Una Board Of Trustees Approves Strategic Diversity And Inclusion Plan

Apr. 02, 2020

Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@una.edu, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033

Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at meubanks@una.edu, 256-606-2033 or 256-765-4392 FLORENCE, AL - The University of North Alabama Board of Trustees recently approved the 2020-2025 Strategic Diversity and Inclusion Plan. The document is the work of a fifteen-member presidential task force that began its work in January 2019. The completed plan outlines five themes, including awareness, education, and training, which have been designed to guide and direct the University's goals for inclusion and diversity for the next five years. "This plan builds on the good work already underway on our campus in these areas," said UNA President Ken Kitts. "The task force has given us an outstanding roadmap to follow as we establish UNA as a leader in higher education for diversity and inclusion." Diversity and inclusion are among UNA's overarching strategic plan initiatives and mission as an institution of higher education. The recently adopted plan "seeks to build a climate of inclusion that will facilitate access as well as growth in underrepresented students and student success." "The new Strategic Diversity and Inclusion plan is rooted in values and beliefs of each constituent, both internal and external, founded on the hope of our ability to make progress and bring about change on real matters in the areas of diversity and inclusion," said Ron Patterson, Chief Enrollment Officer and Assistant to the President for Diversity. "It provides UNA a chance to learn, discuss, appreciate, and respect our differences as we continue to grow to develop a greater community of inclusive excellence." Patterson said the plan will be beneficial for UNA and will likely serve as a model for other institutions as they seek to develop a more diverse and inclusive campus. About The University of North Alabama The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs through the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education and Human Sciences, and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II NationalChampionships, is now a proud member of the NCAA Division I's ASUN Big South Conference. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: www.una.edu and www.una.edu/unaworks/