STILLWATER, Okla.
As findings of a study evaluating diversity efforts at Oklahoma State University were released, one official said more needed to be done to include minority contractors in the discussion.
The yearlong self-study, which included input from OSU faculty, staff and students, was presented recently at a meeting of the board of regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges in Stillwater.
Some of the recommendations included increasing the number of students studying abroad, doing more international recruiting and developing classroom courses focusing on how inclusiveness benefits everyone.
The self-study is the first step in formalizing a systemwide diversity plan, officials said.
Regent Claud Evans asked how the diversity plan applied to including minorities in the hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts the university awards to outside vendors and said it would be “the same old ballgame” unless the process isn’t more thoroughly vetted.
“We’ve got to use our power as OSU to make certain the contractors include women and minorities,” he said. “We just have to keep the pressure there. They aren’t going to voluntarily do it.”
