"Our commitment to equal opportunity and affirmative action is strong, and we will continue to make progress through the good faith efforts of the people in this room," he said. "We will do so despite budget cuts and the anti-affirmative action fever going on in this country today."

To that end, trustees were presented a set of goals for recruitmcnt, enrollment and retention of minority undergraduate students by their ad hoc committee on diversity. They are expected to vote on adoption of the goals today.

The plan contains two major goals: to increase the number of out-of-state minority students at the college from less than 5 percent to about 10 percent in the next five years, and to continue to monitor the number of in-state minority students enrolled.

The committee proposed a number of changes designed to realize these goals. Most related to more aggressive recruiting of multicultural students and faculty. They included a suggestion by one member that travel grants be offered to multicultural students, so they and their parents could afford to visit the campus before making a decision.

The committee also suggested that more services be offered to help retain minority students once they enroll. These could include mentoring, tutoring and acadcmic advisement programs.

Richard Dennis, chairman of the ad hoc committee, flashed a thumbs up atter the presentation and said he expects trustees will adopt the new goals today.

"They are feeling very good about having something that is reasonable and can hold people accountable for results," he said. UVM´s move toward affirmative action comes at a time when many schools and states are moving away from it. The University of California´s Board of Regents recently voted to drop race and gender from admission and hiring formulas at the state´s colleges.

Salmon criticized that vote and said, "Vermont is not California ... in Vermont actions speak louder thall words."

To critics of the new proposal, he asked for support. "We will certainly fail if we waste our energy fighting among ourselves. I want UVM to be a place that celebrates diversity and difference," he said.

In other business, trustees received a presentation on UVM´s new JobNet program, which will be introduced this fall.

Among other things, it allows students to electronicall submit resumes to job openings. The system will also enable the UVM Center for Career Development to better track ernployment trends and post jobs quickly.

In financial sessions, trustees reviewed the investment performance of the UVM Pooled Endowment, University Trust assets and restricted assets. As of June 30, these totaled $112.9 million, compared with $102.9 million at the end of first quarter 1995 and $97 million at the end of 1994.

University of Vermont trustees Saturday unanimously approved a set of goals for recruiting, enrolling and retaining minority undergraduate students.

The plan's major goals are to increase the number of out-of-state minority students at UVM from less than 5 percent to about 10 percent in the next five years, and to continue monitoring the number of minority enrollments from within th state.

"These set of goals now give the university some tangible objectives that we will be attempting to reach in the coming years," university spokesman Enrique Corredera said.

"UVM considers increasing cultural diversity and sensitivity an important piece of its educational mission," he added. "These goals are seen as the floor, not the ceiling."

University of Vermont President Thomas Salmon says the school is committed to diversity and to achieving it through affirmative action programs.

"Our commitment to equal opportunity and affirmative action is strong, and we will continue to make progress through the good faith efforts of the people in this room," Salmon said Friday during a trustees´ meeting. "We will do so despite budget cuts and the anti-affirmative action fever going on in this country today."

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