The Ohio State University at Lima
PA-4: Diversity and Equity Coordination

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) advances academic excellence by increasing and advocating for campus diversity and inclusion. The Office undertakes initiatives aimed at the recruitment, retention, and success of underrepresented students and faculty by working with academic units, community partners, and national organizations and institutions. Goals: To advance the development of a learning environment that encourages respect for cultural differences, as well as recognition of the commonalities among peoples and cultures. To coordinate all diversity initiatives and provide adequate resources to promote diversity as a value. To further promote diversity as a value outside of the campus via community outreach and engagement initiatives. To develop opportunities to hire a diverse underrepresented faculty and staff. To increase student recruitment and student retention of underrepresented students (including first generation) with diverse backgrounds To increase cultural diversity of the student body To establish partnerships with minority-owned and women-owned suppliers/businesses. The Diversity Council’s primary function is to infuse diversity within the university to create a culture of diversity on the campus. To achieve this, Diversity Council members assist the Diversity Council chair and the University in assessing and revising existing practices and make recommendations in the planning and developing of new practices and initiatives that will promote diversity on the campus. The Council is made up of representatives of students, staff, and faculty.

ODI provides tailored diversity and inclusion trainings at the request of faculty and staff units. ODI also hosts various diversity and inclusion dialogue and speaker series that are open to the entire campus community. All students are require to take a title IX Training, which provides information to help students examine gender affairs and the interconnected issues of healthy relationships, "hooking up", substance abuse, and sexual assault. The course promotes a healthier and safer campus environment for everyone. Faculty, staff, and students are offered the Open Doors Training, which teaches members of the Buckeye community to identify and respond to incidents of bias. Members of the Buckeye community can also participate in the Safe Zone Trainings, which addresses the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, and pansexual (LGBTQQIAP) people.

https://lima.osu.edu/current-students/office-of-diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-council.html http://mcc.osu.edu/education-and-training/open-doors-training/ https://studentlife.osu.edu/bias/history-of-bart.aspx http://mcc.osu.edu/education-and-training/lgbtq-education-dialogues-programs/safe-zone-training/