College Presidents Gauge Campus Racial Climate!

Dear Commons Community,

Researchers with the American Council on Education’s Center for Policy Research and Strategy set out to gauge presidents’ perceptions and actions on issues of racial diversity. The researchers analyzed more than 550 anonymous responses from presidents of two- and four-year colleges.  As reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education:

“Lorelle L. Espinosa, assistant vice president of the center, said that for the most part, presidents are more engaged with not only discussion but also action related to diversity on their campus, and they know they need to do more.

“I think the claim that campus leaders are out of touch is oversimplified, which is a lot of what the story has become in the media,” she said. “I don’t think some of that criticism is unwarranted. But this survey is showing us a level of engagement that we haven’t been shown yet.”

Below are a few takeaways from the survey results about how college and university presidents are responding to campus racial issues.

.Most presidents have met with student organizers more than once.

Protests have become common on many campuses: Forty-seven percent of presidents of four-year institutions said students had organized on campus around concerns of racial diversity, while 13 percent of presidents of two-year institutions acknowledged similar protests. That said, 86 percent of presidents at four-year institutions and 71 percent of presidents at two-year institutions said they had met with organizers on more than one occasion…

.Racial diversity has become more of a priority in the last three years.

Fifty-five percent of four-year and 44 percent of two-year college presidents said racial diversity had been more of a priority on their campus in the last three years. The survey asked presidents which actions their campuses had taken over the last five years, and 76 percent of respondents said they had taken steps to increase diversity among students, faculty, and staff, the response that ranked highest. Other common actions included adding support resources for minority students, resources for racial-diversity initiatives, and developing diversity-competency training…

.Presidents rely heavily on student-affairs officials to assist on issues of racial diversity.

About half of presidents at four-year institutions said they had a full-time administrator dedicated to student diversity. Yet even at institutions with such an official, presidents said they were more likely to rely on student-affairs officers to help handle issues of racial diversity.”

While American higher education has done a great deal to address racial diversity, this report verifies that our colleges and universities need to remain vigilant about the issue.

Tony

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