Eighteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

This paper evaluates the progress made by Columbus State University (CSU) in admitting, retaining, and ultimately graduating minority students. The central focus of the study is to document the structural resources on campus, and available supporting initiatives from faculty and staff and analyzing the data from university records about minority student retention, progression, and graduation (RPG) over the years 1997-2012. The analysis is framed within the existing literature on student engagement and retention. Our basic premise is that RPG for racial minorities and African American students in particular, has increased. This increase is associated with a series of policy interventions that have been implemented at CSU over the years such as the Diversity Inclusion Initiatives.