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Illinois tackles issue of faculty diversity

Faculty and student diversity have been at the forefront of issues plaguing the Illinois higher education system for several years, and today is no exception.

College and university faculty and administrators from across the state will be in attendance at a faculty diversity summit in Springfield. Co-sponsored by SIUC, the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the University of Illinois-Springfield, the summit will focus on ways institutions of higher education can enhance minority representation.

According to IBHE senior associate director, Terry Nunn, the conference, "Conducting Effective Faculty Searches," is a result of studies on faculty diversity conducted and compiled by the IBHE.

Nunn said through the study, the IBHE found a disproportionate percentage in minority faculty at both Illinois colleges and universities and wanted to find ways to reverse that trend.

"We found an under representation of minority faculty on campuses," Nunn said. "And we wanted to explore some of the underlying reasons for that and hopefully identify some strategies that would help us work toward alleviating the problem."

Together, African-Americans and Latinos make up 27 percent of the state's population, but according to the IBHE's report, they constitute only a combined 7 percent of all faculties at Illinois colleges and universities.

Some major issues addressed in the report, which is titled, "Opportunities for Leadership: Strategies for Improving Faculty Diversity in Illinois Higher Education," include search processes and campus and community climates.

Nunn said IBHE administrators believe the search process is an integral element in creating a diverse faculty makeup because it is where the hiring begins. He said for this reason, issues facing college and university search committees would be a focal topic at the conference.

"We're thinking the search process could be strengthened to be more inclusive toward making adjustments to the culture of the institution and some procedural changes so that the search process can be more conducive to hiring, selecting or attracting candidates that are more diverse," Nunn said.

According to the report, search process are flawed because they sometimes fail to identify common departmental and institutional objectives, committee members lack adequate training and the job descriptions are often narrowly written.

Marcia Phelps, who is an SIUC equal opportunity officer, said the University's Department of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity, which reviews all recommended hires, requires departments to submit a plan stating how they will go about reaching qualified women and minorities and any advertisements they intend to use to attract candidates.

Seymour Bryson, associate chancellor for Diversity, said the University is also in the process of making a training video for faculty who serve on search committees.

Bryson said he believes there are seven interdependent key factors that play into an institution's ability to recruit and retain a diverse faculty. These include resources, strategies, commitment and culture.

"You can have good strategies," Bryson said, "but if you don't have a commitment, leadership and the resources, the best strategies in the world won't be effective."

Bryson said he believes the University's involvement and participation in the conference shows its commitment to diversity and also gives it the chance to better understand its mission toward diversity.

"This is an opportunity to increase the University's knowledge and skills and ability to better understand the issues and challenges of trying to diversify their faculty," Bryson said. "The fact that we're playing a leadership role in this shows that we do have a fairly good reputation in this area."

Approximately 10 University representatives will be present at the event, including dignitaries, President James Walker, Chancellor Walter Wendler and Bryson.

With more than 200 people registered for the conference, Nunn said the IBHE is looking to confront the issue and provide applicable solutions that colleges and universities can use to counteract the problem of faculty diversity.

"We're hoping to do more than raise awareness," Nunn said. "We're hoping that out of this summit, there will be legitimate, viable strategies that institutions in Illinois can look to adopting."