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LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas' chancellor says hiring a new provost and addressing campus concerns about race are among her top priorities.
The Lawrence Journal-World (http://bit.ly/1NimBwN ) reports Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little was hired by the university in 2009. She says it is expected to take six to nine months to hire a new provost. A national search will be conducted to find a replacement for Provost Jeff Vitter, who is leaving the school to become chancellor of the University of Mississippi.
The chancellor is also looking to make more efforts to address race-related issues at the University of Kansas. She moderated a campus forum on the topic earlier this month.
"It's important that we are, and are seen to be, responsive in specific ways," Gray-Little said.
The provost's office announced last week that it was forming a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Group, co-chaired by athletics director Sheahon Zenger and associate professor and African and African-American Studies department chairman Clarence Lang, to work toward several goals, including a diversity strategic plan, diversity training for students and employees, incorporating diversity into curriculum and recruiting and retaining students from marginalized groups.
Gray-Little says addressing retention is a key issue in bolstering diversity efforts, citing the gap between retention rates for black students and all other students. The chancellor says the university has been involved with a coalition of 11 universities for the past two years called the University Innovation Alliance that works to help students from all family backgrounds graduate.
The alliance recently received an $8.9 million U.S. Department of Education First in the World grant to conduct a four-year research study across its campuses to evaluate the advising effectiveness on increasing retention and graduation rates for low-income and first-generation students.
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Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, http://www.ljworld.com
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