16 14 12 1 8 6 4 2 0 36 “It’s often said, ‘Diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance, and equity is making sure your music is played.’” — DR. GUILHERME ALBIERI You recently completed the College’s diversity and inclusion master plan. What were some of your findings? First, we explored the race, ethnicity, and gender of our student body, faculty, staff, and administration, comparing it to the overall population and to other optometry schools and other health professions. Optometry and optometric education do not mirror the overall population and lack in diversity when compared to other health professions. We have identified a number of access challenges along the educational pipeline, but a reassuring finding is that our flagship pipeline program for the recruitment of minority students, CSTEP, is producing intended results. Additionally, the report clearly shows that the College staff is highly diverse across all ranks. Being diverse, however, is not enough. We want to make sure that students, faculty, and staff feel that this is a community in which they may thrive and succeed. The second part of the report addresses the results of a climate survey that was conducted to better understand students, staff, faculty, and administrators’ attitudes. Students indicated a high degree of inclusion and satisfaction; maintaining and building upon the vitality of current programs will be critical. Paths to leadership should be visibly open to talented, qualified individuals of every background. Please discuss the College’s efforts to expand any current programs to achieve diversity at every level. Our staff and administration are quite diverse, but we must continue the hiring and promotion strategies that have served us well. Faculty diversity, on the other hand, is a concern both nationwide and at the College. Residency programs play a major role in the faculty pipeline as residency training is a prerequisite for clinical and academic faculty positions. We have proposed a number of strategies to address this issue, including a mentoring program to discuss academic career paths with students from underrepresented populations. We also collaborate with faculty search committees to develop more effective recruitment strategies. Applicants Acceptances Enrollment Students Who Completed CSTEP Program: Applicants, Acceptances and Enrollment 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 ENTERING YEAR NUMBER
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