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Admission office releases DIAP

Office has already increased QuestBridge matches, doubled travel grant program


The Admission Office outlined its goals to diversify incoming classes and its own office in its diversity and inclusion action plan. The plan was originally released in April, and a progress update was submitted in September. The departmental DIAP is part of the University-wide requirement that each department on campus create an action plan.


“The DIAP process is an institutional priority,” Interim Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity Shontay Delalue wrote in an email to The Herald. “Each department is expected to have their own departmental DIAP so that they can assess their own growth, and in some cases, implement new strategies to meet diversity and inclusion goals.”


To build more diverse and inclusive first-year classes, the office has already undertaken some initiatives, such as expanding its student matches from QuestBridge, a scholarship program, from three to 20 for the class of 2021, according to the action plan. The office has also doubled its travel grant program for 2018, allowing more low-income admitted students to visit Brown. Additionally, the office created a partnership last February with College Greenlight, a national organization that helps first-generation and underrepresented students connect with colleges, according to the plan.


In the summer of 2019, the office plans to host College Horizons, an admissions workshop for Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students. The workshop, originally planned for the summer of 2018, was pushed back due to construction issues, said Dean of Admission Logan Powell.


To promote diversity and inclusion within the admission office, staff members participate in a variety of conferences such as the College Board National Forum and Ivy Plus admission conferences to learn new “practices in diversity recruitment and enrollment,” according to the plan.


Other initiatives include having a member of the admission office’s Diversity Outreach Team participate in the hiring process of new staff members whenever possible, according to the plan. The presence of the Diversity Outreach Team helps provide another perspective, Powell said.


According to the September progress update, the admission office has “office-wide meetings to discuss issues of diversity” and staff members have “regularly scheduled meetings” to “address issues of implicit and explicit bias.”


For the 2017-18 academic year, Powell hopes to incorporate more input from people outside the admission office in crafting diversity and inclusion initiatives. “I certainly hope that we can have other voices from around the campus come in and speak with us,” Powell said. “I have met with some of those individuals, but it’s important for them to come in and talk to the office as a whole.”


In the future, DIAP updates and summary reports for all departments will be due each year June 15, Delalue wrote. The original DIAPs written by each department are living documents and can be updated at any time, she added.


“The DIAP for us is really just the beginning,” Powell said. “This is really a statement of our values and a statement to the commitment we have to helping build a diverse and inclusive Brown.”

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