Diversity Study Creeps Along

Study “moving, but not swiftly,” says Mr. Hunt.
By Charles Condro, Jabberwock Staff Reporter

The Admissions Process Review at MLWGS is trudging on, and it is now reaching the next stage in its progress.

In what is now the ninth month since the consultants were awarded the job, the group is now shifting to the interview phase of the study.

The team of consultants consists of a group of U.Va professors who are working independently from the university. The first step they took was to send questionnaires to the Gifted Coordinators of each county that participates in MLWGS. The group is now using the information they have gathered to help them in their interviews.

“We…have developed interview protocols and we are in the process of setting up interviews,” said Ms. Carolyn Callahan, one of the consultants and a professor at the Curry School of Education at U.Va.

“They are in the process of making contacts,” said Director Mr. Doug Hunt. “They are now breaking it [the MLWGS community] up into components.”

The consultants are now creating subsets of the community to identify the needs of each group.

Some of the subsets will be: students, parents, alumni, minorities and students who got into MLWGS but opted to attend a different school.

In order to interview all of these people, the consultants plan on mailing questionnaires to the individuals. “They have asked us to send some letters out to the parents. I am not sure if that is our responsibility,” said Mr. Hunt. “That is a simple minor thing though.”

The consultants have not yet been in direct contact with students, parents or other members of the MLWGS community. This time lapse from the beginning of the study until now has been a cause of concern for several members of the MLWGS community.

“I think they should have started this earlier,” said Neil Pathak (’11).

“I am wondering what else they are doing,” said Jerry Carlson (’09). “I understand that they have other things to do, but we are paying them.”

The members of consultant group, along with members of the entire Richmond community, feel that despite delays, this study is well worth the wait.

“The study is important because it is of value to key stakeholders in ensuring that…MLWGS and the feeder school divisions [are] doing all they can to ensure a fair and unbiased identification process,” said Ms. Callahan.

Others, however, feel that the study is not necessary to begin with.

“If they knew how all of the minorities here felt, they would not even be here,” said Karlene Cox (’10). “Within the U.S. we are a minority, so it does not matter that we are minorities here.”