New council to lead efforts to enhance student diversity and success

Terry Whittaker (left), assistant provost for student diversity and success, and Dan Rich, provost

2:45 p.m., Oct. 13, 2003--A University council of administrators, faculty and students has been established to lead and oversee campuswide efforts to enhance student diversity and success.

The Council on Student Diversity and Success was created to coordinate and extend programs that support the recruitment and success of a diverse undergraduate and graduate student body.

“The goal is to encourage students’ intellectual, cultural and ethical development as citizens, scholars and professionals,” Provost Dan Rich said.

“The University of Delaware is committed to creating an educational community that is intellectually, culturally and socially diverse and that is enriched by the contributions and full participation of people from many backgrounds. Diversity is a dimension of educational quality for UD.”

The formation of the council launched the University’s Student Diversity and Success Initiative, according to Terry Whittaker, assistant provost for student diversity and success, who chairs the new council. The 14 members appointed to the council in September include representatives of academic administration and affairs, faculty, student affairs, student support services and programs and graduate and undergraduate organizations.

“The Council on Student Diversity and Success reaffirms the University’s commitment to diversity and will enhance and strengthen coordination and support for all our diversity programs and students,” Whittaker said. “Increased ethnic and racial diversity among our student body contributes to the educational quality of our institution and enriches the educational experience of our total student body.”

Rich noted that the council will have an important role in ensuring UD’s continued progress in attracting and enrolling a diverse student body and supporting the success of its members. An example of that progress, he said, is that 15 percent of the new freshman class consists of students of color. That represents the largest percentage of any entering class in the University’s history.

But, Rich said, in addition to attracting and enrolling students from many different backgrounds, UD also is committed to continuing programs that support students as they pursue their education. An indication of the success of those efforts is the University’s rate of graduating black students within six years, which, at 64 percent, is nearly twice the national average of 35.8 percent. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education has ranked UD fourth in the nation among “flagship state universities” for its graduation rate.

The University also has won recognition for its successful Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program, a federally funded program that helps students from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds get into graduate programs of their choice and obtain funding. UD’s McNair Scholars have had a 100 percent success rate in meeting those goals, and, earlier this month, the University hosted a national conference on the McNair Program.

Initially, the new Council on Student Diversity and Success will focus on establishing sustainable initiatives to increase the number and success of minority undergraduate and graduate students and other underrepresented students, Whittaker said. Specifically, he said, the group will assist his office in three areas:

Improving coordination of recruitment and support programs and services designed to increase student diversity and success;

Increasing campus-wide student awareness of and participation in existing University-wide and college-sponsored activities that support student diversity and success; and

Strengthening and expanding partnerships to enhance student diversity and success with communities beyond the UD campus, including racial/ethnic communities, elementary and secondary schools, other institutions of higher education, community organizations and religious, business and corporate institutions.

The council members were appointed by the provost and were selected based on their office positions and constituents’ scopes and influences. In addition to Whittaker, the members are

Timothy Barnekov, dean of the College of Human Services, Education and Public Policy; Cynthia Cummings, associate vice president for campus life; graduate student Simone Delerme; Joseph Di Martile, assistant provost for student services and University registrar; Conrado “Bobby” Gempesaw, vice president for academic and international programs; Judith Gibson, assistant vice president for affirmative action and multicultural programs; Saul Hoffman, chairperson of the Department of Economics and chairperson of the University of Delaware Chairs Caucus;

Mark Huddleston, dean of the College of Arts and Science; Mary Kurian, president of the Graduate Student Senate; Morgan Long, president of the Delaware Undergraduate Student Congress; Michael Vaughan, assistant dean of the College of Engineering Student Affairs and director of the Resources to Insure Successful Engineers (RISE) program; and Shangyou Zhang, chairperson of the Faculty Senate’s Committee on Affirmative Action and Diversity. An undergraduate student will be named shortly to complete the membership.

Overall, Whittaker said, the council will provide a framework to administer a systematic, comprehensive approach to obtain University-wide participation and input from administrators, faculty, staff and students by recommending, developing and implementing programs and practices to achieve the goals of UD’s Student Diversity and Success Initiative. The initiative seeks to accomplish the following goals:

Recruit and enroll a critical mass of academically talented minority students and other underrepresented students;

Work to obtain financial assistance to enable all qualified students to attend the University;

Sustain retention rates for minority undergraduate students comparable to those of the total undergraduate student body;

Sustain graduation rates for minority undergraduate students comparable to those of the total undergraduate student body;

Increase the enrollment of minority graduate students to a critical mass;

Sustain graduation rates of minority graduate students comparable to those of the total graduate student body;

Foster an academic environment and instructional content enhancement to enable overall multicultural and racial education with respect and appreciation for diversity; and

Prepare minority students and other underrepresented students for professional success.

The Council on Student Diversity and Success also has created several coordinating committees. They include the Undergraduate Recruitment Coordinating Committee, chaired by Ernesto Lopez, associate director of admissions; the Undergraduate Retention and Academic Success Coordinating Committee, chaired by Lin Gordon, director of academic student services; the Graduate Recruitment and Success Coordinating Committee, chaired by Mary Martin, assistant provost for graduate studies; the Colleges’ Cultures and Classroom Climate Coordinating Committee, chaired by Martha Carothers, director of the Center for Teaching Effectiveness; the Colleges’ Student Services and Affairs Steering Committee, chaired by Michael Vaughan; and the University-wide Student Advisory Committee on Diversity and Success, co-chaired by Morgan Long and Mary Kurian.

Article by Ann Manser Photo by Kathy F. Atkinson

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