Nearly three years after a Campus Climate Survey revealed disparities in student opinion of culture on campus, a spring 2019 progress report shows diversity goals are being reached.
In 2016, all UW-Madison students were invited to participate in the survey which asked questions about the overall culture of the campus. The results showed that compared to 81 percent of UW-Madison’s overall student population that felt welcome on campus, only 69 percent of LGBTQ students, 67 percent of students with a disability, 65 percent of black students and 50 percent of trans or nonbinary students felt welcome.
University officials created five diversity framework goals aimed at improving diversity and inclusion on campus in response to the original survey results, pledging to make the campus more welcoming for all.
In the Campus Climate Spring 2019 progress report, the university released initiatives that were implemented during the fall 2018 semester to work toward accomplishing the diversity framework goals.
A Diversity Forum, an Elders-in-Residence program and Native Nations Cultural Responsiveness Training were introduced to campus in the 2018-’19 academic year. Also initiated were new resources to help students with transgender healthcare, food insecurity and the transfer transition process.
Deputy Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion Patrick Sims said the expansion of the PEOPLE program, with a new office in Milwaukee, was recently implemented to recruit diverse students.
“The program is another significant investment in supporting those from historically underrepresented and or marginalized communities,” Sims said.
The progress report noted that in the last decade, students of color increased from 12 percent to 16 percent of the student body and faculty of color grew from 17 percent to 21 percent.
Despite these changes, UW-Madison student and co-chair of the Black History Month Planning Committee Breanna Taylor said there needs to be continued growth in underrepresented populations on campus.
Taylor said simply increasing faculty of color on campus is not enough.
“Faculty and university officials must be more intentionally present, and attending events planned by students of color would be a good first step,” Taylor said at Black O’Clock, the Black History Month kickoff event.
Sims said the initiatives mentioned in the progress report are not meant to be seen as completed goals, but rather as tangible actions taken by the university to work toward the diversity framework goals.
“We view the improving climate as an ongoing journey, not a list that we can tick off and consider ‘done,’” Sims said.
The next Campus Climate Survey will be conducted in 2020. Until then, Sims said the university will continue striving to make the campus an enjoyable and safe place for all students.
