Strategy:  Foster and sustain a diverse, respectful and cohesive campus community.

Point People: Rahim Reed and Rex Perschbacher

Narrative Summary of Second Year Implementation Efforts:

Our commitment to this objective continues to be coordinated through the Office of Campus Community Relations with its foundation built upon our Principles of Community. The support of the Deans and Vice Chancellors through increasing the priority of this objective in their respective units remains one of the important keys for successful implementation of this strategy.

We are in the final stage of planning for our Comprehensive Diversity Action Plan. The plan is designed to guide and coordinate our campus efforts to meet the strategic goal of fostering and sustaining a diverse, respectful and cohesive campus community. The Plan includes a reorganization of the Affirmative Action Unit Coordinators (AAUC), the creation of an Affirmative Action Work Group comprised of representatives from the Office of Campus Community Relations (OCCR), Human Resources (HR), Academic Personnel and the UC Davis Health System (UCDHS) and a revised process for compilation of the annual UC Davis Affirmative Action Plan.

This past year we worked to create an organizational structure to support the Comprehensive Diversity Action Plan initiative utilizing the Senior Advisor Group as points of contact for each major campus unit. The Comprehensive Diversity Action Plan calls for annual “diversity action unit plans” from each campus unit that include the unit’s AA goals, pre-recruitment activities, recruitment and retention processes, diversity initiatives and training, orientation and mentoring activities, and unit climate assessments (e.g. the number and types of informal and formal complaints, promotions and terminations). The diversity action unit plans will be submitted each year to the Chancellor and Provost to be reviewed with the deans and vice chancellors during their annual evaluations. The AA Work Group began meeting this year with the charge of coordinating AA/EEO policies and initiatives across campus. The AA Work Group successfully revised the process for compilation of the annual UC Davis AA Plan and the plan for the current calendar year has been submitted and approved by the UC Office of the President.

This past year we also developed several new initiatives in addition to our ongoing activities to support our efforts to implement this strategy. The MSO (Management Services Officers) For the Future Development Program was created to develop a diverse pool of highly talented and motivated staff with an interest in pursuing academic MSO positions. The MSO for the Future Program will begin in the 2005 Fall Quarter. We also created a Faculty Development in Diversity Institute Program that endeavors to enhance the quality of the teaching and learning activities on our multicultural campus. The Faculty Institute will provide opportunities for faculty to strengthen their skills in teaching, mentoring, and creating learning environments that respect the diversity of the undergraduate and graduate students. The Campus Community Book Project is about to enter its fourth successful year and our annual (second) Principles of Community Celebration continues to grow and incorporate a variety of faculty, staff and student activities and events under its umbrella.

Advances and Ongoing Programs Consistent with Strategy:

• Campus Community Book Project (http://occr.ucdavis.edu/bookproject.html)
• OCCR Diversity Education Program (http://www.diversity.ucdavis.edu)
• Principles of Community (http://principle.ucdavis.edu/)
• Office of Campus Community Relations (http://occr.ucdavis.edu) continues to provides coordination and assistance to most of our campus activities and programs that relate to promoting diversity, fostering a sense of inclusiveness and building community under the “Principles of Community Programming” banner.
• Police – Student –Community Forums (two forums, one in the fall quarter and one in the spring quarter) dealt with the issue of police, student and community relations in the aftermath of alleged racial bias by campus and Davis police officers. The issues of campus safety, party management and police field contact cards were also discussed in the context of working to improve relationships and trust between police, students and the general community.
• MSO For the Future Development Program (http://sdps.ucdavis.edu/mso.htm)
• Faculty Development in Diversity Institute
• Orientation/Training for all Chairs of Academic Search Committees sponsored by the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Personnel and OCCR (http://academicpersonnel.ucdavis.edu/td_chair_main.cfm)
• Faculty Leadership Development Program (http://academicpersonnel.ucdavis.edu/td_chair_leadership.cfm)

Short Statement of Plans for 2005-06:

Plans for 2005-06 include:

• Complete the Comprehensive Diversity Action Plan and present to the COVC and CODVC for implementation.
• Continue to develop and expand the impact of the Campus Community Book Project. Conduct an evaluation of the project to determine if we should continue it in its present format, change or restructure any way to improve it.
• Complete the update of the Principles of Community Website. Continue to promote it as a self-educational resource tool to support our efforts in increasing the understanding of the educational value of diversity.
• Monitor the implementation of the MSOs For the Future Program. Evaluate at the end of the first year.
• Monitor the Implementation of the Faculty Development in Diversity Institute. Evaluate at the end of the first year.
• Continue to provide opportunities to develop cultural competency skills for students, faculty and staff. Reinforce the paradigm that our Diversity Education and Training activities should operate from an education-competency skills model rather than from a reaction to crisis and conflict model.

Evaluation of Metrics:

• Increase in the diversity of faculty and staff to better reflect the population of California

  We currently assess and report the demographics of our work force annually in our Affirmative Action Plan. However, our challenge is to maintain our commitment to diversity and remain in compliance with Proposition 209.

• Increase in the diversity of undergraduate, graduate and professional students to better reflect the population of California

  We currently assess and report on the demographics of our student body. Again our challenge is to maintain our commitment to diversity in this area and not violate Proposition 209. We will be further challenged by a number of issues in this area including changing eligibility criteria, funding for outreach and limited financial aid programs to compete for high credentialed minority students.

• Improve campus climate (evaluation of campus climate through periodic surveys, data collection, assessment of Principles of Community Programs and implementation of compelling recommendations)

  We continue to work on identifying factors that reflect the campus climate and attitude, and which also are quantifiable in a meaningful way to guide us making effective change. This metric still remains somewhat difficult to evaluate at the campus level, however it appear somewhat easier to assess at the unit level. We are therefore focusing attention on working with our major units to assess unit climate and attitudes.

• Improvement of physical spaces and programs that support diverse communities and provide a welcoming environment

  We have not spent much time discussing this metric independent of the other metrics. We need to have a fuller assessment and discussion about it.

• Increase the number of opportunities to develop cultural competency and leadership skills for faculty, staff and students

  We are developing a list (baseline) of the various opportunities that exist now on our campus to facilitate the development of cultural competency and leadership skills in our classrooms (curriculum) for students and in our professional development training sessions for faculty and staff.

• Expand the number of opportunities for constituent groups to be successfully supported and connected to the campus community

  We are gathering data and assessing our current constituent group structure (i.e. number of groups, charge/missions, overlapping areas, reporting lines, advisory status, impact on policy decisions, etc.) with a focus on increasing the advisory/consultative process as it relates to major policy decisions. This may require some restructuring of our organizational lines of communication.