The final candidate to visit campus for dean of the College of Business position drew upon experiences in promoting global awareness during an open forum on diversity.

Seven Ames community members met with Kenneth R. Evans, associate dean of Graduate Studies and Research at the University of Missouri-Columbia, during the hour-long discussion in Beardshear Hall Friday afternoon.

Evans said his involvement in the area of diversity is broad.

“My life as a faculty member and teacher would be incomplete without the international focus,” he said.

On the international scale, the University of Missouri-Columbia at one time had very low numbers when it came to studying abroad, Evans said.

“Our students were simply not interested or exposed to it,” Evans said. “We had to start with the faculty to improve that.”

In 1996 the university began the Global Scholars Program. Evans said the University of Missouri sent 10 to 12 faculty members to destinations such as China and Bulgaria, places where individuals were “out of their element.” Upon returning, faculty members are required to transfer what they learned overseas into their curriculum to spark interest among the students.

Today the study abroad and exchange program is four times what it was seven years ago, Evans said.

When asked to define the term, Evans listed cultural, ethnic and sexual orientation as forms of diversity.

“Any bias toward the LGBT population is totally unacceptable,” Evans said. “We never found it to be such an issue that we needed to use a program. Should it arise, we would address it.”

Another issue discussed at the forum was women’s concerns about employment. Evans said female staffing isn’t a problem at the University of Missouri.

When it comes to academics, however, the University of Missouri tends to focus more on domestic issues and should instead start talking and thinking about global issues, Evans said.

Evans was completing his second and final day of interviews. He also spoke at an open forum Thursday afternoon.

The open forums are an important factor in selecting the next dean, said Associate Provost Alicia Carriquiry.

“We simply will not hire a candidate to lead a college if the individual has not demonstrated a commitment to diversity,” Carriquiry said.

Sheila Lundt, assistant to the city manager, said she wants to determine the approach candidates will use to assure success for diverse students.

“I want to know what they have done in previous jobs and activities to try and encourage it,” Lundt said.