Students looking for the Office of Multicultural Academic Success (OMAS) after winter break will find it under a new administrative organizational structure with a new name.
The office will be part of the Center for Multicultural Academic Excellence (CMAE). Administrators are also looking to expand to the fourth floor of Oregon Hall.
In the current plan, CMAE will consist of Academic Enrichment, Multicultural Inclusion and Support, and Graduation and Post-Graduate Success. The three groups will report to an executive board led by Robin Holmes, vice president of student affairs and interim vice president of the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity (OIED).
Though the current organization model may still change, many OMAS students are concerned that their voices have not been heard from the beginning. Approximately two dozen students protested the changes during the homecoming parade on Friday, wearing white shirts and carrying signs in support of OMAS. Tania Sarabia,@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Tania+Sarabia@@ one of the students involved, said she wants to see the administration pause the planning process to allow for student input.
“We’re not happy with what they’re doing,” Sarabia said.
Except for news of the changes being spread by word of mouth, there has been no resource for students to find information and no clear, direct communication to students.
“What I don’t understand is we’re the students, we’re the ones being affected, so why are we so in the dark,” said Rina Sundahl,@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Rina+Sundahl@@ a sophomore who went on the annual OMAS retreat as participant as a freshman and then as a student leadership team member in October.
Students and community members met with Holmes on October 27 to voice concerns and ask questions. It was the first time students had met with anybody from the administration about the changes to OMAS.
Paul Shang, Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students,@@http://vpsa.uoregon.edu/staff@@ said the administration is reacting to a steady growth in diversity on campus. Groups such as the Intercultural Mentoring Program Advancing Community Ties (IMPACT) are growing as well.@@http://uodos.uoregon.edu/SupportandEducation/DiversityEducationandSupport/IMPACTProgram/tabid/75/Default.aspx@@
“We want to continue to expand the really good services, and have students create environments where students can be supportive of one another. These are all things that we think will be very beneficial,” Shang said.
In the new model, Academic Enrichment will focus on acclimating students to academics at the University and will be led by OMAS director Audrey Cramer;@@http://omas.uoregon.edu/events.php@@ Multicultural Inclusion and Support will help students explore leadership opportunities and find support for their identities; and Graduation and Post-Graduate Success will provide assistance to students from underrepresented communities in college.
Another concern among students has been that with these changes, some of the current resources that OMAS offers, such as academic advising and OMAS math and writing classes, could be cut. But according to Holmes, while services may be transferred to other offices, they will remain on campus. For example, OMAS tutoring may now collaborate with the tutoring at the Teaching and Learning Center.
Even so, students are working on a statement to the administration outlining their concerns. According to Darius Alexander,@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Darius+Alexander@@ a first-year transfer student who went to the OMAS retreat in October as a participant, a major feature of the concerns was the possible loss of intimacy between students and OMAS staff.
“I can be around a bunch of people and never be a part of what they are because I was never invited or never introduced,” he said.
A forum will be held in the EMU Fir Room on Nov. 3 at noon for students and faculty to discuss OMAS’ changes.