The report was created from the dialogue sessions that took place March 2015, when more than 100 students participated in group discussions about diversity while then Ball State President Paul W. Ferguson and Kay Bales, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, listened to the different groups.
The solutions were grouped into five themes, and members of the council were placed into teams to address each one.
Thomas Gibson, associate vice president for student affairs and co-chair of the council, said the council wants students to know their concerns were heard and they are progressing with the proposed solutions.
“We want to make sure that we have a campus climate that’s welcoming, that’s inclusive and provides an opportunity for all students to be successful,” Gibson said.
According to the progress report, the council’s timeline is implementing the more achievable recommendations through the end of the Spring Semester, while the more challenging recommendations will extend into the 2016-17 academic year.
Gibson said the plan is to have a progress report on the Beneficence Dialogue released every semester.
Theme One: Recruitment and retention of a diverse student body
Key accomplishments:
Admissions brochures have been revised and now include financial literacy brochures written in Spanish.
Multicultural Ambassador Corps members have been hired as campus tour guides. Gibson said these students are recent hires and are well informed about the diversity and multicultural resources on campus.
Key future priorities:
The council plans to ensure marketing images of the university reflect the true diversity of the student population.
They also are looking to increase gender identity options on the university application and in the Banner system.
Theme Two: Diversity awareness/education initiatives for students
Key accomplishments:
The council is working with Digital Corps to create a diversity app to connect students to campus resources. Gibson said the app should launch sometime in April. The app will provide tips and resources for students on what to do when incidents regarding diversity occur.
“What we are looking to do is help students recognize if they witness or have been the subject of a bias incident,” Gibson said.
Strategic Communications is leading efforts to create a web-based central calendar for all diversity and cultural events.
Key future priorities:
The council plans to create and launch a pre-college online module to address diversity.
It also plans to provide resources to financially at-risk students.
Theme Three: Education/training for and support from faculty
Key accomplishments:
Diversity training is offered to staff through the human resources office’s “Learning and Development” program.
A resource list of courses that address diversity in the core curriculum has been created.
Each major has identified where diversity is covered in the curriculum.
Key future priorities:
The council hopes to create and launch a required diversity course as part of the core curriculum.
It also plans to add an assessment of faculty diversity competence to course evaluations and ensure student representation and transparency on all award committees.
Theme Four: University response/student body and administration interactions
Key accomplishment:
A student Multicultural Advisory Board has been created with representation from various student organizations. According to the Ball State website, the board works with the Multicultural Center to identify student concerns about diversity and inclusion.
Key future priorities:
The president will deliver a university state of diversity address. While no date has been set, Gibson said the university is committed to delivering the address.
The council plans to create “Lunch with an Administrator” program, allowing students to express their thoughts and concerns.
The council hopes to host a “listening event” each semester called “Proactive Plan.” This is a forum that would allow students to engage in group discussion about issues on diversity, inclusion and social justice.
Theme Five: Campus climate
Key accomplishments:
Bias incident informational posters and cards were posted in residence halls and classrooms in Fall 2015.
Strategic Communications is creating a diversity website landing page, which will centralize diversity resources.
Key future priorities:
The council is looking to have an audit done of current gender-neutral restroom and locker spaces on campus to identify gaps. A map of gender-neutral restrooms will be made available on the Ball State website.
The council will continue to explore the relocation of the Multicultural Center. The center is currently located at 325. N. McKinley Ave., behind the L.A. Pittenger Student Center. Gibson said this is one of the more challenging objectives.
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