Ryan Rendleman

Daily Egyptian

The transportation industry is looking for diversity in its workforce and the College of Applied Sciences and Arts held a discussion panel Monday to find ways to stay ahead of the curve.

The panel's focus was on the college's recruitment and efforts to make its faculty, staff and student body more reflective of the state of Illinois, said Paul Sarvela, dean of the college. Businesses such as The Boeing Company were represented at the panel.

According to Institutional Research and Studies, the college has been among the top tier for enrolling minority students. In 2005, it ranked fourth in both enrollment of black students, with 334. and American Indian/Alaskan National students with 9. They were first in enrolling Asian Pacific Islander students, with 78, and second in enrollment of Hispanic students with 120.

The University has made vast improvements, he said, but it must continue to push for greater diversity.

"We must continue our good work to make access of education a possibility for all people who want to take part in our education programs," he said.

Sarvela said diversity among the student body and faculty is important to the college because it promotes intellectual development and enhances critical thinking. It also decreases prejudice, he said.

Various chairs from different departments within the college discussed their individual issues with recruiting of faculty and students. Some of those included Jack Greer, chairman of the Department Automotive Technology, David NewMyer, chairman of the Department of Aviation and Flight and John Cotter, chairman of the Department of Aviation Technologies.

Greer said the Department of Automotive Technologies goes to Chicago area schools to talk with students and counselors. It also sponsors open houses at SIUC and maintains a Web site. He said the department wants to increase diversity, develop marketing materials, and make the demographics better match those of the University. He said he wants the department's faculty to become more diverse, too.

NewMyer said bringing students to the aviation program can be difficult because of the high cost. In addition, he said there are not many program-based scholarships, which also hurts recruitment.

Cotter gave statistics of the demographics in the Department of Aviation Technologies. He said out of approximately 120 students, 4 percent are female, 5 percent are black, 4 percent are Hispanic and 3 percent are Asian. He said the program is below capacity in enrollment of students. In addition, he said there is a misunderstanding of career possibilities in aviation maintenance and that almost all graduates of the program find jobs in their fields.

Sarvela said he hopes ideas presented at the panel can be used to raise awareness and bring diversity to the different departments.