Center Mission – Promoting Equality and Excellence for all ISU Constituents
The ISU Faculty and Staff Diversity Center fosters and promotes diversity, equality, professionalism, and excellence at Idaho State University. The Center will be an agent for change by working with existing groups and individuals to:
- increase diversity within the faculty, staff, and student bodies.
- advocate for the needs of faculty, staff and students from under-represented groups.
- provide a physical space, administrative support structure, and resource center for campus diversity-related groups and initiatives, including programming, grant writing, and recruitment activities.
- enhance appreciation of the benefits of diversity for the educational experience, workenvironment, and academic quality at Idaho State University.
Center Goals
The global goals proposed for this Center are to:
- advance the mission of Idaho State University by promoting programs and activities that address and value differences in race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, age, religious preference, functional ability, socioeconomic status, educational level, and nationality in the ISU community and beyond.
- provide physical space and administrative support for existing diversity-related groups, including, for example, the American Indian Advisory Council, Hispanic Task Force, ISU Professional Women, and the Multicultural Committee. Where appropriate and supported, the Center will facilitate collaboration among these groups and other campus centers (e.g., Student Diversity Resource Center, ADA Resource Center, Janet C. Anderson Gender Resource Center, International Programs and Services), as well as specific academic programs (e.g., American Indian Studies, International Studies, Latino Studies, Women’s Studies, TRIO Program).
- work with community groups and members to improve two-way communication and trust between the University and the diverse groups in the region, and support and facilitate the recruitment and retention of faculty, staff, and students from historically under-represented groups.
- foster a psychologically supportive and culturally affirming environment in which all faculty and staff feel welcome and supported, and all students can learn and develop.
- work with the Office of Institutional Research and other academic support units to compile diversity-related institutional data as a resource to support the Center’s planning, development of diversity-related initiatives, decision-making, and grant proposal writing.
Note: For many constituent groups, the lines between faculty, staff, and students are blurred, as is the line between graduate students and faculty. Therefore, the mission statements and global goals discussed above include students, even though the primary purpose of the Center is to meet the needs of faculty and staff. |
