Generation 2008 forum is Saturday

Generation 2008, a student-organized group dedicated to raising the level of awareness of Plan 2008, will hold a free, daylong forum at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on the plan’s impact on student organizations beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 27.

The session will include appearances by UW–Madison Chancellor John Wiley, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Paul Barrows and Plan 2008 Oversight Committee co-chair Deb Brandt, along with break-out sessions and refreshments. The forum will be held at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St.

The session is free and students can register at the Pyle Center Saturday.

This semester’s forum will focus on how Plan 2008, the university’s long-range diversity plan, can help to strengthen student organizations.

By educating students about the history, goals and implementation of Plan 2008, the group believes it can help enhance initiatives already under way, improve the campus climate and generate concrete suggestions to strengthen campus diversity.

Officially adopted by the UW System Board of Regents in May 1998, Plan 2008 has seven goals:

• Increase the number of Wisconsin high school graduates of color who apply, are accepted and enroll at UW System institutions.
• Encourage partnerships that build the educational pipeline by reaching children and their parents at an earlier age.
• Close the gap in educational achievement, by bringing retention and graduation rates for students of color in line with those of the student body as a whole.
• Increase the amount of financial aid available to needy students and reduce their reliance on loans.
• Increase the number of faculty, academic staff, classified staff and administrators of color, so that they are represented in the UW System workforce in proportion to their current availability in relevant job pools.
• Foster institutional environments and course development that enhance learning and a respect for racial and ethnic diversity.
• Improve accountability of the UW System and its institutions.

More information: gen2008@hotmail.com