The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Ad Hoc Diversity Planning Committee, charged with drafting a new diversity plan, released preliminary suggestions Feb. 18 for improving aspects of diversity and inclusivity at the university. While we are glad these plans are in motion, we believe the success of the plan depends on campus input and making sure this draft—no matter how rough it may be—is available to the campus community.
The university’s previous diversity plan expired in 2008. For the past six years, UW-Madison has been functioning without a solid diversity plan in place. We see this as a major problem, and we appreciate that the committee is moving the process along.
While we assume the diversity committee plans to eventually release a draft to campus, we believe a digestible, easy-to-understand executive summary would greatly increase the likelihood that individuals will understand and engage with the document. Right now, the current draft is 28 pages long and we expect the length of the final plan to remain consistent. For this reason, it is unrealistic to expect the average student to dissect this copy and provide meaningful input on it without significant effort put into understanding the jargon.
If the Ad Hoc Diversity Planning Committee hopes to receive meaningful feedback on the plan’s drafts, it is imperative that these documents can be easily understood by busy students, faculty and staff members, because at this point, fostering discussion is the most important next step in the process.
The committee plans to have a second round of campus feedback sessions this semester. We believe for these conversations to be as fruitful as possible, attendees need to be educated on what recommendations have already been made and be able to see what a rough draft of the plan looks like. This will help the campus community wrap their heads around exactly what type of plan the committee is charged with creating.
However, we acknowledge that students and faculty members also have to be willing to put in an effort if the Diversity Plan is going to move forward. As members of this campus, we also have a duty to engage in the planning. If you wish to see change, make an effort to state your feelings on the plan.
Having seen the initial draft, this board sees the potential it could have on improving UW-Madison with regards to campus climate and access for individuals from diverse backgrounds. We appreciate that the committee is brainstorming ways to ensure the university is held accountable to uphold high standards with regards to diversity. We hope to see more specific actions added to the plan that come through further outreach sessions, similarly to how the Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence (PEOPLE) program came from the previous diversity plan.
Ultimately, the success of this plan banks on the willingness of all members of the campus community to engage with it. We hope that everyone is able to do so with the release of the draft in a timely manner.
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