What’s Happening at The University of Iowa?

The simple fact is that 2005-06 was a year for the University to take stock of our diversity goals and recommit to doing what is necessary to meet them. In The Iowa Promise, the University’s strategic plan for 2005-2010, diversity was identified—along with undergraduate education, graduate and professional education and research, vitality, and engagement—as a key goal of the University’s plan for success.

Our diversity goal in the Iowa Promise recommits The University of Iowa to our Human Rights Policy, which prohibits discrimination because of race, creed, color, national origin, age, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other classification that deprives the person of consideration as an individual, and ensures that equal opportunity and access to facilities shall be available to all. The Iowa Promise also recognizes that diversity is essential to the educational experience, central to the University’s mission, and inextricably linked to educational excellence.

To give more focused direction to our diversity strategies, the President and Provost commissioned a number of task forces, including the Diversity Action Committee, the Gender Equity Task Force, the Merger Review Committee, and the Sexual Harassment Survey Committee. In addition, a comprehensive climate survey was undertaken in a collaborative effort led by Equal Opportunity and Diversity.

The resulting reports indicate that there is work to be done. Our best efforts to date have garnered success in some areas, while in other areas our gains have been less than we desire.

The reports also all suggest strategies for making progress. Although their topics differ, all of the reports identify greater coordination of our diversity efforts and greater prominence of our diversity message as key to our future success. The newly created position, Special Assistant to the President for Equal Opportunity and Diversity, who is also the Associate Provost for Diversity, is intended to provide that coordination and leadership.

For more about my mission and responsibilities, please see http://www.uiowa.edu/~provost/ap-diversity/mission/index.html.

For more about current programming and initiatives, please see http://www.uiowa.edu/~provost/ap-diversity/initiatives/index.html.

2006 Minority Enrollment

As a result of several new diversity initiatives implemented last year, the University of Iowa has set new records. More minority students than ever before are attending the UI this fall.

The number of minority students is up, from 2,678 students in fall 2005 (9.03 percent of the total student body) to 2,741 in fall 2006 (9.14 percent of the total), the highest percentage since 1998 and the largest total number of minority students ever. The largest increase was in the total number of Latino/a students, up 30, or 4 percent, since fall 2005, and up 74, or 10 percent, since fall 2004. The percentage of minority undergraduate students increased from 8.69 percent last year to 8.72 percent this year, with significant increases in the numbers of Native American and Latino/a students. full Press Release

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