Housing & Residential Services’ (H&RS) Educational Equity Plan (EEP) was created in 1990 to assist H&RS in managing the commitment to diversity that has been expressed at the departmental, divisional, university and system-wide level. The EEP provides an opportunity to evaluate our efforts and to connect them to an integrated, systematic, department-wide design. Unit Directors work with their areas to evaluate progress toward the goals of the EEP.

Since the EEP became effective, H&RS has worked to create a positive organizational culture in which all staff members are empowered to maximize their contributions to the organization, and all students are empowered to maximize their learning and growth. In 1999, we focused our efforts on four strategies:

• Strive to recruit, retain and promote a staff that reflects, on the whole, the population of our local and state community, and support campus efforts to recruit and retain targeted or underrepresented students

• Assist underrepresented students and staff in identifying unique needs, and provide services and opportunities for success to meet students’ and staff members’ unique needs

• Provide individual staff members and residents with information and training in order to increase awareness about biases regarding cultural differences

• Foster trust and open communication lines within the organization and residential communities so that individuals are encouraged to recognize and respect the differences and similarities around them