UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls

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Diversity and Inclusivity

UW-River Falls Inclusive Excellence Goals

The University of Wisconsin-River Falls is deeply committed to supporting a learning and living environment in which all students, employees and community members are welcomed and respected.  This commitment is reflected in one of our university's core values: 

INCLUSIVENESS.  We commit to a community of mutual respect, professional behavior, academic freedom and appreciation of individual differences and rich cultural diversity.

As part of a system-wide initiative, in 2014 UW-River Falls set three Inclusive Excellence Goals, targeting the year 2020. Over the course of those years, many strategic initiatives resulted in increased support of the recruitment, retention and success of students and employees from underrepresented and minoritized backgrounds. This success has been thanks to actions and initiatives such as:

  • Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging office
  • Aspire program, focusing on students of color and/or low-income and first-generation students 
  • Multicultural Admissions Recruiter
  • Opportunity Scholarships
  • Pre-College Initiatives
  • Upward Bound Program
  • McNair Scholars/SSS program
  • Lawton Undergraduate Minority Retention Grant (LUMRG)
  • Identity-based student clubs & organizations
  • Diversity & Inclusivity Committee (Faculty Senate)
  • Affirmative Action Committee (Faculty Senate)
  • Affirmative Action planning and compliance 
  • Focused diverse employee recruitment efforts

Below is a summary of the progress ultimately made towards each of the three goals. Fall 2020 results were obviously conditioned by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

UW-River Falls acknowledges that there is still work to be done to continue progress towards building a more fully inclusive campus community. Leadership is committed to reaffirming the value of inclusiveness and promoting a culture of antiracism in the years ahead.

GOAL #1 - Increase the overall headcount of under-represented minority (URM)* students at UW-River Falls by 20% from 437 to 525 by the fall of 2020

Goal1

*= Under-represented minority (URM) students include all who have indicated belonging to the following racial or ethnic groups: African American, American Indian, Hispanic/Latino(a), or Southeast Asian alone or in combination with other races/ethnicities.

 

GOAL #2 - Decrease the 1st to 2nd year retention rate equity gap between all and URM* first-time first-year students at UW-River Falls by ten percent by the fall of 2020 (three year average)

The URM retention rate at UWRF has fluctuated significantly, so an average baseline of 52% has been established to be compared to an average baseline retention rate for all students of 71%.  Thus, we seek to decrease the "equity gap" from 19% to 9%.  For example, if the overall retention rate in 2020 was 76%, our URM retention goal would be 67%.

Goal2

*= Under-represented minority (URM) students include all who have indicated belonging to the following racial or ethnic groups: African American, American Indian, Hispanic/Latino(a), or Southeast Asian alone or in combination with other races/ethnicities.

 

GOAL #3 - Increase the percentage of the UW-River Falls workforce composed of faculty and staff of color to 8% by 2020

Goal3

*Includes the following Race/Ethnicity designations: African American, American Indian, Asian American, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino(a), or Two or More Races.