Diverse Issues in Higher Education
by Dr. Marybeth Gasman, June 22, 2010
Recently I gave a talk at the American Association of University Professors’ annual meeting. The talk focused on the retention of faculty of color—unfortunately only one White faculty member attended the session. My comments were directed at those in positions of power within historically White institutions—I was saddened that many of these individuals did not attend the session.
Below are the 10 ways to retain faculty of color that I discussed in my talk. Many of these suggestions can be used with all faculty members. I invite you to add more in the comment feature of this blog.
1) Hire a critical mass of faculty of color. Quite a few historically White institutions have done this and it works. Not only does hiring a critical mass show commitment on the part of an institution, it also helps to create a less isolating and alienating atmosphere on campus and in individual departments. [For those who object: we hire critical masses of White faculty all the time.]
Full Story: http://diverseeducation.com/blogpost/272/ten-ways-to-retain-faculty-of-color.html
Showing posts with label faculty of color. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faculty of color. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Friday, August 31, 2007
U of L, UK seek higher diversity
Schools compete for all minorities
By Nancy C. Rodriguez
nrodriguez@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Nat Irvin II was a professor at Wake Forest University for 10 years before coming to the University of Louisville this year.
"The thing that really impressed me was the leadership of the institution," said Irvin, the Strickler Executive-in-Residence Professor of Management in the College of Business. "It was a good fit for me."
Irvin's hiring -- and that of 13 other African-American professors -- has helped U of L continue its five-year trend of increasing diversity among its roughly 1,200-member faculty.
Since 2002-03 the university has seen the number of full-time black members grow from 61 to 98.
They now account for more than 7 percent of the entire faculty, according to preliminary numbers made available this week.
The university also has hired 26 Asian and five Hispanic professors.
"We feel really very blessed that so many people have wanted to come here, because they contribute a lot to our community," said U of L Provost Shirley Willihnganz.
University of Kentucky officials also are projecting an increase of 10 African-American professors -- the largest number of hires since the 2002-03 school year.
That brings the number of blacks among the 2,200 faculty members to 81 -- more than 3 percent.
The university also hired five Hispanic faculty members this year, bringing the total to 33.
The number of Asian faculty -- which was 194 last year -- was not available.
"The goal always is to show as much diversity as we can across the board. ... We're committed to doing so," said UK Provost Kumble Subbaswamy.
Under Kentucky's equal opportunity plan and an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, the state's eight public universities and 16 community colleges must show that they are making progress in increasing their numbers of African-American students, faculty and staff.
Each institution has its own objective.
For example, U of L's is to have at least 7 percent black faculty; UK's is 3 percent.
Both say that they met their goals.
All the universities are compiling final numbers on minority faculty members, which will be forwarded to the Council on Post-Secondary Education for a report in January.
Failing to make progress in diversifying the faculty -- and in other areas as well, including enrollment -- can lead to state restrictions in implementing new academic programs.
The universities are judged on eight areas pertaining to diversity, and the community college system is judged on four.
U of L was the only university to show progress in all eight areas this past January, according to state officials.
[To read the entire article, go to: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070830/NEWS01/708300422/1008 ]
By Nancy C. Rodriguez
nrodriguez@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Nat Irvin II was a professor at Wake Forest University for 10 years before coming to the University of Louisville this year.
"The thing that really impressed me was the leadership of the institution," said Irvin, the Strickler Executive-in-Residence Professor of Management in the College of Business. "It was a good fit for me."
Irvin's hiring -- and that of 13 other African-American professors -- has helped U of L continue its five-year trend of increasing diversity among its roughly 1,200-member faculty.
Since 2002-03 the university has seen the number of full-time black members grow from 61 to 98.
They now account for more than 7 percent of the entire faculty, according to preliminary numbers made available this week.
The university also has hired 26 Asian and five Hispanic professors.
"We feel really very blessed that so many people have wanted to come here, because they contribute a lot to our community," said U of L Provost Shirley Willihnganz.
University of Kentucky officials also are projecting an increase of 10 African-American professors -- the largest number of hires since the 2002-03 school year.
That brings the number of blacks among the 2,200 faculty members to 81 -- more than 3 percent.
The university also hired five Hispanic faculty members this year, bringing the total to 33.
The number of Asian faculty -- which was 194 last year -- was not available.
"The goal always is to show as much diversity as we can across the board. ... We're committed to doing so," said UK Provost Kumble Subbaswamy.
Under Kentucky's equal opportunity plan and an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, the state's eight public universities and 16 community colleges must show that they are making progress in increasing their numbers of African-American students, faculty and staff.
Each institution has its own objective.
For example, U of L's is to have at least 7 percent black faculty; UK's is 3 percent.
Both say that they met their goals.
All the universities are compiling final numbers on minority faculty members, which will be forwarded to the Council on Post-Secondary Education for a report in January.
Failing to make progress in diversifying the faculty -- and in other areas as well, including enrollment -- can lead to state restrictions in implementing new academic programs.
The universities are judged on eight areas pertaining to diversity, and the community college system is judged on four.
U of L was the only university to show progress in all eight areas this past January, according to state officials.
[To read the entire article, go to: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070830/NEWS01/708300422/1008 ]
Thursday, August 2, 2007
COACHE Study: The One-Two Policy Punch - Be Sure to Consider Importance and Effectiveness
August 1, 2007 The One-Two Policy Punch - Be Sure to Consider Importance and Effectiveness
Research pressures cause greatest angst in survey of nearly 7,000 early-career faculty> Download: COACHE Survey Highlights 2007 [PDF, 403K] A new report by the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE), a research project based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has revealed that junior faculty place a high degree of importance on institutional policies and practices in terms of how they affect career success. However, junior faculty expressed less satisfaction with the effectiveness of those policies and practices.The comprehensive report highlights trends across the 77 colleges and universities that participated in the Tenure-Track Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey in either 2005-06 or 2006-07. Overall, the survey of 6,773 tenure-track faculty discovered that policies such as: an upper limit on teaching obligations; travel funds to present papers or conduct research; informal mentoring; and an upper limit on committee assignments are considered most important by early-career faculty to their success. This finding held true for males, females, white faculty, and faculty of color. Junior faculty of all groups rated financial assistance with housing as the least important policy. However, as compared to male faculty and white faculty, female faculty and faculty of color, respectively, found institutional policies significantly more important for their success. ...
Still, opinions differed on many points. "White faculty, female faculty and faculty of color strongly diverged over which institutional policies they found most effective," said Cathy Trower, COACHE Director. "This suggests that a one-size-fits-all, 'we've got that policy on the books, so we're done' attitude doesn't cut it in the competitive environment of recruiting and retaining top faculty talent."
"We see female faculty and faculty of color expressing significantly less satisfaction in regards to how well they 'fit,'" said Trower. "Issues of inequity, in regards to how junior faculty members are treated within each department and how immediate supervisors evaluate their work, seem to be contributing to this problem. Without changes aimed at correcting these feelings of dissatisfaction, it is likely that colleges will continue to struggle to retain men and women of color in all disciplines and white women in fields in which they have been historically under-represented, like science and engineering." [For the complete news release and report, go to:
http://gseacademic.harvard.edu/~coache/reports/20070801.html ]
Research pressures cause greatest angst in survey of nearly 7,000 early-career faculty> Download: COACHE Survey Highlights 2007 [PDF, 403K] A new report by the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE), a research project based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has revealed that junior faculty place a high degree of importance on institutional policies and practices in terms of how they affect career success. However, junior faculty expressed less satisfaction with the effectiveness of those policies and practices.The comprehensive report highlights trends across the 77 colleges and universities that participated in the Tenure-Track Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey in either 2005-06 or 2006-07. Overall, the survey of 6,773 tenure-track faculty discovered that policies such as: an upper limit on teaching obligations; travel funds to present papers or conduct research; informal mentoring; and an upper limit on committee assignments are considered most important by early-career faculty to their success. This finding held true for males, females, white faculty, and faculty of color. Junior faculty of all groups rated financial assistance with housing as the least important policy. However, as compared to male faculty and white faculty, female faculty and faculty of color, respectively, found institutional policies significantly more important for their success. ...
Still, opinions differed on many points. "White faculty, female faculty and faculty of color strongly diverged over which institutional policies they found most effective," said Cathy Trower, COACHE Director. "This suggests that a one-size-fits-all, 'we've got that policy on the books, so we're done' attitude doesn't cut it in the competitive environment of recruiting and retaining top faculty talent."
"We see female faculty and faculty of color expressing significantly less satisfaction in regards to how well they 'fit,'" said Trower. "Issues of inequity, in regards to how junior faculty members are treated within each department and how immediate supervisors evaluate their work, seem to be contributing to this problem. Without changes aimed at correcting these feelings of dissatisfaction, it is likely that colleges will continue to struggle to retain men and women of color in all disciplines and white women in fields in which they have been historically under-represented, like science and engineering." [For the complete news release and report, go to:
http://gseacademic.harvard.edu/~coache/reports/20070801.html ]
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