Leading Change: Recruiting, Hiring and Retaining a Diverse Professoriate

SESSION BB Sponsored by: Committee on Cultural Diversity

Recruiting, hiring, and retaining African American, Latino, Asian and Native American (AALANA) faculty at a predominantly white institution requires building a systemic commitment to change. It is an active process that requires sustained attention at multiple levels of the university, from the faculty and staff of academic units to the President and Board of Trustees. So, what role can the college play in developing sustainable programs within departments? In cultivating and maintaining faculty support? In acting affirmatively and avoiding unconscious discrimination throughout the search and hire process? In assuring accountability and assessing effectiveness of program? The panelists will share practical tips that address these issues based on their experiences and hiring practices at their respective institutions.

Presiding: Tom Otieno, Co-Chair, CCAS Committee on Cultural Diversity, Eastern Kentucky University

Panelists: Trudy Cobb Dennard, MFA, Towson University, College of Fine Arts & Communication

Sam Oleka, Ph. D., College of Arts, Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies (CASSIS), Kentucky State University

John R. D. Stalvey, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences, Kent State University

Hiring Affirmatively:A Dean’s Point of View

Sam Oleka, Ph.D. Professor & Dean

Kentucky State University

• Chartered 1816 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons

• Smallest of Kentucky’s State Universities– 2800 students– Approximately 150 full-time faculty– 15:1 faculty ratio

Student Faculty Composition

Students Faculty73% full time 30% African-American27% part time 55% White

5% Asian65% residents of Kentucky 10% other[1]35% non-Kentucky residents59% African American28% white13% other

[1] Kentucky State University Catalogue 2009-2010 pg.5

Putting our House in Order

• Justification for new hire• Advertising• Prepare unit for search• Set-up search committee• Establish time-table for search

– Don’t Wait too Late!!!

Searching in the Right Places

• Advertise in strategic bulletins, journals and academic publications

• Attend relevant conferences that focus on minority scholars

So You have Candidates…Now What

• Give Clear directions to the search committee– Required –vs- Preferred credentials– Diversity in the pool a must– Commitment to diversity required

You’re Hired – You’re not done!

• Probationary Period and Mentoring• New Faculty Orientation

– Credit toward tenure / Early tenure– Evaluation Standards– The importance of the Dossier

Conclusions // Suggestions

1. Leadership commitment to diversity2. Systemic commitment to diversity3. Commitment to pay for diversity4. Diversity in Advertising - don’t just stick with the

Chronicle! Attend relevant conferences.5. Don’t delay the start of your search.6. Communicate clear expectations to candidates7. Educate and mentor new hires

Strategies for Diversifying Our Applicant Pools

Trudy Cobb Dennard, Associate DeanCollege of Fine Arts & Communication

Towson Universitytcobb@towson.edu

College of Fine Arts & Communication

• Departments of– Art + Design, Art History, Art Education– Dance– Electronic Media and Film– Mass Communication & Communication Studies– Music– Theatre ArtsNearly 3500 studentsTowson University nearly 22,000 students

Results Since 2005

• 42 new hires– 1 Hispanic female– 1 African-American female– 3 Asian females– 1 Asian male2004-05 93 FT faculty2010-11110 FT faculty

Process

• Reviewed Support and Search Materials• Developed a check list of steps from search

initiation through completion (see packet)• Developed a college search workbook• Provide a workshop to all search committee

chairs

Support

• Associate Dean available for questions throughout the search

• Special Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equal Opportunity responds to questions from the college with immediacy

• Everyone responds to steps requiring approval with immediacy, as possible

• College is receptive to suggested revisions for workbook content

Acknowledgement

• Everyone working on a search committee is engaged in important service for the future of the academic community

• Thank the committee members and especially the committee chairs during the process, not just at the conclusion

T Cobb Dennard, CCAS 2010, NOLA

College of Arts & Sciences

Chance Favors the Prepared Mind, But It Doesn’t Favor Diversity

Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences

November 13, 2010

Benefits of a Diverse Faculty

Expose colleagues and students to a wider range of scholarly perspectives and to knowledge attained through different life experiences

Produce graduates who understand the value that diverse points of view bring to solving complex problems

Provide mentors for a diverse student body at both the undergraduate and graduate level

Compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

From: Diversity Web, www.diversityweb.org

College of Arts & Sciences

“Effort to diversify faculty must be driven by active and visible commitment at most senior levels of university administration, including president, provost, and deans: universities that have dramatically increased their faculty diversity have done so through conscious, active planning and commitment to uncommon results.”

In: Breakthrough Advances in Faculty Diversity, a publication from the Education Advisory Board, Washington, D. C.

Strategies to Diversify the Faculty

College of Arts & Sciences

Efforts at Kent State University to Diversify the FacultyThe President and Board of Trustees have led the way:

by making explicit the Universities commitment to Inclusive Excellence.

by establishing the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) led by a Vice President in the President’s Cabinet.

The College of Arts and Sciences:

by collaborating with DEI to educate search committees.

by working with DEI to develop a pipeline of candidates for future faculty searches.

The departments:by making connections with possible applicants at professional conferences and contacting people when searches open.

College of Arts & Sciences

Efforts by Departments to Diversify the Faculty

The personal touch:

Biological Sciences

First African American faculty in the sciences at Kent State University and highest proportion of AALANA faculty in the sciences

Sociology

Highest proportion of African American faculty in social sciences at Kent State University

College of Arts & Sciences

Efforts to Diversify the Faculty

Diversity Report for faculty 2002-2009 at Kent State University:

From 2002 to 2009, AALANA faculty comprised from 6.3% to 7.3% of KSU full time faculty, whereas nationally AALANA faculty rose from 9.0% to 9.6% form 2003 to 2007

During that period an average of 9.9% of the new hires at KSU each year were AALANA faculty

The average faculty retention rate was 92% AALANA faculty and 95% for white faculty

College of Arts & Sciences

Efforts to Diversify the Faculty

Diversity Report for New Faculty Hires AY 2009-2010 at Kent State University:

AALANA populations comprise approximately 38.7% of the US population in 2009

Only 15.9 % of the applicant pool at KSU for AY 2009 – 2010 self identified as AALANA

The percentage of new faculty positions filled by AALANA candidates was only 6.2%

College of Arts & Sciences

Efforts by the College to Diversify the Faculty

Partnering with the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Develop a University wide data base of prospective AALANA candidates currently in doctoral or postdoctoral training

Make discussion about ways to encourage diverse candidate pools a part of a search committee’s charge

Pilot a project to address the influence of unexamined biases on a search committee

Develop a webinar to address unexamined biases

College of Arts & Sciences