Report of the Task Force for Campus Climate and Training

The Campus Climate Task Force was appointed by Deputy Chancellor Michael Middleton to review findings from the MU Campus Climate Study, develop best practices for addressing concerns, and make recommendations for improving the campus climate for diversity. Recommendations cover climate issues from all perspectives, including training and orientation programs for faculty, staff and students; communications; academic and social programming; curriculum; and future efforts to assess the climate for diversity at all levels.

The need for an inclusive, respectful and equitable campus climate is crucial given MU’s history of exclusion for underrepresented minorities, especially for African Americans and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. MU also continues to lag behind national statistics in granting degrees to members of underrepresented racial-ethnic groups. Improving campus climate will ensure a healthy, diverse MU, which has been shown in research to be associated with:

1. greater learning
2. increased interpersonal competencies
3. greater self-confidence among students
4. fewer irrational prejudices
5. greater gains in critical thinking among students
6. greater involvement in civic and community service

After reviewing and assessing research findings, institutional data, and national models of campus climate, the Campus Climate Task Force proposes the following set of recommendations to move MU to a more inclusive, respectful and equitable multicultural university:

Enhance infrastructure for leadership, advocacy and accountability:

• Appoint a senior-level campus administrator as Chief Diversity Officer, and a permanent Diversity Advisory Council, to lead and manage diversity and inclusion activities.
• Create an Equity Assistance Office to respond to equity complaints and concerns, and to coordinate equity and diversity training.
• Establish campus-wide and unit-level diversity resource teams, with accountability for results.
• Provide leadership training across campus to increase multicultural competencies.

Develop rigorous and concerted recruitment and retention programs:

• Recruit and retain significantly more students of color, and students with disabilities, from high schools and community colleges in Missouri (and surrounding states).
• Revise guidelines to allow transfer students to qualify for financial aid on a par with entering freshmen.
• Expand Academic Retention Services so that it can address the needs of students from all racial-ethnic groups, and students with disabilities.
• Increase hires of underrepresented faculty and staff across all ranks.
• Establish voluntary mentoring programs for underrepresented students, faculty, and staff, as well as networking and social opportunities.
• Revise faculty promotion, tenure, and annual merit policies to eliminate real and perceived bias.
• Require each campus unit to demonstrate performance-based salary equity for faculty and staff at all levels.
• Ensure equity for all faculty and staff in benefits programs.

Establish a diversity mission statement:

• Establish a comprehensive campus-wide diversity mission statement.
• Require all campus units to establish their own diversity mission statements and action plans consistent with the university-wide statement.
• Adopt “multiculturalism” as a fifth campus value.

Develop a multicultural curriculum:

• Institute a multiculturalism requirement in the General Education Architecture.
• Expand Women’s and Gender Studies, Religious Studies and Black Studies.
• Develop Latino, Asian, American Indian, and Disability Studies curriculums.
• Elevate Women’s and Gender Studies and Black Studies to departmental status.
• Investigate the integration of some academic programs into departmental units.

Enhance multicultural training and address multicultural environment issues:

• Implement mandatory multicultural training for all faculty, staff and teaching assistants.
• Pursue external funding for multicultural programming and fund innovative diversity programs.
• Increase diversity-related campus news releases and other positive publicity.
• Show greater respect for various cultures by, for example, developing an interfaith calendar, designating a multicultural month, establishing policies to protect members of the campus community who celebrate non-Christian holidays, and designing holiday décor to include non-Christian traditions.
• Continue to improve accessibility of buildings and other areas on campus.
• Reorganize the MU homepage to provide easy access to diversity information and resources, and develop a diversity website.

Expand multicultural student activities and services:

• Require all student service units to include multicultural programming and training, and in doing so to involve Student Affairs units with multicultural foci.
• Expand resources and services offered by Women’s Center, LGBT Resource Center, Multicultural Center, International Center, Black Culture Center, and Access Mizzou.

Expand scope of multicultural research and other scholarly activities:

• Establish a campus-wide faculty team to review the definition of “scholarship” at MU.
• Provide seed funding for multicultural research and scholarship.
• Increase funding and administrative support for research mentorship programs targeting underrepresented students.

Establish on-going campus climate assessments:

• Establish a standing committee (with an appropriate level of human and capital resources) to oversee and administer future climate assessments, oversee data distribution and guide new interventions and guide any needed modifications in the diversity strategic planning process.

Read the full report (pdf format)