Pacific University
PA-6: Support for Underrepresented Groups

https://www.pacificu.edu/non-discrimination-statement It is the policy of Pacific University not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, religion or religious creed, disability, sex or gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, military, veteran or Vietnam Era status, or any other protected classification recognized by applicable law, in admission, access to, or treatment in employment, educational programs or activities as required by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or any other applicable state or federal law, or city ordinance.

The Bias Response Team was recently approved by Administration (March of 2018) and this work is being led by the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in partnership with Human Resources. The mission of the Bias Incident Reporting Team System is to contribute to the University’s mission of creating a diverse, inclusive, and sustainable community that cares and purses justice. The Bias Incident Reporting Team is currently using the Advocate Software System as a technical tool to have staff, students and faculty have access to report a bias or discriminatory situations. The most recent actions that have been established are the following: The Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion receives report via on line, or in person. The Bias Incident Response Team will evaluate the report and work in collaboration to develop an appropriate response. Responses may include: providing care and support to community members negatively affected; learning more about the incident; engaging in educational dialogue and interventions; providing access and referrals to campus resources; and, coordinating efforts to restore individuals and groups negatively affected. https://pacificu-advocate.symplicity.com/public_report/index.php/pid660215?

Students Pacific University is committed to recruiting students from all different backgrounds. In addition to our extensive recruitment of students from the state of Hawai’i, and our international student recruitment efforts, we actively participate in approximately 25 different opportunities to recruit underserved minority students. Our efforts include but are not limited to participation in minority recruitment fairs throughout the region and the west coast, hosting minority recruitment events on campus, building partnerships with organizations to open access to minority students to attend Pacific University. The Undergraduate Admissions staff includes an Admission Counselor who is fluent in Spanish and can support all of our translation needs. Some of our partnerships include those with: • Jefferson Middle College and Portland Community College Cascade campus • Early College High School imbedded at PCC Rock Creek and Sylvania campuses • Future Connect (PCC campuses), Community College TRIO and CAMP programs • Black United College Fund • I HAVE a Dream Foundation Dreamers Program • Adelante Mujeres • Miller East Alternative School Program (Hillsboro School District) • Western Oregon University’s Hispanic/Latino Leadership Conference. • The Q Center (BLGTQ) We participate in the Latino Leadership College Night at Century High School to support the students in the club with information about the college search process and providing application and essay workshops. We support the Centro Cultural College Night event hosted by Pacific World Language students, providing recruitment information to the families served, as delivered by student-to-student contact with bilingual Latino students thriving at Pacific. We represent Pacific to prospective students at the Oregon Islamic Academic College Fair, annually. Each year we are represented at the Asian American Youth Leadership Conference, Oregon students along with Asian community leaders, representatives of several school districts in the Portland area, the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, the Japanese American Citizens League, The Vietnamese Community Association of Oregon, the Refugee & Immigrant Consortium of Oregon & SW Washington, and the Center for New Americans come together to help and support and offer informative workshops to participating students. Additionally, we actively recruit veteran students through development of partnerships with Community College Veterans Resource Centers. These students bring with them a wide-diversity of background and life experience, as well as race/ethnicity. Fall 2017 enrolled veterans are projected to make up 17% of the incoming transfer class. Undergraduate Admissions works closely with community based organizations who serve underrepresented groups and partner with them with enrollment and admissions related activities. Groups include: • College Dreams - Visits and Summer Overnight, admissions talks, student panels, tours of campus by current students and application workshops • College Possible – Visits/admissions talks, student panels, tours of campus by current students and application workshops • Gear-Up Oregon – Visits, admissions talks, student panels, tours of campus by current students and application workshops • Black United Fund - Hosts Special Groups/on campus essay writing workshops, admissions talks, student panels, tours of campus by current students and application workshops • Adelante Mujeres – Visits, admissions talks, student panels, tours of campus by current students and application workshops • Parkrose School District AVID Group – Visits, admissions talks, student panels, tours of campus by current students and application workshops • Portland Public School District AVID Group – Visits, admissions talks, student panels, tours of campus by current students and application workshops • Beaverton School District AVID Group – Visits, admissions talks, student panels, tours of campus by current students and application workshops • Reynolds School District AVID Group – Visits, admissions talks, student panels, tours of campus by current students and application workshops • Hillsboro School District AVID Group – Visits, admissions talks, student panels, tours of campus by current students and application workshops Pacific University is committed to not only assisting minorities in readiness and college search support but also financially. Students who have strong academic records are eligible for considerable financial assistance directly from the university ranging from $12,000 to $24,000 a year for 4 years. Pacific also offers many scholarships in recognition of the partnerships mentioned to provide financial support to facilitate successful enrollment and retention of students served, through their graduation from Pacific. This financial support is in the form of free scholarship money for tuition and in some cases room and board. Additionally we successfully initiated access to need-based institutional financial aid for undocumented students as an enhancement to previous financial aid practices, here at Pacific. Faculty & Staff 1. Advertisements: a. Ads are placed in diverse and inclusive publications to solicit a more diverse pool of applicants. b. Broad use of diverse networks to advertise positions. c. Ethnically sensitive ads to demonstrate the importance of diversity and value placed upon those who can share and teach differing points of view. d. Inclusion of a description of Pacific’s diverse student body.

From Kathleen Converse Campus Wellness trains students to be Wellness Educators and provide workshops to their peers on various topics related to social health and wellness, including stress management, harm reduction with drugs and alcohol, preventing interpersonal violence, and interrupting oppression. Students can also be trained as Peer Advocates to confidentially aid students who have experienced interpersonal violence and connect them to support services. From Will Perkins • We have a Student Counseling Center that serves all of our students through their two offices, Hillsboro and Forest Grove. The counseling center has appointments for students as well as walk in hours every weekday. I'm not aware of them having any programs specific to underrepresented groups though they certainly serve students from underrepresented groups. If you need or want statistics regarding the demographics of their clients, Robin Keillor should be able to help you with that. • I believe that the Hawaii Outreach and Programming (HOP) office under Edna runs a formalized mentoring program for students coming to Pacific from Hawaii. I don't have all the details on this, but I'm sure that Edna can help you with that if you need details. • Narce is very aware of the multicultural student group that has formed in Hillsboro for the students with the College of Health Professions. That is a fairly new group and they are still developing their mission. They did a retreat this year where they did try to come up with a specific direction for the group that don't have all the details on that. I think Narce has been fairly in the loop with that group so she would be able to probably get some information about what they are doing. • There is a list of multicultural and religious groups for students listed on the following website https://www.pacificu.edu/clubs-organizations/multi-cultural-religious The University serves a large population of students from Hawai’i and this commitment has been in place for thirty plus years. Pacific employs a Director of Hawai’i Outreach and Programming who focuses on meeting the needs of our students from Hawaii in relation to student support and retention efforts. Faculty and Staff: All faculty and staff have access to our EAP- Employee Assistance Program, which includes services for individual and relationship counseling, wellness, and other health services. The Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion offers a yearly faculty and staff of color reception to welcome and provide new and returning faculty/staff of color, a sense of belonging. This event serves as connection point for affinity groups, and provides informal mentoring opportunities.