Commentary: Strengthening Utah’s colleges and universities through equity, diversity and inclusion

The Utah Board of Higher Education unequivocally affirms that all students of diverse backgrounds strengthen our colleges, and we are addressing structural and systemic barriers that keep many underrepresented students from receiving the rewards of a higher education.

The voices of Utah’s college students have been clear, no matter what their race or ethnicity: the Board of Higher Education has the capacity and obligation to address educational barriers, especially as they relate to racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and health inequities.

Opportunity gaps in higher education exist for underrepresented groups. As of 2018, Utah students of color, ages 18-35, were enrolling in college at rates 40% below that of their white peers and graduating from college at rates 35% below their white peers.

The Board of Higher Education sees this as an important call to action; we passed our Resolution to Advance Equitable Systemic Change Within the Utah System of Higher Education last August. Following the adoption of that resolution, the board approved using an Equity Lens Framework to be used when evaluating any existing or new strategy, policy or initiative, in order to identify what can be done to make higher education more accessible to students of all backgrounds.

The board cannot achieve this all-important work of changing higher education alone. We need broad support and encouragement throughout our state to bring these positive changes. We all benefit when each student has equitable access to educational opportunities, creating a richer, more educated Utah community. What lifts one in our community lifts us all.

Hopeful steps are being taken throughout our system that will make higher education more available to students of all backgrounds:

• Utah’s energetic corps of College Access Advisers is being expanded to 55 high schools, beginning with the 2021-22 academic year, with a specific mission to increase opportunity for first-generation, low-income and underrepresented students.

• Utah’s colleges are adopting new transfer protocols to allow students with limited resources to complete a degree or technical certificate in more efficient ways by making it easier to move from one college to another.

• Many Utah colleges are establishing test-optional policies, allowing students to gain admission without standardized test scores, which can be a barrier to entry.

• State-sponsored scholarships are being re-tooled to remove unduly complicated requirements, which create barriers for many underrepresented students.

• Colleges are expanding opportunities to earn credit for prior learning, so that students may earn academic credit for their skills and knowledge gained outside the classroom.

All of these strategies and more are part of the 2021 Strategic Plan that the Board adopted at the end of May to address its major priorities, including access, affordability, completion and workforce alignment over the next five years.

We have an outstanding system of higher education in Utah — a system that can become even better as we work to ensure that all Utahns can complete their postsecondary education. We are well-positioned with a unified system of degree-granting institutions and technical colleges to offer students a variety of paths to an extraordinary range of productive and rewarding careers.

With the support of students, faculty and administrators, and the broader community, the state’s system of colleges and universities can ensure Utah’s diverse and resilient students discover their own paths to career and life success — and achieve it.

Harris H. Simmons is chair of the Utah Board of Higher Education.

Shawn Newell is a co-chair of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Workgroup of the Utah Board of Higher Education.

Lisa Michele Church is a co-chair of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Workgroup of the Utah Board of Higher Education