disability, sexual orientation, religion or national origin.
4.5.a) Description of policies, procedures and plans to achieve a diverse student population. Wright State University is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action university. As previously stated in Guideline 4.3 Faculty & Staff Diversity, the MPH program adheres to University policies regarding celebrating diversity, affirmative action, non-discrimination, and promotion of diversity in our student applications and admissions practices. In helping to assure parity in the admissions process as required by Guideline 4.4, personal factors that illustrate a special addition to the diversity of the student body is taken into account during admissions. The admissions committee and faculty at large support the need for different backgrounds and talents in each entering class. Care is taken during the recruitment and admissions phases to help assure diversity, through targeting recruitment efforts to underrepresented students as well as fostering new community linkages to broaden the program’s reach. University policies regarding affirmative action can be viewed at: http://www.wright.edu/wrightway/4001.html. WSU’s Diversity Statement can be viewed at: http://www.wright.edu/aboutwsu/diverse.html. In 2010,
WSU initiated the Diversity Inclusion Project, “a comprehensive effort to improve Wright State's ability to celebrate the diversity of its students, faculty, staff, and community.”
(http://www.wright.edu/diversity/inclusion/). The University has several active multicultural centers, which can be viewed on the University website at http://www.wright.edu/campus-life/multicultural- centers, and the University Center for International Education supports international students (http://www.wright.edu/ucie/). Additionally, the University is proud of its commitment to serving students of all abilities, and assists students through its Office of Disability Services
(http://www.wright.edu/students/dis_services/). Safe Space training, conducted by the Wright State University Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Ally (GLBTQA) Resource Room Core Team to increase awareness of GLTB issues, is being planned for the faculty and staff as a whole. The GLTBQA Team promotes “an environment in which every student may think, and learn, and grow without prejudice, without intimidation, and without discrimination” and the WSU Equal Opportunity in Education statement which “prohibits discrimination against any person or group on the basis of race, sex (including gender identity/expression), color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, disability, genetic (DNA) information, veteran status, military status, or sexual orientation.”
(http://www.wright.edu/glbtqa/aboutus/index.html).
4.5.b) Description of recruitment efforts used to attract a diverse student body, along with information about how these efforts are evaluated and refined over time.
We strive for a broader definition of diversity at Wright State, viewed as a holistic diversity in life experience. With our close proximity to Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Wright State prides itself at maintaining deep ties to the military community. G.I. Jobs, the premier magazine for military personnel transitioning into civilian life has awarded Wright State University the designation of a 2011 Military Friendly School, for the third consecutive year (http://www.militaryfriendlyschools.com/Article/2011) - military-friendly-schools-list-released (http://www.militaryfriendlyschools.com/list-2011.aspx#list_O). Through the Residency in Aerospace Medicine (RAM) program, air flight surgeons can complete a MPH
at Wright State, garnering a richness experience by integrating military physicians with the general population of MPH students each academic year. The MPH program is a participating site for STREAMS (Short-Term Training Program to Increase Diversity in Health-Related Research), a competitive program that brings undergraduate students from underrepresented minority groups and students with
disabilities to WSU to receive hands-on research experience under the direction of a faculty mentor. Annually, recruitment efforts are evaluated based on the demographics of entrants and applicants versus the Census data of the region. In the future, the program plans to implement more sophisticated analysis including adding demographic questions (see Guideline 4.5.d) to better reflect the diversity of data available through the Census.
4.5.c) Quantitative information on the demographic characteristics of the student body, including data on applicants and admissions, for each of the last three years. Data must be presented in table format.
Table 4.5.c. Demographic Characteristics of Student Body, Including Data on Applicants and Admissions for each of the last 3 years
2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 M F M F M F African American Applied 2 14 5 9 6 5 Accepted 2 12 4 8 5 3 Enrolled 2 11 2 8 5 3 Caucasian Applied 11 22 16 27 23 25 Accepted 11 22 15 20 19 15 Enrolled 9 16 12 14 10 8 Hispanic/Latino Applied 0 0 1 1 1 0 Accepted 0 0 0 1 1 0 Enrolled 0 0 0 0 1 0 Asian Pacific Islander Applied 9 7 2 8 2 5 Accepted 6 5 2 6 1 5 Enrolled 4 3 1 1 0 3 Native American/Alaska Native Applied 0 0 0 0 0 0 Accepted 0 0 0 0 0 0 Enrolled 0 0 0 0 0 0 Unknown/Other Applied 4 5 4 8 1 2 Accepted 4 5 4 5 1 1 Enrolled 4 3 0 2 1 1 International Applied 1 1 4 6 13 10 Accepted 1 0 3 6 5 2 Enrolled 0 0 0 2 1 1 TOTALS Applied 27 49 32 59 33 47 Accepted 24 44 28 46 26 26 Enrolled 19 33 15 27 18 16
4.5.d) Identification of measures by which the program may evaluate its success in achieving a
demographically diverse student body, along with data regarding the program’s performance against these measures for each of the last three years.
The program will continue to compare diversity to the most recent census data available. At present, the diversity data for our applicants has been limited to the diversity questions asked in the general
graduate admissions applicant (race, gender, recipient of medical degree). These questions are voluntary. Capturing more specific information was not possible using this process alone. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) has implemented a restructured diversity criteria asked of all applicants applying to U.S. Medical Schools. We as a program believe that some of these indicators from the LCME could be retooled for our purposes as well. As such, we plan to develop to supplemental diversity questionnaire that would be voluntary at the time of application. Possible diversity questions could include:
1. Attended an inner-city school district for the majority of K-12 education 2. Volunteer for the Medically Underserved in U.S.
3. Volunteer for AmeriCorps, Peace Corps 4. Came from Rural and/or Appalachian region 5. Non- science major as an undergraduate
6. Born abroad of non U.S. Citizen parents, immigrants or refugee 7. First generation college student (no college degree in household) 8. Second language spoken in the home during childhood
In light of the 2010 U.S. Census, women accounted for 51.3% of Dayton, OH population and our recruitment continued to increasing reflect this fact. Blacks in Dayton accounted for 42.9% in 2010 Census. While the Dayton area was more diverse than the state of Ohio on average, Dayton in 2010 produced fewer high school graduates between 2005-2009 (79.9% versus 86.8% Ohio) and fewer holders of bachelor’s degrees from 2005-2009 (15.6% versus 23.6% statewide).
4.5.e) Assessment of the extent to which this criterion is met.
Strengths: In line with its inaugural mission, the program was been successful increasing diversity
metrics showing increased diversity by race and gender.
Weaknesses: The program acknowledges that the nature of master’s level recruitment is tied directly to
individuals who are in the pipeline of college education. There are systemic barriers to education for some populations. In addition, hidden populations such as refugee and international students will require a calibrated approach to its needs.
Opportunities: The Global Health concentration is negotiating more connections with international
education through the main campus. This criterion is met with commentary:
In the future, we plan to find more ways to connect with multicultural student organizations on campus for possible programming and recruitment.
A database maintained by the Council for Undergraduate Research (CUR) is in use by the Graduate School as of Fall 2011. Our program plans to evaluate usefulness of the database and track analytics for underrepresented student applicants.
We may access the 2011-2012 McNair Scholars Directory which is under review by the Graduate School for purchase. The directory is designed to provide graduate schools with access to McNair Scholars who have expressed an interest in pursuing graduate studies and contains records of recent graduates, seniors, and rising seniors. The directory includes McNair Scholars’ names, contact information, undergraduate majors, areas of interest for graduate study (AIGS, based on GRE taxonomy codes), and undergraduate research projects. This would help to more easily facilitate tracking of recruitment of underrepresented students based on a larger variety of variables.
Lastly, the MPH program hopes to pursue opportunities in setting up recruitment pathways with local Ohio HBCU’s, Central State University and Wilberforce University. Plans are to track success of recruiting these students.
4.6) Advising and Career Counseling. There shall be available a clearly explained and accessible academic