INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES FOR RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF MINORITY STUDENTS IN COMMUNICATION SCIENCES AND DISORDERS

attendance met with representatives of ASHA and NBASLH to discuss their experiences in the academic programs in our discipline. They described isolation, marginal participation in their programs, and cultural insensitivity by faculty. As a result of these meetings, in telephone conferences between NBASLH and ASHA we began to discuss the concerns raised by students of color. All campuses are different, and there is no one formula for a successful academic climate; however, there are two important principles that can guide our efforts in the recruitment and retention of students of color. The first is leadership. We are our institution’s leaders. We all are aware of the crucial role that leadership plays in improving recruitment and retention. Leadership from the Board of Trustees, from the President, from the deans, from the chairs, from the directors of academic units such as speech and hearing clinics, from the faculty is essential for there to be a deep and lasting change in our departments. In the 1989 book, Minorities on campus: A handbook for enhancing diversity, by 28