In 1995, The University Board of Trustees adopted a plan to guide the University's progress. The plan, titled Beyond 2000: A Strategic Plan for the University of Connecticut, set forth an ambitious agenda for the University. Among the eight strategic goals articulated in the plan is an emphasis on diversity, in recognition of the importance of educating students to live and work in an increasingly diverse society, and in achieving the mission of American higher education. The University's strategic plan also recognizes the need to have a faculty and staff, which mirrors the diversity among its students, and complements and augments it. Although the plan reaffirms the University's commitment to creating and maintaining a campus community, which reflects the rich diversity of our nation, it does not articulate a university-wide implementation or action plan with concrete strategies for achieving this diversity commitment.

To fill that void, President Philip E. Austin and Chancellor John D. Petersen, at the request of the University Board of Trustees, on January 12, 2001, established the Diversity Action Committee with Ross D. MacKinnon, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Vice Povost for Multicultural Affairs Ronald Taylor as co-chairs. The Committee began meeting on February 26, 2001 to fulfill its charge which was to prepare a diversity strategic plan which would recommend initiatives to be taken over the next five years to:

1. Create a more welcoming campus environment for all of our students.
2. Enhance our efforts to recruit and retain a diverse student population.
3. Enhance our efforts to recruit and retain a diverse workforce.
4. Diversify university leadership and management.
5. Assign accountability to achieve the goals outlined in the action plan it presents.

The President and Chancellor charged the Committee with developing a unified vision of Diversity for all components of the University of Connecticut [Storrs, Health Center, regional campuses, and the Schools of Law and Social Work]. They asked for a consolidated, unified approach, marked by ongoing innovation and insight, which noted both the commonalties and the differences.

The Board of Trustees accepted the Diversity Action Plan at their April 2002 meeting.
The file is available as a PDF download by clicking here.