rather than lecture format (i.e., “Witness” presentation, Community Book Program, theatre, music, art, flags)