Moving Forward Together: Transparency and Accountability

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 23, 2016) — As explained in a previous UKNow article, University of Kentucky administrators are working diligently to address five concerns students presented to them in a meeting last November. The third concern the students expressed was that there are no measurable benchmarks for diversity and no set accountability measures.

"The establishment of institutional goals and periodic measurement of progress are fundamental elements of postsecondary education institutions. The University of Kentucky provided a detailed analysis of diversity and inclusion progress to the Board of Trustees at their recent retreat. Sharing this information with all members of the university community is essential," said Terry Allen, interim vice president for institutional diversity.

To address this concern, university administrators are working to be more transparent in communicating outcomes, striving to meet strategic plan objectives and be held accountable to those objectives.

The university will continue to move forward with all diversity efforts and will provide an annual report on all diversity metrics. Aggressive metrics have been identified in the 2015-2020 strategic plan for underrepresented minority students as it relates to enrollment and success. Accountability metrics will be used for all faculty, administrators and professional employment personnel. Those metrics can be found here.

"The metric data indicates gains in enrollment, closing the achievement gap, and progress in some workforce diversity categories. It also reminds all of us that much work remains," Allen said.