One of the serious challenges colleges and universities face is to create and maintain a campus community that reflects the rich diversity of this country. In response to this challenge, Ohio State’s leadership created the Diversity Action Plan in 2000. This plan states that “the university is committed to becoming a leader within the higher education community with regard to diversity and the creation of a campus culture of inclusion that creates a learning environment essential for educating students who will work and live in an increasingly diverse culture.” According to Dr. Mac Stewart, Vice Provost and Special Assistant to the President for Diversity, “when diversity and social responsibility are brought together, a creative confluence of learning, respect, and enrichment occurs; this enables us to develop better understanding of our ourselves and others, leading to individual growth and strengthening communities.”

While many strategies are already in place, and many will continue if proven successful, achieving the goals of the Diversity Action Plan will require the coordinated efforts of all groups and departments within the University. Facilities Operations and Development (FOD) understands this need and is leading the way with its efforts. Its leadership is committed to support the university’s diversity plan by developing programs, hiring practices, and initiatives that reflect the commitment to creating an inclusive, productive and welcoming environment.

“To have a functioning organization that can meet the diverse needs of our customers and the university, we too must be diverse—diverse in our talents, work products, technology, and services. It is our goal that FOD’s diversity program will cultivate an environment of encouragement and acceptance as well as ensure that our teams demonstrate the understanding and acceptance of diversity required to meet our service demand.”
— Melissa Bellini
Associate Vice President, FOD

FOD has spent the last two years restructuring several areas within its organization and many initiatives have been launched. Some of the most significant ones are:

• Partnership with the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) to create an environment where FOD staff can conduct professional seminars and used to actively recruit minorities from the southwest.

• Diverse pool of candidates for all administrative and professional positions at all levels within the organization to ensure that as attrition occurs thoughtful decisions are made to support the overall diversity mission; bringing in diverse talent, skills and knowledge.

• Key strategic indicators for supervisors and managers. For instance, the diversity hiring demographics for all of FOD is reviewed quarterly with the senior leadership team. FOD continues to work on supplier diversity and attaining a 15 percent Minority Business Enterprise goal on purchases.

• The Diversity Council advisory group, with staff representation from all the different business units within FOD. These individuals will help to identify programming needs, educational opportunities, and help build bridges with FOD and the entire campus community.

Below, are words of three members of the FOD staff discussing their involvement with FOD’s diversity initiative programs.