Policy & Research

Conversations around campus diversity often focus on undergraduate students. Karen DePauw, vice president and dean for graduate education at Virginia Tech, discusses the strategies Virginia Tech has implemented to create diversity and inclusion at the graduate student level, and how these efforts have led to a stronger campus community.

Building diverse and inclusive colleges and universities requires a campus-wide commitment and effort. Maria Madison, associate dean for equity, inclusion and diversity at Brandeis University’s Heller School suggests using evidence-based knowledge and best practices to evaluate how structures at predominantly white institutions may inhibit diversity and inclusion.

As more universities institutionalize efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion, Joana Dos Santos, chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer at the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, explores the backgrounds, experiences, and skills that are most beneficial for academic diversity officers and the need for standards across the board.

While community colleges can and do change on a regular basis, leaders can use specific tools to facilitate change that is more strategic. Jaime Lester looks at the role data can play in this process.

Community colleges were never designed for students from outside the United States, nor have they been given much attention. For that reason, if community colleges would like to attract, enroll, and retain these students, they must take deliberate and specific actions to plan and provide a five-star experience.

The challenge ahead for higher education is unprecedented, and the typical solutions won’t sustain our institutions. If we can’t go back to what we used to be before COVID-19, we must instead evolve to something better, writes ACE’s Philip Rogers.