The most significant advance on the diversity front in the area of curriculum is the approval of the U.S. Cultures requirement in the Miami Plan.  More than any other curricular initiative, this has the potential of influencing great numbers of students who will take courses designed to have them interact with diversity issues in a U.S. context.  Previously issues of diversity had been addressed on a sporadic basis throughout the curriculum at Miami, the U.S. Cultures requirement will systematically introduce multicultural perspectives on American society.  The task that lies ahead is to create new courses or redirect and refashion existing ones to meet the U.S. Cultures requirement.  The Liberal Education Council (LEC) has taken a lead in this initiative by instituting a subcommittee dealing directly with course proposals for the U.S. Cultures requirement.

Although the U.S. Cultures requirement of the Miami Plan is a leap forward in promoting diversity throughout the curriculum, it constitutes only one part of the Miami Plan.  Diversity is an issue that must permeate the entire Miami Plan curriculum if it is to be taken seriously.  Otherwise, there is danger that diversity issues will be compartmentalized and relegated to a small segment of the curriculum.

University faculty seek to address issues of diversity in course offerings and strive to broaden the range of courses and academic programs built on a foundation of diversity in other ways as well.

• IDS 151(Mosaic Diversity Seminar), 153 (Center for American and World Cultures Seminar) and 159 ("Strength Through Cultural Diversity") continue to be of interest both to the faculty and staff from many departments who teach these courses and to the students who take them
• The range of international workshops continues to be expanded with offerings in Ghana, Nepal, Senegal, Brazil as well as European countries
• The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) has brought Daryl Baldwin to deepen Miami's involvement in the study of Native Indian culture and the Miami language
• Management and Marketing have instituted curricular innovations to emphasize diversity
• The School of Fine Arts (SFA) has begun new initiatives in globalizing content across the curriculum, e.g. The American City Since 1940 and Architecture and Society Seminars stressing the social responsibility of architecture within the context of urban issues, especially within the inner city
• Faculty and staff in the School of Education engaged with African-American, Appalachian, and Latino communities in nine partner school sites in Ohio
• In the School of Interdisciplinary Studies (SIS) issues involving diversity are foundational to every core course; recent literature on "whiteness" was incorporated into WCP 131.H to enable students to think more critically and historically about the construction of white identity
• Diversity is one of four learning objectives in SIS’ new Statement of Learning Objectives and its draft Strategic Plan
• Zoology partnered with the Libraries in a new science program for six to eight minority high school students from Hamilton
• Continuing Education offered programming in sign language, conversational French and Spanish, real estate diversity awareness, and real estate and ADA compliance.

As indicated above, Miami University strives to provide opportunities for members of its community to engage academically in issues of diversity.  To this end the university sponsors a wide variety of curricular and extra-curricular options to make people aware of diversity issues.  These range from short seminars to regular course offerings and symposia.

The academic curriculum at Miami is supported and extended by means of seminars, lectures and symposia held either on the Miami campus or to which faculty, staff, and students are sent to learn more about issues of diversity. While the University can create opportunities, and even provide incentive to participate, the challenge facing Miami is to find ways to encourage faculty, staff, and students will learn about, share in, and celebrate the many diverse aspects of our campus community.

• The Provost's Office supported the inaugural symposium series of the Center for American and World Cultures (CAWC).  Eight nationally renowned speakers were brought to campus for two days each to give public presentations and interact with students and faculty in small group settings. The CAWC and its new director are eagerly awaited by the campus as a person and place on campus which serves as a focal point for the myriad of activities and functions currently scattered around the campus.
• Associate Dean Cheryl Evans of the Graduate School has served as fiscal agent for STARS, the statewide program to encourage under-represented students to consider graduate school and the professorate; eleven students from Miami's active chapter presented their research projects at the statewide STARS conference at Ohio State University; two STARS students received Ohio Board of Regents (OBR) awards, one for graduate study and one for scholarship support for research during her senior year.
  • The Office of Residence Life and new Student Programs participated in the "Gay and Lesbian Students’ forum. A speaker from the Ohio Disabilities Services talked about issues facing people with disabilities and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  • Student Affairs sent a delegation to the National Hispanic Leadership Conference.
  • A delegation of students attended the national Black Student Leadership Conference.
  • African American students attended the first annual African American Leadership Summit held at Miami University.
  • Student Affairs sponsored The Black History Celebration, a four-month celebration of various African American history, entertainment, and cultural events for the Oxford and regional campuses.
  • Two students organized the annual Lavatus H. Powell, Jr. Honorary Community Building Conference bringing together faculty, staff, students, business owners, and local and regional community members to discuss issues of community and diversity and to develop plans of action.
  • A Mass Communications Capstone course created an educational CD-Rom for the Miami Nation of Oklahoma

Co-curricular initiatives focusing on diversity have supported efforts throughout the curriculum.  The past year has witnessed an increase in the number of lectures, seminars, and symposia dealing with diversity.  More faculty have attended seminars and workshops designed to teach them how to include diversity in their courses. The Provost's Office and the Office of Student Affairs have been instrumental in providing multiple opportunities for training of faculty and staff in diversity issues. Furthermore, both the curriculum and co-curricular initiatives are supported by a variety of resources dealing with diversity from web sites to CD-ROMs.Co-curricular programs and initiatives also stimulate awareness of diversity issues.

• Residence Life continues to assess curriculum issues in the theme learning residence halls. 
• Six Miami representatives participated in the Association of American Colleges and Universities diversity seminars at Brown University and are assisting the Provost in designing curriculum workshops for faculty, as well as working on co-curricular planning and designing workshops for faculty.

Concerns of students of color have emerged in focus groups held during the year.  They point out a need across the university for the following:

• Using our alumni base more effectively.  One way would be to involve alumni in curricular initiatives by inviting them to be classroom resources.
• creating more opportunities in the form of discussions and panels  for interaction in residence halls and quad activities
• achieving greater infusion of multiculturalism in the curriculum as a whole rather than relegating diversity issues to specific courses or programs
• examining ways to equip faculty and students to understand the dynamics of teacher-student relationships that exist in classes.  Focusing more on the student side of the "content-pedagogy-teacher triad" helps to understand what both students and faculty bring to the teaching/learning dynamic.

While curriculum is assessed with regard to inclusion of diversity topics and an ongoing effort to include those issues into more and more courses is underway, there remains a need to evaluate the ways in which these courses do, in effect, address issues of diversity.