August 28, 2008
Wisconsin State Journal
Your Aug. 28 editorial, “UW diversity effort needs audit,” is most timely. As suggested by your earlier stories under the headline “UW diversity plan at age 10,” little or no information about the impact of Plan 2008 has been forthcoming from either the UW System or UW-Madison.
When the Board of Regents launched its acclaimed Plan 2008 a decade ago, the public was led to believe its wide array of programs and initiatives would ensure the achievement of Plan 2008’s goals. Now that the plan has run its course, involving the expenditure of several hundred million dollars, shouldn’t the public expect that university officials would know which programs worked, which didn’t work well, and which didn’t work at all?
Since they do not, an outside, independent evaluation of UW System diversity programs is much needed.