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Attendance
Diversity Committee report
Election of officers

Minutes of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Faculty Assembly

Attending: Amert, Balderston, Birrell, Brochu, Charlton, Cowles, Darling, Domínguez, Filios, Franklin, Geng, Gibson, Harwood, Honey, T. Jones, Joselson, Lara-Braud, Larsen, Lawrence, Lutgendorf, Maierhofer, Marra, Nelson, Niño-Murcia, Noonan, Onel, Ploeger, Plumert, Racevskis, Redlawsk, Ringen, Robinson, Squire, Strohmer, Stroyan, Thompson, Troyer

Excused absence: Aprile, Fethke, Frankel, Gutiérrez, Leddy, Pavlik, Porter, Randell, Trevor

Absent: Altman, Blumberg, Bolton, Borreca, Buss, Finnegan, Gatica, Gölz, Hendrix, Hurtig, D. Jones, Kim, Michaels, Mills, Moore, Parratt, Plapp, Pusack, Schope, Schwalm, Slabakova, Snider, Tomblin, Vélez, Vlastos, Waters, Yuasa

Visiting 2004-05 members: Robert Bork, Art & Art History; Suely Oliveira, Computer Science; Jane Singer, Journalism & Mass Communication

Other visitors: Fred Antczak, Associate Dean for Academic Programs

1. The minutes of the Faculty Assembly meeting of February 18, 2004 were approved as distributed.

2. Diversity Committee report. Member Rex Honey (Geography) presented the Diversity Committee's report.

Honey reviewed the committee's charge, emphasizing that providing a rich learning environment demanded a broad conception of diversity. Consequently, the committee looked at efforts aimed at increasing participation by groups that have suffered legal discrimination in the past, as well as groups that are underrepresented at Iowa for reasons other than historical discrimination.

He reported that the committee decided to focus on identifying best practices rather than gauging collegiate efforts against those at other universities. The committee conducted interviews both on and off campus, and held a chautauqua on diversity in the spring of 2003.

Honey said that the committee noted a genuine commitment by the University and the College to diversity and commended especially President Skorton and Executive Associate Dean Raúl Curto. Even when overall budgets had been reduced, the University and the CLAS had both maintained budgetary commitments to diversity efforts. He noted that diversity required a continuing and permanent commitment, given Iowa's overwhelmingly white population.

In general, Honey said, the committee found that best practices were those tailored to the specific nature of a program's faculty, staff, and student body.

With respect to faculty recruitment, the committee reported that candidates had to be able to see themselves as part of the future of the department, as well as part of the community. In terms of faculty retention, the needs the committee noted were for effective mentoring, effective lines of communication, establishing community connections, and a sense of respect from the program's DEO and senior faculty. They noted a particular difficulty in retaining faculty whose research involved the study of minorities, which in most cases meant they were located far from the communities they researched.

Honey mentioned that some departments had committees for diversity, which varied widely in their effectiveness.

The committee recommended maintaining the practice of giving probationary faculty a semester without teaching halfway through the probationary period. They found this was very helpful, particularly for minority faculty members.

Regarding graduate student recruitment, the committee recommended using culturally appropriate criteria when assessing aptitude for completing graduate studies. They also emphasized the need for adequate financial resources to attract top minority students. Other practices they recommended were recruiting students from historically black colleges and universities and other institutions with significant minority populations.

Practices noted by the committee for promoting graduate student retention included: a workshop before fall semester, aimed particularly at minority students but open to all; support seminars during the academic year; preparation for major examinations; and the involvement of women and minorities in faculty research, especially early in their graduate career. In general, the committee recommended cultivating a supportive departmental atmosphere and proactively looking for potential problems students might have.

In terms of undergraduate recruitment, Honey stressed that the admissions office would welcome enthusiastically help and support by faculty for their minority recruitment efforts. The committee also recommended active participation in summer programs for high school students and in recruiting trips.

Undergraduate retention efforts recommended by the committee included working with groups such as Women in Science and Engineering and ethnic houses. Honey also emphasized the importance of showing interest in undergraduate students and providing opportunities for them to become involved in research and other activities.

Honey reported that staff recruitment and retention received the least attention from faculty. The committee emphasized the importance of sensitivity to genuine cultural differences in dealing with staff.

Committee recommendations included making diversity efforts a significant priority for fundraising. They also recommended taking full advantage of Dean Curto's advice on increasing and supporting diversity.

Members asked whether there was funding available for recruitment trips. Honey replied that the admissions office makes recruitment trips and would love to have faculty involvement in planning and carrying them out.

Another member commented that departments could involve undergraduates in research in more organized ways.

Member Lisa Troyer (Sociology) commented that there are a number of summer programs that welcome faculty involvement. She also spoke of the need to educate the off-campus community about diversity and to network more with the community. She agreed with other members that Iowa City is more welcoming of diversity than most communities in Iowa, but she maintained that there was still a lot of naivete and misunderstanding regarding diversity in the local area. She said that it would be helpful if the committee compiled information on some of the resources referred to in the committee's report and then made the compilation available to the faculty at large. Honey said the committee would do that.

Member Kim Marra (Theatre Arts) observed that many of the best practices recommended by the committee for minority students were also best practices for students in general. She cautioned that it was important that activities be inclusive so that they do not cause resentment against minority groups.

Another member spoke of the need for raising consciousness about the importance of diversity. She said that there was a lot of lip service paid to diversity, but not always a great deal of real understanding. She maintained that many faculty believed that excellence and diversity were at odds and that one had to be traded off for the other. She asked whether Dean Curto would be willing to speak directly to departments to explain why diversity was important. Honey said his impression was that Dean Curto would be more than willing to visit departments to talk about diversity.

3. Election of officers. Chair Peverill Squire (Political Science) reported that the nomination committee had nominated Jae-On Kim (Sociology) as the Assembly's vice chair and Alvin Snider (English) as secretary for the 2004-05 academic year.

Squire asked whether there were additional nominations from the floor. There were none, and he asked for a motion to elect the nominees by acclamation. It was so moved and seconded, and the nominees were elected on a voice vote.

4. Adjournment. Having addressed all business on the agenda, the Assembly adjourned until the fall.

Respectfully submitted,
David Redlawsk
Secretary, 2003-04