University of Colorado Boulder
PAE-8: Support Programs for Under-Represented Groups

The CU Leadership, Excellence, Achievement, and Diversity (CU-LEAD) Alliance is a unique set of academic learning communities whose students, faculty, and staff are united to promote inclusive excellence. These “academic neighborhoods” foster scholastic camaraderie and promote student success through enhanced instruction, small group classes, leadership activities, computer labs, personal links to faculty and staff, scholarships, research experiences, advising, mentoring and tutoring, and community service for students of color and first-generation students. Programs include Designers Without Boundaries, Diverse Musicians Alliance Program, Diverse Scholars Program, Education Diversity Scholars Program, Journalism Diversity Scholars Program, Miramontes Arts and Sciences Program (MASP), Engineering BOLD Center (BOLD), Chancellor’s Leadership Residential Academic Program (CLR) and Ethnic Living and Learning Community (ELLC), Honors CU-LEAD Scholars Program. Stuent Outreach and Retention Center is another available resource. Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) funds undergraduate research and creative work through individual grants, research assistantships, team grants and research seminars. The program is looking at new ways to recruit underrepresented academic departments and student populations in an effort to increase the range of the research and creative work it supports. RAP and G-RAP programs: Diversity is served also by the “flagship initiatives” in the university’s strategic plan. For example, expanding residential academic programs under the flagship initiative “Residential Colleges” will foster a greater appreciation of diversity and community. Interdisciplinary work, which is the focus of the initiative on “Transcending Traditional Academic Boundaries,” includes research projects that incorporate diversity goals.

The Boulder Faculty Assembly (BFA) includes a standing committee to address underrepresented groups within the faculty. Amalgamated in 2004, the committee is now comprised of representatives from the former Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee (EMAC), the Women's Committee, and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Committee. The Chancellor's Advisory Committees oversee initiatives, provide feedback and address campus climate issues related to gender, race and ethnicity, disability/accessibility, and sexual identity. The Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Minority Affairs (CACMA) is dedicated to enhancing the university's climate for diversity, multiculturalism, and social justice. The committee assesses the campus environment and advises the chancellor. It is also a resource for all university departments and individuals seeking to improve CU-Boulder's climate for diversity. The Chancellor's Committee on Women (CCW) is an informed advocate for all women on the campus: classified and unclassified staff, tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty; undergraduate, graduate, and professional students; and administrators. The Program Accessibility Committee (PAC) assists the administration and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) coordinator to ensure that people with disabilities are afforded access to programs, services, and activities offered by CU-Boulder. The Chancellor's Standing Committee on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues aims specifically to represent the presence, concerns, and interests of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people within the university community. The Chancellor’s Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) provides advice to the chancellor as he provides leadership to enhance campus diversity in the following critical areas of mentorship, scholarship, and internships opportunities.

Staff Council represents, informs and educates staff employees by serving as a liaison between employees and Boulder campus, University system and State administration. They also recommend proposals to the administration that are designed to improve morale and advocate for the rights of staff employees. Chancellor’s Committee on Women (CCW) is an informed advocate for all women on campus; classified and unclassified staff, tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty; undergraduate, graduate, and professional students; and administrators. The university’s affirmative action plan for faculty and staff is updated annually to help identify and implement recruiting efforts to achieve a more diverse workforce. Implementation of CU-Boulder’s equal opportunity programs and affirmative action compliance is assigned to the Department of Human Resources (DHR). Additionally, DHR continues to work with campus units to help them use diverse recruiting sources to improve the representational diversity for staff and faculty. Equally important is the development of high-quality and diverse applicant pools. Clearly, the university’s strategic actions, decisions, and investments are aimed at realizing a campus vision imbued with diversity that helps build multicultural competencies for all faculty, staff, and students. Staff diversity. The university has seen a steady long-term rise in female and racial/ethnic minority representation among administrators and among classified staff in selected job classes. Programs and services aimed at enhancing diversity among staff members include English-language courses for employees for whom English is a second language, formal and informal diversity programs, and the availability of 108 simultaneous translation receivers for employees with limited English abilities. Organizational and Employee Development offers training designed specifically for a requesting department. A representative of OED will meet with the requesting department to identify learning objectives and customize the session to their needs. Frequently requested topics include: diversity training, organizational culture inventories, TQ team support, focus group facilitation.