INTRODUCTION

At the open sessions to get feedback on the Diversity Plan, the committee has received questions about “how much the university spends to support diversity.” It is feasible to answer the question of how much the university budgets centrally for targeted diversity initiatives, and I will do so below. Given UO’s decentralized budgeting and financial system and policies, as well as other reasons I will discuss, it is much more difficult to be precise about “how much the university spends” when considering expenditures across campus at the college, school, and unit level.

The primary purpose of the University of Oregon is the education of our students. We do many other things of very high importance, not the least of which is research, but all that we do here should be in support of our basic educational mission. One responsibility I believe we have in support of that educational mission is to serve a diverse student body with a diverse faculty and staff. On the one hand, as Oregon’s flagship public university, we have a responsibility to serve a broad cross-section of Oregon’s population, in all of its diverse aspects—geography, race/ethnicity, financial situation, and others—and to provide these students the support they need to be successful. On the other hand, our graduates will go out into a world that is much more diverse than Oregon, and we have a responsibility to educate them in an environment that will enhance their ability to compete in the “global marketplace.” Finally, Oregon is growing in diversity, and the projection for the next decade is for all of the growth in high school graduates to be from minority populations. For these and other reasons, diversity is a critical part of our educational mission, and by any reasonable measure, it is one where we are, at best, only marginally successful. For these reasons, we have instituted a number of diversity initiatives with central funding, that are designed to serve as catalysts to improve our ability to attract and to serve a more diverse population.

DIVERSITY INITIATIVES AND SUPPORT PROGRAMS

1. Office of Multicultural Academic Supports. Established in the early 1970’s, OMAS is dedicated to providing a holistic approach to help students achieve academic success at the University of Oregon. Programs are specifically designed to meet the needs of students of color, although services are free and open to all students. Support services include academic advising, a computer lab, financial aid information, tutorial assistance, and selected course offerings. Last year OMAS provided services to over 3500 students. The current year budget for OMAS is $725,319.
2. Under-represented Minority Recruitment Program. Established in 1995, this program provides a grant of $90,000 to a department to assist in the recruitment of faculty members from under-represented minorities, and to use to help that faculty member succeed at UO. The funds can be used for a variety of purposes, as determined by the department and faculty member, and are expected to be spread over three years at about $30,000 per year. The program was established in recognition of the fact that UO is often not competitive with universities in areas with a more diverse faculty and local community in the recruitment of minority faculty, and of the often higher service and mentoring expectations that are placed on minority faculty in their early years at UO. This fund has been used to help UO attract 57 faculty from under-represented minority groups. The current year budget is $630,000, representing assistance to 21 new faculty members.
3. Many Nations Longhouse. UO has long had a Native American Longhouse, and in 2005 was able to replace an aging structure in poor repair with the new Longhouse, located on the east edge of the campus. The Longhouse serves an important role in the lives of our Native American students, and provides an important connection between the university and the tribes in Oregon. This Longhouse was constructed primarily with private gifts from Native American tribes, but it is the University’s responsibility to maintain and operate the longhouse. The facility is utilized by many university and community groups, and provides a large open space appropriate for many events. The current year’s budget for the Longhouse is $104, 080.
4. Center on Diversity and Community. This center was established in 2001 on the recommendation of UO students, and has been partially funded from student fees, by the university, and through grants. As a research institute, it promotes inquiry, discussion and understanding on issues of racial, ethnic and cultural diversity. The university funded portion of CODAC’s budget for this year is $27,000.
5. Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity. This office was established in 2003 to help the university coordinate and advance our diversity objectives, as recommended by both a consultant hired in 2001 to review the university’s diversity-related initiatives, and by the Campus Climate Survey, conducted in 2002. Both of these reports also recommended that the university develop a strategic plan for improving the climate for diversity on campus. The current year budget for this office is $389,795, plus an additional $40,000 in “investment funds” for OIED program initiatives provided by the President’s Office.

In total, these centrally funded diversity initiatives, expenses, and investments total slightly less than $2 million. Put in perspective, this is less than 1% of UO’s Educational and General (E & G) budget, which covers the cost of all of our educational activities except those supported by grants and contracts. However, it does not capture expenditures at the unit level, which, whether or not budgeted as “diversity expenditures” do, in one way or another, support UO’s diversity objectives. It is not clear what funds should be included in such an accounting. For examples, schools and colleges incur costs to recruit minority faculty, and then pay their salaries. The university, as do all institutions which receive federal funds, has an Office of Affirmative Action. Various departments, centers, and institutes on campus invite speakers and host conferences that promote, directly or indirectly, various diversity objectives. Some academic programs are related to both educational and diversity objectives—Judaic Studies, Ethnic Studies, CSWS, CODAC, Religious Studies, various area studies programs, the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, and the like. Student fees support the Multicultural Center and various ethnic student unions, as well as other groups that contribute to diversity.

The university has set aside no specific budget to fund activities that may come out of the Diversity Plan. Since diversity should be integrated into the fabric of the university, it is my expectation that much of this can come from existing budgets. However, if the university were, after due consideration, to allocate, say, an additional $500,000 from central funds for diversity related activities, that would bring this portion of our expenditures to only about 1.25% of our E&G budget.

SCHOLARSHIPS AND STUDENT SUPPORT

A second area of expenditures, which are not a part of the E&G budget, is student financial support. A portion of this is designated specifically to meet diversity objectives in student enrollment, and to assist our neediest students. Although much of this support does go to assist minority students, it is not generally restricted to, or specifically directed to minority students. The total amount in scholarships specifically designed to assist in increasing the diversity of the campus is $2,145,000. This number includes the Diversity Building Scholarships, the Target of Opportunity Laurel Awards, tuition waivers for neediest students, Student Services Scholarships, and the McNair scholarships. Not included are International Student Scholarships totaling about $1.2 million. These scholarships are fee remissions of no more than $4000 per year, which are given in order to attract more international students. The students, who are generally not eligible for other financial aid, pay the remainder of non-resident tuition, which fully covers their cost of education.

To put the $2.1 million in “diversity-related” scholarships in perspective, the university awards approximately $16 million per year in total university scholarships and $15 million in federal and state supported scholarships, for a total of $31 million, of which this $2.1 million is approximately 7%. In addition, approximately $103 million in loans and $2.5 million in work study support is awarded.

CONCLUSION

The University provides central support for diversity-related initiatives in an amount equal to approximately 1% of its Educational and General budget. The University also provides diversity-related scholarship support in an amount of approximately 7% of our total scholarship support, an amount that is reasonably proportional to our percentage of minority students—although not all of these funds go to support minority students. There are other general diversity related expenditures that are not centrally funded. These expenditures are more directly a part of our educational mission.

John Moseley

Sr. Vice President and Provost