UNM has long advocated the need for diversity on campus, but it's time to turn words into action, said Rita Martinez-Purson, interim vice president of institutional diversity.
"We need to walk our talk in terms of diversity," she said. "What we're looking at is not every aspect of diversity, but what actions need to be taken to advance social equity and inclusion to promote a healthy campus climate."
Martinez-Purson spoke to about 200 students, faculty and administrators in the SUB on Wednesday and outlined a Universitywide plan for diversity, equity and inclusion.
The three-year plan aims to increase recruitment and retention of minorities on campus, including faculty and staff, she said.
President David Schmidly created the Office of Institutional Diversity and appointed Martinez-Purson in July.
She said the plan will be finalized and sent to the Board of Regents for approval in June.
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The plan's recommendations include providing funds for hiring and retaining minority faculty, expanding access to transportation and child care, and increasing financial aid and scholarships.
Martinez-Purson said UNM's graduates don't reflect the state's demographics.
Hispanics make up the largest ethnic group in New Mexico - 45 percent of the population - according to the U.S. Census.
However, only 30 percent of undergraduates who received their bachelor's in 2005-06 were Hispanic, according to the UNM Fact Book. And Hispanics made up less than 25 percent of graduate students who received a master's.
Martinez-Purson said those statistics are problematic for everyone on campus.
"To have community credibility, we need diversity at all levels," she said. "We must commit to educating students that function and thrive in a pluralistic and global society."
UNM's faculty is less diverse than the student body. In 2006, about 10 percent of faculty were Hispanic, less than 3 percent were American Indian and about 1 percent were African-American, according to the Fact Book.
Martinez-Purson outlined an eight-point plan to improve diversity on campus, but said the plan won't force diversity on departments or admissions standards.
"We're not going to be setting quotas, but we are going to set long-term goals," she said. "The diversity office is not going to be a diversity police. It's going to be more of an encourager, a cheerleader, a way to encourage communication and strategizing."
There is only one campuswide fellowship that provides scholarships for minority graduate students, said Christopher Ramirez, project assistant for the Project for New Mexico Graduates of Color.
The project seeks to increase retention and graduation rates for minority graduate students in New Mexico.
Ramirez said the funding for that fellowship has been cut consistently, so it offers less than 50 scholarships compared to the almost 60 it offered five years ago.
