The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Minority Faculty is on the Rise

SIUC added 11 minority faculty members in tenured and tenure-track positions since fiscal year 2003, according to a report presented to the Board of Trustees last week.

The report was constructed by Provost John Dunn and Seymour Bryson, associate chancellor for diversity, and outlines the University's recruitment and retention efforts of minority faculty in the fiscal year 2004.

"I think this is a campus that, historically, has been most receptive to people of color in faculty and leadership roles," Dunn said.

The report states that the University's goal for fiscal year 2004 was to increase the number of ethnic faculty by 5 percent. The biggest area of increase was in the hiring of Asian-American faculty, which went from 63 in 2003 to 71 in 2004.

Dunn said there is no specific reason for the large increase of Asian-American faculty. He also said the underrepresented population is sometimes different than the minority population.

"Even though the Asian American campus is certainly part of the minority community, at least on this campus, when we talk about underrepresented, we're talking African American, Native American and Hispanic," Dunn said.

He also said that although the University has increased its black faculty population by two, it is not enough.

The report also outlined special effort the University has taken in recruitment efforts of minority faculty.

Bryson met with the dean of each college to assist them in increasing minority faculty recruiting efforts. He said they reviewed hiring records from the past five or six years and encouraged the deans to develop both long and short-range plans for hiring minority faculty.

Bryson said he is impressed with some of the colleges' proactive approaches to recruitment and their motivation to visit other colleges to talk with prospective candidates.

"We really have to apply the same kind of approach that they apply to recruiting athletes," Bryson said.

Peter Alexander, dean of the School of Law, said that he has met with Bryson, and the Law School is working on identifying minorities who might be good candidates for positions there.

Alexander said there are many initiatives the University takes to attract minority faculty, but there is still work ahead.

"Our track record isn't as good as it can be," Alexander said. "The more people who pull in the right direction, the more diversity we will see on this campus."

Thomas Calhoun, chairman of the Department of Sociology, said the University has been committed to the recruitment and retention of faculty of diverse backgrounds even before "Southern at 150" outlined a plan, but it is up to the departments to help make it happen.

"The real question is what the people in the trenches are doing to carry out the University's goals," Calhoun said.

Calhoun said the argument that minority faculty candidates cannot be found is "weak."

Calhoun said one strategy, Multicultural Teaching Fellowship, which was used at the University of Nebraska, might be a good strategy for SIUC.

Calhoun said Nebraska identified minority faculty from around the county and brought them to the university to teach for a summer. He said this program not only exposes the person to the university but also allows the university to decide if that person would be a good fit.

The issue of hiring enough faculty, Calhoun said, is not limited to minority faculty alone.

Another effort the University has taken is the expansion of the Minority Revolving Fund, which provides a department with a fund to recruit minority faculty members. The money to hire is advanced to them, but must be paid back within a four-year period.

Chancellor Walter Wendler has committed to increase the fund by $500,000, with the money going to help with minority recruitment and retention.

Bryson said the Minority Revolving Fund has allowed the University a "win, win" opportunity to recruit minority faculty.

When dealing with minority students, the report stated the University acknowledges that it has "lagged behind" in its successes with Hispanic students and that more energy will go toward to the recruitment of Latino students in the future.

Carmen Suarez, the coordinator of the Office of Diversity and Equity, said although there is a need for Latino faculty and student recruitment, the real gap of faculty/student ratio is in the African-American population.

"We've done pretty well in African-American students, and most of us can name the true, African American, tenure-track and tenured faculty ... that's not good," Suarez said.

Suarez said she believes a Latino Studies program would not only attract Latino students, but also faculty.

"What can we do?" Suarez said. "That's the discussion we need to have on this campus. What can we do to make our place more attractive?"

 

 

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