Assessment Program
Unit Diversity Plan Assessment
May 28, 2004
Updated Jan. 7, 2005
Employee Diversity
| Initiatives | Objectives | Progress |
|---|---|---|
| Review/revise hiring practices. | Increase minority applicants | Positions frozen for most of 2003/2004. No faculty vacancies in 2004. |
| Investigate use of specialized recruitment tools. | Increase minority applicants | Dean Rader appointed to ARL Diversity Committee which is investigating this issue. |
| Identify MLS programs that have African Americans enrolled. | Increase minority applicants | Done. |
| Develop reward/recognition mechanisms for promoting diversity hiring. | Increase minority hires | Positions frozen for most of 2003/2004. |
| NEW: Create a libraries diversity task force. | Assign personnel to implement diversity program | Task Force created Jan. 2005. |
| Develop a mentoring program for newly hired minority librarians. | Retain minority hires | 2003: Provided summer internship and mentoring to African American MLS graduate student from the University of Michigan. 2004: Participation funded for three minority interns to attend the National Diversity Conference in Atlanta where this issue was discussed. |
| Increase endowment for minority internship program. | Increase minority employment in the profession and the libraries | 2003: First minority intern completes degree and is hired into permanent faculty position and new intern selected. 2004: Two faculty lines converted to minority intern position and interns selected; both are currently pursuing the MLS degree at UK and working full time in the libraries. |
| Develop a plan for recruiting students into the profession. | Increase minority employment in the profession and the libraries | Summer 2003: Provided summer employment to two Reclaim Our Children interns. Summer 2004: Will have three ROC interns, 2 of them returning from last year. |
| Participate in career days at local high schools. | Increase minority employment in the profession and the libraries by working with minority students on campus and in the community | Fall 2003: Minority intern has worked with another librarian to host HS students who are future teachers/future librarians. |
Diversity Education for Administrators, Faculty, Staff & Students
| Initiatives | Objectives | Progress |
|---|---|---|
| Conduct research on best practices at other ARL libraries. | Identify success efforts that can be implemented locally | Spring 2004: Dean Rader prepared report for ARL directors on membership practices which was available to all librarians through the ARL website. |
| Hold series of workshops conducted by Mr. Alvin Herring. | Increase awareness of diversity issues among libraries faculty and staff | Done. |
| Charge Training & Development Team with expanding diversity training opportunities. | Increase awareness of diversity issues among libraries faculty and staff | Responsibility will be transferred to newly created Task Force. |
| Conduct a diversity climate survey using the ARL or other model to determine where greatest needs exist. | Identify potential problems with in-house climate | Possible survey tool recently identified at National Diversity Conference. |
| Monitor Deyta Inc surveys for indications of service issues. | Identify potential problems with in-house climate | On 2003 Employee surveys, libraries' faculty and staff responses were significantly higher than other university responses on the item "Co-workers respect diversity" |
| Hold a career development event for minority student assistants. | Increase minority recruitment in the profession and in the libraries | Planned for Spring 2005 semester. |
Curricular and Programmatic Diversity
| Initiatives | Objectives | Progress |
|---|---|---|
| Hold opening ceremony for Barbara S. Miller Multicultural Children's Book Collection. | Create campus awareness of newly acquired materials on diversity | Done. |
| Renovate area of Ekstrom that houses the Pan African and the Multicultural collections. | Create a welcoming environment for students to study | Done. This has become one of the most desirable study spaces in Ekstrom. |
| Sponsor at least two exhibits/year that feature African American history or authors. | Create an educational experience on diversity | Jan-Feb. 2003: African American Barbershops (Lobby.) May-Jun 2003: Jan Carew (Special Collections.) 2003 Permanent installation: Road to the Promised land - MLK and the Civil Rights Movement (2nd fl.) Feb. 2004: UofL Diversity Programs (Lobby.) Feb 2004: Louisville Municipal College, 1931-1951 (Lobby.) Nov 2004: Brown v. Board of Education - Personal Reflections of UofL Faculty (Ekstrom & Kornhauser) |
| Ensure library collections reflect diversity. | Create an educational experience on diversity Create a welcoming environment for students to study |
2003/04: Expenditures for the Pan African Studies collections are $27,000. |
| Host at least two events that highlight diversity topics, authors, etc. | Create an educational experience on diversity | April 2003: Annual poetry reading features Amelia Blossom Pegram, PAS program. Aug 2003: Reception held for Hattie Winston and the African American Scripts and Screenplays collection she has donated to the libraries. April 2004: Crystal Wilkinson is keynote speaker at the Annual Library Associates luncheon and award ceremony. Nov 2004: Reception held for opening of Brown v. Bd. exhibit. |
| Identify ways to more effectively communicate the libraries' diversity efforts to the university community. | Create an educational experience on diversity Create a welcoming environment for students to study | Fall 2003: University Archives creates website "Documenting African American Life in Louisville: A Guide to Resources at UofL's Archives and Records Center Oct 2003: Dean Rader gave presentation at KY Lib Assn conference on "Creating Diversity Among Library Employees" Feb. 2004: Libraries newsletter features article about African American broadsides in Special Collections Spring 2004: Two librarians create bibliography on Hate Groups - Library Resources and house it on web site. |