Greetings DePaul University community members,
DePaul qualified to be an AANAPISI institution because we have just over 12% of undergraduate students who identify as AANAPISI students, which meets the Department of Education’s standard of at least 10%.
Being an AANAPISI institution allows us to apply for federal grants, which come with significant funding that would help all DePaul students by expanding and enhancing academic offerings and increasing program quality and institutional stability. Funds would also go toward instructional support and faculty development to further encourage successful outcomes for our AANAPISI-identifying students. The systems we create to support our AANAPISI-identifying students, faculty and staff will in turn benefit the entire community.
This designation wouldn’t have been possible without the
AANAPISI Taskforce, colleagues from Institutional Research and Market Analytics and the Office of Research Services, which helped prepare DePaul’s federal Title III application for AANAPISI status. The taskforce’s work continues as they develop a strategy to enable the university to be a thriving institution where AANAPISI students find support, stay and graduate.
A rising tide truly lifts all boats—by working to build equity and inclusion at DePaul, we are designing initiatives that will improve university life overall.
Next Steps
On the cusp of this exciting news, there’s still work to be done—it is not enough to gain this status. The AANAPISI Taskforce will now start applying for federal funds to support students, faculty and staff in finding success and community at DePaul.
Also, while DePaul’s percentage of students identifying as AANAPISI continues to grow, the number of faculty and staff who identify as AANAPISI is at 6%, which is less than half the percentage of our AANAPISI students.
In the coming months, the taskforce will begin looking at ways to grow the curriculum around AANAPISI topics, conduct focus groups with AANAPISI students to better understand their needs and how the university community can respond to them, and prepare a report to share with the university community in fall 2024.
I want to thank the AANAPISI Taskforce and our DePaul colleagues for their remarkable efforts over this academic year to make this wonderful designation possible. As we move forward, we will share progress and updates with the university community. To learn more about the taskforce members and the group’s goals, visit the
AANAPISI page on the
Designing DePaul website.
Sincerely,
José Perales
Interim Vice President
Office of Institutional Diversity & Equity