A council composed of University System outsiders will soon examine the system-wide diversity issues facing the University of Wisconsin.
The President's Council on Diversity was created by UW System President Kevin Reilly and will be chaired by Cory Nettles, former secretary of the state Department of Commerce. Many council members are notable figures in business, government, private colleges and out-of-state schools.
The hope is that the think-tank nature of the council will bring fresh perspectives that can help the system make more strides towards greater diversity, according to Reilly's spokesperson, Doug Bradley. It will also incur no cost to students or taxpayers, he said.
'This council is the first of its kind in the history of our system, now we're going to have a broad representation of folks who are going to give us the benefit of their insight and experience,' Bradley said.
The new council will not directly implement policy but will have its ideas examined by Reilly, the UW Board of Regents, which governs the UW-System, and the system chancellors and faculty. After this review , its ideas may be implemented.
Schools throughout the UW System already have diversity programs in place such, as UW-Madison's Plan 2008, so the council for the time being will act only to provide more momentum and direction to these programs.
'While we have different diversity Plan 2008 initiatives on each of the campuses, some are working better than others,' said Regent Danae Davis, a member of the council. 'I think that's why Kevin formed the council'to make diversity a higher priority.'
It is not for lack of effort that Wisconsin schools can seem to be low in diversity, according to system officials.
'We don't have a very diverse state, except for Milwaukee, where we face the classic problems of urban issues,' president of the UW-Board of Regents, David Walsh said.
'It's not fair to dump those students on a college that isn't diverse. We have to get those students prepared to go to college and to succeed. We can't just invite them in and say, 'pass.' That's the cruelest thing you can do.'
