The coalition, whose members are located in and serve similar communities, will partner with and encourage one another in exploring new vistas, generating new ideas, and increasing campus and public awareness of existing and proposed programs and opportunities. Individual institutions are planning to conduct the same programs simultaneously and thereby impact not only local communities but the region as whole. At least 26 Catholic colleges and universities have received funding for diversity initiatives, including several that provide national models for successful programs, such as Mount St. Mary's in Los Angeles. A centralized information clearinghouse will provide tools, strategies, and models for diversity initiatives to the national network of 222 Catholic campuses and to Catholic institutions worldwide. The clearinghouse will disseminate information on resources, provide technical assistance, and promote policy development, program planning, curricula development, and action outcomes.
Computer technology offers nearly unlimited potential for communicating with Catholic institutions.
However, we know that the institutional distribution of appropriate equipment, its availability to individual users, and user skill remains uneven, at best, and may not be well suited to all of our objectives. Barry will convene mini conferences, regional workshops, publish special purpose newsletters, and create other appropriate vehicles for training, networking, and discourse. The Barry research team also is committed to going beyond what was accomplished in the first project and research the effects of diversity efforts on Catholic campuses by surveying samples of students, faculty, staff, and administrators. The design for this study already is underway. Implicit in carrying out diversity programs is the need to develop performance benchmarks, identify best practices, and elaborate positive outcomes that can be measured, replicated, and reported to the wider academic community and to the public.