Miami University's goal to increase its percentage of diverse students through Miami Access Initiative doesn't stop at Oxford's campus.
Not only have Miami Hamilton (MUH) and Miami Middletown (MUM) taken on this initiative, progress on the regional campuses is actually a few strides ahead.
Though Miami's percentages of minority students are currently at 8.3 percent for the undergraduate student body according to the admissions Web site, MUM is at 15 percent, and MUH is at 10, up from 6 percent in 2000 according to MUH campus communication officer, Perry Richardson.
The first action the regional campuses took to increase the number of minority students was in the admission and recruitment process, according to Stacey Adams, director of admission and financial aid at Middletown.
"It all starts with admissions," she said.
According to Adams, MUM has enlarged its recruitment territory beyond Warren and Butler County and into Montgomery County and eastern Indian, and has also been involved with programs targeting high school students, such as Future Leaders of America.
MUH has also used community programs to attract multicultural students, according to Richardson, such as the Racial Legacies and Learning Program it sponsors with the city of Hamilton and the Department of Human Relations.
"More minority students are seeing college as a viable option," Richardson said. "(High school students) come to campus for an event and say, 'I like it here. I can see myself here.'"
In fact, first generation students (students who are the first members of their families to attend a college or university) make up 52 percent of students at MUH, according to Richardson.
Flexible scheduling and the unique atmosphere of the branch campuses are yet another reason why Richardson and Adams believe the number of minority students has increased.
The campuses' flexible scheduling and location, which normally attracts non-traditional students, is another important factor in the branch campuses' progress, especially when compared with the Oxford campus, according to Richardson.
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Richardson and Adams said non-traditional students over the age of 24, make up more than one-fourth of the student population on both regional campuses.
And traditional students who were not ready, weren't accepted or didn't have the funds to attend a residential university are also attracted to the regional campuses, in particular those wanting to enroll at Miami in Oxford eventually, according to Adams.
Adams explained that if certain criteria are met, students at regional campuses can relocate to the Oxford campus without applying for admission.
"If they complete 20 hours and attain a 2.0 GPA, (students) can relocate (to Oxford's) campus," she said. "We get them into school and up to speed so they can get where they want to be."
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