The Office of Academic Affairs sent a team of 11 faculty and staff members to the University of Washington in Seattle to discuss best practices and institutional examples for supporting diversity with UW faculty, staff and academic leaders.

In particular, the team focused on the following action items that Chancellor Harvey Perlman developed for the campus diversity plan:

— Recruiting and retaining faculty and staff of color;

— Developing effective diversity plans for department and program units;

— Developing first-year orientation and programs that educate students on the relationship of diversity to academic excellence and their success;

— Creating programs to build faculty and staff expertise on engaging with and facilitating discussions about diversity in curricular and co-curricular settings; and

— Building social and cultural activities that promote interactions across student populations and increase participation and leadership by students of color and international students.

The group worked in smaller teams, meeting with various University of Washington faculty and staff to learn about various topics and will write summary reports on what they learned during the event.

Four of the team members’ travel was sponsored by the Ford Foundation’s Future of Campus Diversity Colloquia. The trips are designed to share strategies and operating templates for ensuring that university campuses continue to reflect the dynamic diversity of the nation.

Faculty and staff selected for the trip were Andre Fortune, director of Gaughan Multicultural Center and Office of Academic Success and Intercultural Services; Amy Goodburn, associate vice chancellor in Academic Affairs and professor of English; Dan Hoyt, professor of sociology and associate dean for faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences; Jeannette Jones, associate professor of history and ethnic studies; Kelli King, director of the William H. Thompson Scholars Learning Community; Patrick McBride, director of New Student Enrollment and associate dean of enrollment management; Deborah Minter, associate dean of academic programs in the College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor of English; Heather Ockenfels, director of First-Year Experience and Transition programs; Peter Pinnell, chair of Department of Art and Art History and Hixson-Lied Professor of Art; Renee Batman, assistant vice chancellor in Academic Affairs; and Bill Watts, director of University Advising and Career Services.