To successfully create a diverse campus, Miami University has actively sought to increase the employment of minorities to 10%, and we aspire to fill 10-12% of full-time classified and unclassified positions with minority applicants. The University is working to achieve these goals by:

• Expanding local job searches to include minority-oriented media (Cincinnati Herald, Black Issues in Higher Education, the Hispanic Outlook), and media in urban areas which have a higher concentration of minority populations (Cincinnati Post, Middletown Herald, Dayton Weekly News)
• Utilizing a network of 135 community contacts of churches, civic groups, social agencies, and government agencies developed by the Personnel Office to increase Miami's abilities to reach minority applicants
• Creating the Oxford and Beyond web site, to entice potential job applicants to the Oxford area.
• Providing Heritage Awards available for qualified members of the Miami Tribe

The total number of minority employees in classified and unclassified positions has increased by 156% since 1998, from 72 to 184 employees. Additional evidence of increasing diversity within the staff includes:

• A 100% increase of minority employees in Physical Facilities since 1999.
• An 8% increase of minority employees at the Recreational Sports Center (RSC) in the past year.
• 30% of student staff and 25% of professional staff in Residence Life reflect cultural diversity.
• 36% of staff and 40% of graduate assistants in the learning assistance center are African-American and 29% in Student Financial aid are minority.

The composition of the Miami University faculty is also more clearly diverse in its makeup, with 14% of tenure track faculty who joined the university in 2000 being minorities. Additional statistics which reflect a growing diversification include:

• 35% of new College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) tenure/tenure-track faculty are persons of color and 45% are women.
• 50% of new School of Business Administration (SBA) tenure/tenure-track faculty are women.
• 24% of faculty in School of Fine Arts (SFA) are from traditionally underrepresented groups.
• 45% of Education and Allied Professions (EAP) faculty are women.
• 11% of tenure/tenure-track faculty in Education and Allied Professions (EAP) are persons of color.
• 11% of the University Libraries’ library faculty are racial minorities.

Although statistics indicate some true triumphs, there is still room for significant improvement. The University as a whole has not yet succeeded in attracting a workforce and student body that consists of desired or aspired numbers of minorities. Statistics indicating that some departments have attracted significant numbers of minority or female employees are promising. However, many areas have much to do in order to achieve the goal of reflecting the make up of the society of today and tomorrow. Moreover, few areas claim across-the-board improvement. Please note than when discussing progress, some areas focus on women, some on African-Americans or Latinos, while others speak in vague terms about "minority presence." Few if any units can point to successes in attracting and retaining minorities representative of all of the classes listed in the University's non-discrimination statement.

Clearly, the fact that some departments have not attracted significant numbers of ethnic minorities and women for positions, particularly full-time positions, supervisory positions, and tenure-track positions, indicates areas in which the University must continue to work on making Miami a truly diverse and representative community.

Miami University has taken initiatives to develop programs that encourage minority students to complete their education at Miami. 86% of minority first year students return for their sophomore year, which exceeds the national average of 63% for all schools and 80% for selective institutions. Miami's graduation rate is higher than any other academic institution in Ohio.  Miami can take pride in more successfully retaining more minority students than our counterparts in southern Ohio, but we must guard against the possibility that such pride will give rise to complacency or satisfaction. Although Miami has outperformed other institutions, retention rates for minority students are lower than retention rates for non-minority students—to fully achieve diversity, the University must find a way to ensure that all students, regardless of background, are equally likely to earn a degree within 6 years of matriculation.

A key part of retaining minorities as faculty and staff at Miami is ensuring that members of the minority feel that the University offers opportunities for advancement, and that the ranks of supervisors, managers, and administrators include representatives of all groups. Although the University has attracted or promoted from within many members of minority populations into management positions, the perception still exists by some that there is limited opportunity for minorities to advance. Those who have been promoted  provide a role model to other minority employees and may serve as mentors to others who may move on to progressively more responsible positions. They also make visible the University's commitment to diversifying its makeup. Positions occupied by members of minority communities include:

• Executive Chef for Housing Dining and Guest Services (HDGS)  (Asian descent)
• Provost (African American)
• Director of Greek Affairs (Latino)
• Vice President of Student Affairs (African-American)
• Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Student Affairs (African-American).
• Coordinator of Diversity Initiatives in the School of Business (African-American)

Recruiting and retaining faculty and staff will also require further effort. Oxford lacks the diversity of more urban parts of the Greater Cincinnati area, and retaining minority faculty and staff entails extra efforts to make minority faculty and staff feel welcome living in Butler County or comfortable commuting from nearby urban areas.  Moreover, while Cincinnati does have a more diverse community than northwestern Butler County, recent events such as the civil unrest in April or the adoption of Article XII of the City of Cincinnati's charter may cause African-Americans and members of the GLBT community to feel unwelcome. Miami must work to create as welcoming an environment as possible under these circumstances.