Marshall Magazine Autumn 2022

A large number of faculty and staff have been and continue to be involved in planning the three-year Quality Initiative that aims at making a stronger and more inclusive community.

Reynolds said projects supporting the Quality Initiative’s second goal include the enhanced recruit ing and retention of students, faculty and staff from chronically underserved populations, and an outside evaluation of university policies to ensure they adhere to the principles of equity. Projects supporting the initiative’s third goal in clude engaging Marshall students as near-peer mentors for Health Science & Technology Academy (HSTA) clubs at area high schools and providing an opportu nity for a Marshall student to work as an intern with the Fairfield Community Development Corporation. “We will measure outcomes of the Quality Initiative through annual surveys, pre/post evaluations, input fromproject participants and institutional data trends,” Reynolds said. Four to 12 incoming freshmen will be selected to participate in a Diversity Learning Community each year. They will receive scholarships and, with the

support of their faculty mentor, engage in diversity programming and leadership opportunities through out the year. Reynolds said the initiative, which is focused on diversity, is not just important for students and staff, but also for people in the surrounding community. “When we work and socialize with people who come from backgrounds different from our own, all our lives are enriched by the new experiences we share and the new things we learn,” Reynolds said. “When we can talk with people who have different ideas or viewpoints than we do, we learn to critically examine our own ideas. In a diverse society, we quickly learn that no person can be defined by only one characteristic.”

James E. Casto is the retired associate editor of The Herald-Dispatch and the author of a number of books on local and regional history.

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