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Subcommittee on Diversity Initiatives Report Card on Racial/Ethnic Diversity
for the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Iowa 1999-2000
Faculty Assembly Subcommittee on Diversity Initiatives
- Audrey Qualls (Chair), Associate Professor, Education
- Margaret Bass, Assistant Professor, English
- Anne Donadey, Assistant Professor, Comp. Lit. & Women's Studies
- Luis Gonzalez, Associate Professor, Geology
- Kim Marra, Associate Professor, Theatre Arts
Introduction
The College of Liberal Arts Faculty Assembly Subcommittee on Diversity Initiatives
("Diversity Committee" in what follows) was constituted in the Fall
of 1998. We are following up on the 1998-1999 preliminary report of the Diversity
Committee by authoring this report card and assessing diversity efforts in three
major areas: recruitment and retention, campus climate, and leadership. Since
this is the first time such a report has been created, the information contained
here is intended as a baseline to be used as a point of comparison for future
years.
In addition to information provided by Executive Associate Dean Curto, the
committee drew upon information provided by Susan Mask, Director of the Office
of Affirmative Action (OAA), the Office of the Registrar, DEO's within the CLA
who responded to the Departmental Diversity Activities Survey, and to faculty
and staff who responded to the Campus Climate Survey. We are also indebted to
Jennifer Modesto (OAA); Robert Brennan, Director of the Iowa Testing Programs;
and our staff lifeline, Nancy Dwight. We are grateful for their assistance.
Last year, the Diversity Committee highlighted the status of one particularly
underrepresented group, African-Americans. This year, our report highlights all
US minority groups within the College. A recommendation from the 1998-99 committee
to which we have adhered is a change in the manner in which minorities are classified
and counted within the College. University wide classification schemes for minority
classification include both US born minorities (e.g. Native American/Alaska Native,
Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian/Pacific Islanders) and Non-US
born individuals from African, Asian, Caribbean, and Latin American countries.
Although the diversity of our campus is enhanced by the presence, knowledge, and
experience of both US minority members and foreign nationals, the inclusion of
both groups under a single minority label is misleading because it paints a distorted
picture. The Committee is pleased to note that the Dean's State of the College
address also used this categorization scheme. Throughout this report, references
to minority groups will refer only to US born Asian-Americans, African-American,
Latino, or Native Americans. Non-US will be used to refer to Non-US born individuals
from African, Caribbean, and Latin American countries.
Recruitment and Retention: Success in recruiting, promoting, and retaining
members of US minority groups effectively can have a long-term positive effect
on the overall quality of education at the University of Iowa as well as promoting
community growth. Information regarding the recruitment and retention of US minorities
within the CLA was culled from data provided by the the Office of Affirmative
Action, the Office of the Registrar, and the Dean's Office of the CLA.
Campus Climate: Faculty/staff perceptions of campus climate have been
identified as one factor that contributes to retention. The committee determined
that this seldom gathered information on perceptions of campus climate is vital
to any discussions about retention of minority faculty and staff. To find out
how minority faculty and staff perceived campus climate, we designed a survey
and worked with the Office of Affirmative Action to distribute the survey to relevant
faculty and staff members in ways that preserved their anonymity. Information
within this survey on climate are based solely on faculty and staff responses
to the survey.
Leadership and Resources: A major key for success for any university
initiative rests with the leadership of the individual colleges and departments.
Two avenues that are useful in appraising the quality of leadership are an examination
of activities that are promoted and resource allocation. Very little information
is circulated in the College regarding actual diversity activities and resource
allocations for these efforts. Such information, if known, could lead to an exchange
of ideas and practices across departments that collectively could enhance the
racial/ethnic diversity of the CLA. There are departments within the College that
have been particularly successful in utilizing a number of resources to increase
the numbers of faculty and students of color. In an attempt to better understand
what is being done as well as to learn what works, a Departmental Diversity Activity
Survey was developed and sent to all 59 department or certification program heads.
A companion Collegiate Survey was also developed and completed by Executive Associate
Dean Curto. Leadership information used in this report was derived from these
survey responses.
CLA Report Card on Diversity
- Recruitment and Retention
Faculty and Professional/Scientific Staff: To more clearly convey who the
minority faculty and staff members of the College are, Table
1 (requires
acrobat reader) employs a categorization
scheme that disaggregates such individuals based upon rank. The CLA is comprised
of 1202 members holding either faculty or staff positions. Professional and Scientific
positions are held by 325 members of which 282 (86.6%) are white, 14 (4.3%) are
US minorities, and 29 (8.9%) are Non-US professional staff. There are 655 tenure
track faculty members: 498 of these members are tenured and 157 are untenured.
Of the members who are tenured 439 (88.2%) are white, 15 (3.0%) are US minorities,
and 44 (8.8%) are Non-US faculty. For members who are untenured: 133 (84.7%) are
white, 10 (6.4%) are US minorities, and 13 (8.3%) are Non-US faculty. Non-tenure
track positions are held by 63 members of the College: 42 (66.7%) are white, 1
(1.6%) is a US minority, and 20 (31.7%) are Non-US faculty. One (.6 of 1%) of
the merit staff employees is Non-US, 157 are white and the race is unknown for
the remaining employee.
Using the classification scheme adopted by the committee, racial/ethnic diversity
specifically, the presence of US minorities among faculty and staff, has been
overstated by the CLA. Overall, US minorities represent 3.3% (40) of the College
body and 3.8% (25) of the tenure track faculty. Two percent (13) members of the
faculty are African American, 1.2% (8) are Hispanic/Latino, .5 of 1% (3) are Native
American, and .2 of 1% (1) is Asian. Judged from any standard, the presence of
US minority members within the College is too small to truly reap the rewards
of a racially/ethnically diverse community.
Minority faculty underutilization is federally defined as having fewer minorities
in a particular job than would reasonably be expected by their availability. According
to the UI 1998-99 Affirmative Action Plan and Report of Activity, several departments
within the CLA exhibit significant underutilization of minority tenure-track faculty
(defined as being underrepresented by at least two minorities for three or more
consecutive years). These departments are: Economics, Music, Political Science,
Psychology, and Sport Health Leisure and Physical Studies.
The single highest percentage of US minority faculty consists of African-American
faculty members in not yet tenured positions (3.8%). Non-US born faculty collectively
represent the largest group other than whites within the college, holding 8.7%
of the tenured-track positions and 31.7% of the non-tenured track positions.
In the DEO survey, only 21% of reporting departments indicated that they had a
mentoring program for faculty. Twenty-six percent had a departmental diversity-recruitment
committee. Twenty-one percent reported specific minority hiring efforts. The department
of Classics reported a pro-active approach to learning about and pursuing potential
minority faculty candidates. Twenty-six percent had no particular structure in
place for faculty diversity efforts.
The Committee is pleased to note the recruitment efforts made in the last two
years. Out of 80 new faculty hires in 1998 and 1999, 6 (7.5%) are US minorities.
Merit Staff: The least integrated workforce in the College is merit staff,
which employs no US minorities and only 1 Non-US member out of 159 (.6 of 1%).
In the DEO survey, very few reporting departments indicated that they had a mentoring
program or diversity committee for staff. Forty-seven percent had no particular
structure in place for staff diversity efforts.
It is important to note that concerns over underreporting CLA success in diversity
efforts because people may choose to not identify as a single racial/ethnic category
are highly overstated in light of the fact that in the entire CLA staff and faculty,
only
2 persons out of 1202 are of race unknown (.2 of 1%).
Students: Table 2 provides racial/ethnic categorization of students within
the CLA. This data was abstracted from the Office of Registrar's publication,
"A Profile of Students Enrolled at The University of Iowa-First Semester
1999-2000." It should be noted that the way in which students are classified
in this table is not the same as the scheme recommended by this committee. The
minority categories could include international students. Any international student
in this country on a student's (temporary) visa is not counted in any ethnic group.
Table 2: A Profile of Students in the College of Liberal Arts
Data taken from A Profile of Students Enrolled at The University of Iowa -First
Semester 1999 - 2000.
| |
Enrollment by
Major Department |
Comparative
Enrollment |
|
Racial/Ethnic
Membership
|
Undergraduate |
Graduate |
Undergraduate |
| Minority |
|
|
|
| Native American |
68
(.4 of 1%) |
19
(.8 of 1%) |
74
(.4 of 1%) |
| African American |
410
(2.6%) |
76
(3.1%) |
416
(2.5%) |
| Hispanic/ Latino |
352
(2.2%) |
70
(2.9%) |
367
(2.2%) |
| Asian/Pacific Islander |
528
(3.3%) |
59
(2.4%) |
539
(3.3%) |
| Total Minority |
1358
(8.5%) |
224
(9.2%) |
1396
(8.5%) |
| International |
306
(1.9%) |
498
(20.5%) |
309
(1.9%) |
| White |
14,258
(89.5%) |
1709
(70.3%) |
14,810
(89.7%) |
| |
|
|
|
| Total Students |
15,922 |
2,431 |
16,515 |
|
Based upon enrollment counts by major department, the total number of undergraduate
students is 15,922. The percentage of minority students is 8.5% (1358). The percentage
of International undergraduate students is 1.9% (306). The remaining 89.5% (14,258)
students are white. The undergraduate percentages based upon the comparative enrollment
counts are consistent with these figures. The graduate student body within the
College totals 2,431. Two hundred and twenty-nine minority members, 9.2%, are
included in this body. The number of International graduate students, 498 (20.5%),
is much larger than the International undergraduate subpopulation. White graduate
students number 1704 and represent 70.3% of the total pool.
The largest group of minority undergraduates is represented by Asian/Pacific Islanders,
3.3%, while African-American graduate students, 3.1%, constitute a small majority.
The percentages of minority students represent a positive effort by the CLA and
departments within to recruit underrepresented groups. Regretfully, two additional
pieces of information that would better inform judgments in these areas were not
examined; they are retention and graduation rates for the entire student body
of the CLA.
1999-2000 Grades:
Faculty and Professional/Scientific Staff Recruitment/Retention: C-
Staff Recruitment/Retention: F
Student Recruitment/Retention: C-
Overall Recruitment/Retention: D+ |
Recommendations:
1.1 That the College set up a system of rewards by which departments that are
successful in recruitment and retention of staff, faculty and students who are
members of US minority groups receive extra funding (such as more resources for
recruitment and for curriculum integration; more funding for minority students,
both undergraduate and graduate (including tuition fellowships and summer funding),
faculty lines, resources for retention of minority faculty and staff; staff and
faculty training). That the College and University include diversity efforts as
a significant component in promotion and tenure decisions. That the College immediately
address problems of serious departmental minority faculty underutilization.
1.2 That the College implement soon the aspect of the Strategic Plan that calls
for developing baseline data on retention of faculty hired for Fall 1991 and Fall
1992 and data on reasons for leaving. These results should be used to feed back
into faculty mentoring and retention efforts. That the College develop similar
data for staff and students who are members of minority groups.
1.3 That the College make it one of its highest priorities to retain tenured minority
faculty as well as increase the numbers of minority tenure-track faculty and ensure
these faculty members receive the support they need in order to get tenure. That
the College prepare a detailed plan of action on hiring and retaining minority
faculty and make it public by December 2000.
1.4 That the College prepare a detailed plan of action to hire a significant number
of merit staff who are members of minority groups and make this plan public by
December 2000.
1.5 That the College, working in conjunction with the Office of the Registrar,
undertake a study that examines retention and graduation rates for students. Undergraduate
rates should be examined for several cohorts of entering students for six years
following admission. The length of time to track graduate progress will vary by
department and a feasible timeline should be determined from discussion with DEO's.
1.6 That the College regularly track retention rates and conduct exit interviews
with faculty and staff who resign.
- Campus Climate
The committee developed a Campus Climate Survey. The survey was sent to minority
members of the CLA as well as Non-US. The survey was designed to yield a measure
of perceptions of campus climate at the university, collegiate and departmental
level. In addition to a Total Campus Climate score, eight subscores were generated:
University Scholarly Support; Departmental Scholarship Support; Promotion/Tenure
Prospects; Interpersonal Relationships; Teaching Experiences; Service Requirements;
Collegiate Diversity Commitments; and Department Diversity Commitments.
Surveys were sent to 148 individuals in two rounds of mailing. A total of 59 surveys
were returned, resulting in a return rate of 39.9%. Given the small number of
individuals in each racial/ethnic category, results were not disaggregated for
individual categories but rather at the level of US or Non-US. Twenty-two US minorities
completed and returned the survey and 37 Non-US faculty returned surveys. Given
the number of members from the two groups, (total 40 US minorities in the college,
107 Non-US), the returns for the US minorities represent approximately 55% of
the population and the Non-US returns represent responses from approximately 34%
of this target group.
A 5-point Likert response scale was used where a score of 1 represented Highly
Satisfied, 2 Satisfied, 3 Evenly Mixed, 4, Dissatisfied, and 5 Highly Dissatisfied.
The overall scores for campus climate for US and Non-US were 2.89 and 2.70, respectively.
The scores for each scale are reported in Table 3.
Table 3: Perceptions of Campus Climate
| |
US Minorities |
Non-US |
| |
Average |
N |
Average |
N |
| Scale |
|
|
|
|
| Scholarly Support |
|
|
|
|
| University |
2.51 |
(22) |
2.60 |
(37) |
| Department |
2.64 |
(22) |
2.66 |
(37) |
| Promotion/Tenure |
2.76 |
(22) |
2.60 |
(34) |
| Interpersonal |
2.89 |
(22) |
2.77 |
(37) |
| Teaching |
2.03 |
(16) |
2.15 |
(31) |
| Service |
2.71 |
(17) |
2.85 |
(31) |
| Diversity Commitment |
|
|
|
|
| Collegiate |
3.61 |
(22) |
3.14 |
(34) |
| Departmental |
3.66 |
(22) |
2.82 |
(34) |
| |
|
|
|
|
| TOTAL |
2.89 |
(22) |
2.70 |
(37) |
|
The subscore averages provide more insight into climate perceptions held by these
individuals. Excluding the two diversity scales, the differences between the two
groups were marginal. On these six scales the average ratings fell between the
neutral and satisfied categories. Non-US members were more satisfied in terms
of Scholarly Support, Promotion/tenure Process, and Interpersonal Relationships.
US minorities were most satisfied with Teaching and Service.
The two groups were more divergent in terms of their rankings on the Diversity
Commitment scales at the Collegiate and Departmental levels. With one exception,
these were the scales where the average rankings indicated the least degree of
satisfaction. US minorities showed a slightly higher level of dissatisfaction
with Departmental Diversity Commitment relative to Collegiate Commitment, while
the reverse was true for Non-US members.
Clearly ratings that can be labeled as neutral at best are not likely to further
retention efforts. Regardless of the stated Diversity Commitment, based upon the
perceptions of Non white members of the college, such commitments are not satisfactory.
| 1999-2000 Climate Grade: C+ |
Recommendations:
2.1 That the CLA continue its efforts to create a campus climate in which all
members of the community feel welcome and valued, and a community that encourages
productivity in and out of the classroom.
2.2 That a similar study be conducted for all faculty and staff members of the
CLA.
- Leadership and Resources
Collegiate Diversity Activities
Executive Associate Dean Curto completed the Collegiate Survey outlining diversity
activities that the College undertakes. Based upon his responses the College expresses
concern over issues of racial/ethnic diversity for all members of the College:
students, faculty, and staff. However, collegiate resources with one exception
(Staff Minority Post Doc Program) are devoted to faculty recruitment and retention
efforts. The CLA's Strategic Plan captures the emphasis on faculty diversity.
As paraphrased by Dean Curto, "The college in partnership with the Faculty
Development Opportunity Program (FDOP), plans to 'substantially increase' the
number of underrepresented minorities on the faculty. One method will be to broaden
applicant pools by advertising faculty openings very widely, especially in minority
publications. The College also plans to maintain the mentoring program that's
in place, and to recognize departments who have particular success." Per
Dean Curto, the collegiate staff does share a common commitment to diversity that
he characterized as an awareness of diversity issues by collegiate staff search
committees and continued cooperation with the OAA to establish diverse applicant
pools.
Specific diversity activities that the Collegiate staff leads are directed toward
DEOs and individual faculty members. The college discusses diversity issues at
new DEO orientation, and DEO workshops encourage DEOs to locate "targets
of opportunity" within their field. For individual faculty members the New
Faculty Orientation includes a workshop on human differences. The CLA provides
individual mentoring from Dean Curto, informal lunches and a reception for minority
faculty.
The College uses national resources and publications for recruitment and for locating
minority candidates (e.g., Hispanic Outlook, Black Issues in Education and CIC
Directory of Minority Ph.D's). University and collegiate resources that have been
used in the past year for diversity activities are: Office of Affirmative Action,
Faculty Development Opportunity Program, individual appointments with the Dean
and/or Executive Associate Dean, and funding for minority faculty lunches. Collegiate
support that is available to departments to help them achieve racial/ethnic diversity
goals include lists of minority Ph.D's, DEO workshops on faculty recruitment,
and placement sources for recruitment ads. The college does offer an incentive
to the departments in the form of extra fully funded faculty lines. What have
proven to be the most successful diversity strategies at the collegiate level
are its partnership with FDOP and follow-up activities with diversity candidates
identified by a department.
Departmental Diversity Activities
A total of 19 departmental surveys were returned, resulting in a return rate of
32%. Per the responding DEO's, the resources that are used most often are University
resources, in particular the Graduate Opportunity Fellowships (used by 42% of
the reporting departments) and Opportunity at Iowa faculty lines (21%). Theater
Arts receives Opportunity at Iowa Arts Scholarships, and Math has received Opportunity
at Iowa support (co-sponsored by GTE) for summer workshops for minority high school
students. A few departments also make use of resources offered by the Affirmative
Action Office (diversity workshops, minority student focus group). The only reported
CLA support came in the form of faculty recruiting trips (co-sponsored by the
Graduate College) and TA support for grants. Thirty-seven percent of the reporting
departments did not use Collegiate/University resources for students; 53% did
not use Collegiate/University resources for faculty; and 58% did not use Collegiate/University
resources for staff.
Departmental resources: The entire budget of American Indian/Native Studies
is geared towards diversity activities. Theater Arts has a separate budget allocated
for the Black Action Theater. The departments of Math, Journalism/Mass Communication,
and Aging Studies have a staff person working on behalf of minority efforts. Other
than these examples, very few of the reporting departments used departmental resources
for diversity activities. Three departments provided funding for minority graduate
student scholarships/research trips, and one for minority undergraduate student
scholarships; two departments provided faculty with travel expenses for minority
student recruiting trips; and one department provided resources for links to HBCUs/minority
colleges.
Fifty eight percent of the reporting departments did not use departmental resources
for students; 63% did not use departmental resources for faculty; and 68% did
not use departmental resources for staff.
National diversity resources: Three of the nineteen reporting departments
indicated that they used national diversity resources for graduate student support.
Both Chemistry and Math make use of the GAANN (Graduate Assistance in Areas of
National Need) fellowships, which are co-sponsored by the University (28%). Both
Chemistry and Speech Pathology/Audiology make use of grants providing bridges
with HBCUs/minority colleges. Two other departments (Statistics/Actuarial Science
and American Indian/Native Studies) make use of minority faculty research grants
(NIH, EPA, National Park Service). Fifty-six percent of the reporting departments
do not use national diversity resources.
It appears overall that very few resources are available from the College or individual
departments (with the exception of American Indian/Native Studies) for diversity
activities. The Graduate College and Opportunity at Iowa are to be commended for
their support of minority graduate students. The work of several departments within
the College has been outstanding, and these departments should be used as a viable
resource for other groups within the CLA. The departments and programs within
the College that have been most successful in furthering racial/ethnic diversity
efforts are: American Indian/Native Studies; Chemistry; Journalism/Mass Communication;
Mathematics; Speech Pathology/Audiology; and Theater.
1999-2000 Grade:
College Leadership and Resource: D
Department Leadership and Resource: D
Overall Leaderhip Grade: D |
Recommendations:
3.1 That the College create funding opportunities for Collegiate diversity
efforts. In particular, that the College provide additional staff to support the
efforts of Executive Associate Dean Curto.
3.2 That the CLA create a standing Collegiate Committee on Diversity (with a budget
and access to CLA staff support) to continue the work of the present Subcommittee
on Diversity Initiatives of the Faculty Assembly. In particular, this Committee
would gather large-scale data and begin to initiate programs to further advance
racial/ethnic diversity efforts in the College.
3.3 That a Diversity Report Card be issued on a yearly basis by the above mentioned
committee and that the CLA refer to such reports and their recommendation in drafting
its Strategic Plans
OVERALL 1999-2000 GRADES:
Recruitment and Retention: D+
Campus Climate: C+
Leadership and Resources: D |
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