State officials might ask university officials to broaden their definition of diversity.

The Council on Postsecondary Education Committee on Equal Opportunity is working on a plan to increase diversity in Kentucky universities, CPE Communications Director Sue Patrick said.

Committee members will present the plan to CPE at the January 2009 meeting, she said.

They’ll use the results of a diversity study that CPE commissioned to make their plan, she said.

The study was presented at a CPE meeting on Sunday, Patrick said.

The recommendations from the study include making race a factor in admissions at competitive universities such as the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville, according to the report on the study.

It also recommends that funding for diversity programs be increased at the state and institutional levels and minority student focus be broadened from black students to Hispanic, American Indian and low-income white students, she said.

President Gary Ransdell said the recommendations have merit, but focus should stay on black students because they make up more of Kentucky’s population than other minorities.

“We can include others, and that’s fine, but those numbers are modest in comparison,” Ransdell said.

He said he’s not sure how helpful the study will be.

“I think it lacked substance, and the real work will be to put a plan together,” Ransdell said.

Ricardo Nazario-Colon, director of the Office of Diversity Programs, said officials have to focus on all races in addition to black and white students.

He said broadening the racial focus is the only way to get national attention for diversity.

“It’s a no-brainer,” he said.

Patrick said Kentucky universities are now required to follow a plan from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

Those requirements are to get more black students and faculty members on campuses with mostly white students and to get more white students and faculty on historically black campuses, said Sherron Jackson, CPE assistant vice president for finance and equal opportunity.

“We believe we have done what they have asked us to do,” Jackson said.

Western’s enrollment of black, first-time freshmen went up by 82 students this year, according to a press release.

Ransdell said 10 percent of Western students are black.

U.S. Department of Education officials are assessing the progress of Kentucky schools, Jackson said.

He said he expects to hear from the department soon.

Reach Christina Howerton at news@chherald.com.