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Show lessons, Spring/Summer 2002 page 3 •Working with the community must start with K-12 schools •Activities, programs and forums that build bridges from campus to community will teach the community to handle other issues •The U must support residents on the West Side •The U needs to contribute to West Side issues, including housing, employment, safety and health Fisher's experiences with people so far have upheld the problem of a gulf or divide from the East Side to West Side of Salt Lake. She said she has met students at the U who are 20 years old and have never been on the west side of State Street. In turn, there are West-Side residents who don't want to attend an East-Side school. Fisher hopes that through more communication, these economic and historical barriers may be removed. "We are doing this to help people get together and take the opportunity to get to know each other," she said. The plan is to open an office on the West Side this summer. It will house a University board that will create work groups to talk about the issues, establish goals and get the community involved in their efforts. "This initiative work is not the U helping someone else, but many groups working to help each other," Fisher said. Many of the community partnerships will be developed through outreach programs. Fisher is in the process of finding out what the U currently offers, and so far, there are 138 outreach programs serving students or teachers in K-12 schools. Many of these programs have been successful, such as the Family Literacy Center at West High School, developed and run by students and faculty from the English department. However, most of the programs aren't aware of each other, so they aren't working together. Fisher hopes to find time to get the various groups together, introduce them and see if they can help each other out to "maximize their effectiveness," she said. Of course, once relations improve between the U and the West Side, Fisher hopes the end result is increased enrollment from the growing minority population on the West Side, and thus increased diversity. "It's not a selfish goal. It's a healthy one," she said. "The University is here to prepare citizens for the future, not just to prepare them for jobs. When faculty, staff and students realize this, then all this community involvement makes sense." Helping diverse students, staff and faculty feel welcome "I would say our that our goals for increasing diversity on campus include attracting and retaining diverse students, staff and faculty," said Karen Dace, Associate Vice President for Diversity. "This is an ongoing effort which does not specify quantity, but rather focuses on ensuring a positive experience at the U which inspires candidates to join this community and remain a part of it once they arrive." Dace's office is responsible for many activities that create a "welcoming climate for diverse individuals," but also for all students, staff and faculty. There are a series of activities associated with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Women's Week, Black History Month, Asian American Awareness and others. These activities provide the campus community with information, exhibits, panels and speakers that celebrate and educate people about differences. There are also Days of Remembrance activities that the Office of Diversity sponsors in conjunction with the Jewish Community, to honor the more than six million Jews killed during the Holocaust. Dace said many departments and centers also sponsor diversity conferences throughout the year in order to encourage a dialogue about diversity. This year, the Office of Academic Outreach and Continuing Education and College of Social Work presented such conferences. The Marriott Library has also played an integral part in encouraging diversity at the U, Dace said. Recently, the library has housed the Nazi Olympic Exhibit and others celebrating Utah's Jewish History. The exhibits have attracted nearly 20,000 attendees from on and off campus. Dace believes that the variety of campus events "points to the fact that it takes a number of campus units to work toward enhancing diversity on campus. Our office has been involved in some, but not all of these programs. And that is as it should be," she said. "I think we know we are doing a good job with diversity when everyone participates rather than looking to one office to 'get the word out.'" Kathryn Brooks, Director of the Women's Resource Center, agrees with Dace, and her Center has been working for the past 30 years to help women feel welcome at the U. "We still have not achieved numerical gender equity [at the U], and until we do, the U will never be seen as a place equally welcome to women." Brooks couldn't help but share her disappointment about the U's enrollment statistics for the year 2000. That year, 45.9 percent women were enrolled at the U, which was just .9 percent higher than in 1995. Brooks said most state universities have at least 50 percent or more female students enrolled, and she hopes that the Women's Resource Center can improve the U's figures by fostering a greater appreciation for women through programs and scholarships. The Center offers counseling, workshops, career groups, support groups, programs such as Women's Week, and supports advocacy projects depending on what issues arise. Brooks said the Center helps "to promote a more diverse environment at the U" not only with women, but also with women of color, by offering programs to get "We still have not achieved numerical gender equity [at the U], and until we do, the U will never be seen as a place equally welcome to women." |