Featured Articles and
Topics
LOW DIVERSITY AT U OF I AN ISSUE
CHAMPAIGN, IL (U-Wire) A new
University of Illinois committee focused on enhancing diversity is inviting feedback from
students and faculty to begin addressing problems such as the low number of black faculty
on the UI campus.
In October the Illinois
Committee on Black Concerns in Higher Education, a group calling for more diversity among
teachers and administrators, issued the University an unsatisfactory grade for ranking
last out of 12 Illinois state schools in its percentage of black faculty.
The Diversity Planning Committee, a group formed by the provost and the chancellor at the end of the last semester, had its first meeting Jan. 19. About 30 people, invited by the provost and chancellor, met to discuss goals and future plans. The group includes four students.
Professor James Anderson,
committee head, said now is a good time to begin discussing diversity issues and putting
into effect specific, action-oriented plans.
“We need to keep abreast
with the changing times and constantly be figuring out new and innovative ways to
change,” Anderson said. “We need to have a committee like this to
move forward. We can’t view diversity as
a static issue.”
Eamon Kelly, junior in LAS and
Diversity Planning Committee member, said it’s not easy to make a campus more
supportive of diversity.
“There’s a number of
things we don’t do
well enough,” he said, “I feel I’ve had a good experience, but it’s
something I’ve had to particularly seek out.”
The committee concentrates on
area studies programs, such as the African-American Studies Program, where concerns
regarding black faculty can be addressed.
“It’s clearly a
problem we’ll address,” Anderson said of the University’s poor rating. “It’s one of the areas that’s
critical to everything else. We expect to
come up with some very good plans.”
At the University, 2.53
percent of faculty members are black, according to ICBCHE’s 1997 statistics.
Not much has changed in recent
years, said ICBCHE President, Seymour Bryson. Bryson
noted that statewide, the percentage of minority faculty employed at the university level
has actually decreased.
In 1997, Illinois schools
employed 10,097 full-time faculty members. Of
this, 4.9 percent were black. In 1999, that
percentage was slightly lower at 4.8, according to data released last month by the
Illinois Board of Higher Education.
“Right now, we’re
not making any progress,” Bryson said. “We’re
talking about quality education and optimal learning conditions. The teachers should be representative of the
students.”
University administrators said
they are aware of the importance of a diverse faculty and how it can improve education.
“A number of studies have
found that the more diverse a student body is and the more diverse faculty and administration are, the more enriching and
valuable the learning experience is for students,”
Associate Chancellor Bill Berry said.
The percentage of black
students at the University in 2000 was 6.3, according to the Division of Management
Information Web site. This includes graduate
and undergraduate students.
The percentage of
African-Americans on tenure status is a bit higher than the percentage of total black
faculty, at 2.81 percent.
Bill Murphy, University
spokesman, pointed out the school’s gains in the last 20 years. Since 1981, the total minority representation
among faculty of tenure and tenure-track status at the University has steadily improved. Minority groups include black, Hispanic,
Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian.
In 1981, the percentage of
minority faculty was 1.2. According to
University statistics for this year, that percentage rose to 2.9, with 55 black faculty
members. Overall, there are 308 minority
professors, out of 1,917 professors, or 16 percent. It’s
a steady increase because of the loss of 344 faculty positions.
“Yes, it’s an
improvement,” Murphy said. “We’ve
more than doubled the share of African-American faculty.
That’s (still) not where we want to be, but we have made considerable
progress.”
Berry said part of the general
recruiting problem is so many schools are recruiting the same groups. He also noted the disadvantage of the
University’s location, as opposed to the schools closer to the city or in other parts
of the country, and limited job opportunities for family members.
Berry emphasized the
importance of mentoring minority teachers once they’ve been hired.
“We have to make more of
a point of ensuring the likelihood that it’s a good fit,” he said. “We can do more in that area.
“Going and hiring a lot
of people isn’t going to solve anything – we need to make them feel like
they’re an integral core of the school or they’re not going to stay,” Berry said. “They
need to know they’re a valued part of the University.
That may take some time.”
The University is currently
involved with programs to address the problem, such as participating in a summer research
program with other schools from the Big Ten. The
program tries to attract minority students for graduate study and hopefully motivate them
to future careers in teaching.
“The purpose is send them
into the pipeline, to produce a pool to draw from later,” Berry said.
Bryson said an ideal goal for
schools to strive for is to reach 15.3 percent of black faculty, which would mirror the
percentage of blacks in the Illinois population.
Article by Amy Boerema of the
Daily Illini (U. Illinois) taken from a copy
in the Daily Egyptian (SIUC’s Campus Newspaper) on Monday, February 5, 2001
GROUP PUSHES FOR MORE MINORITY
REPRESENTATION AT STATE COLLEGES by Bennie M.
Currie, Associated Press
CARBONDALE Although the fall semester remains in session,
Illinois’ public colleges and universities already have been issued an unsatisfactory
grade by a group pushing to increase the number of minority professors.
That’s the message
contained within a “report card” released by the Illinois Committee on Black
Concerns in Higher Education, a group of educators calling for more diversity within the
teaching and administrative ranks at the state’s 12 public universities.
There are only two state
institutions – Chicago State University and nearby Governors State University –
while the percentage of blacks among the faculty is at or above 15 percent, the proportion
of blacks statewide.
We’re saying that all
institutions ought to strive for that.” Said ICBCHE president Seymour Bryson,
Associate Chancellor for Diversity at Southern Illinois University. “We’re saying that if you really are
going to talk about improving the climate on college campuses, that you need to start with
a critical mass of black faculty. That would
help to recruit and maintain (black students).”
The ICBCHE document is based
on 1997 state records, which show that of the 10,097 faculty members employed full-time at
state universities, 495, or 4.9 percent black. That
percentage was slightly lower, at 4.8 percent, in 1999, according to data released last
month by the Illinois Board of Higher Education.
“The numbers have been
the same for years.” Bryson added,
“I’ve looked at the data (and) since 1988 there has been little change. Some colleges are not making any progress.”
In addition to reporting
minority faculty statistics, the ICBCHE has issued recommendations on ways that stat
officials can boost those figures.
The group is calling for all
public universities to include blacks and Hispanics under the label of
“critical” faculty for which public universities receive state funds to recruit
and retain in-demand professors. The group
also wants university officials to consider filling open faculty positions with existing
minority staff members who are qualified.
Getting every campus to
resemble the state’s demographics, however, takes time, said Keith Sanders, executive director of the
higher education board. He said he thinks the
key to boosting the number of minority faculty candidates in producing more minority
graduates at Illinois high schools.
“We are working with
(elementary and high schools) and the State Board of Education,” Sanders said. “It’s a systematic problem that we are
beginning to attack at its root, not just at the graduate and Ph.D. level.”
The agency’s tactics
include working with middle schools to improve student achievement and promoting use of
the “Illinois Virtual High School,” an
online program targeted to begin next year that allows students access to college-level
courses any time of the day or night.
But while long-term strategies
are helpful, the task of increasing the number of minority faculty hires would be better
handled through more immediate tactics, said Walter Allen, a sociology professor at UCLA.
“There’s this notion
that we’ll grow our own faculty and it’s a trap,” said Allen, who studies
racial inequalities in higher education.
“I have limited sympathy
for this idea of a scarcity of available candidates,”
Allen added. “Nobel laureates are
scarce, too, but those universities who have them committed themselves to attracting such
people.”
Last summer, SIU officials
ended their search for a new president with the hiring of James Walker, making the
university the third in the state with a black administrator at the helm. The other two schools are Chicago State and
Eastern Illinois University.
EIU’s appointment of
Carol Surles as its president last year is “a sign that there is an extraordinary
effort underway toward inclusion” at the state’s colleges, Sanders said.
“I think it sends a
strong message to students and faculty and staffs that we believe in ethnic
diversity,” he said.
Cynthia Nichols, EIU’s
director of civil rights and diversity, said school officials share Sanders’ view.
The focal point of the
ICBCHE’s minority push is tenured professors, Bryson said. Tenured professors “are your core
faculty” who tend to remain with a university for several years, he said, adding that
a larger pool of veteran minority professors might make a campus more attractive to
minority students.
ILLINOIS COMMITTEE ON BLACK CONCERNS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
ICBCHE
The ICBCHE Awards General Descriptions:
The Distinguished Service Award is given to a member of the ICBCHE Steering Committee or organization at large who has unselfishly offered an extraordinary level of work and service to the Steering Committee.
The Heritage Award is given to a citizen, administrator or educator, or other professional who has sustained, unselfish, and fruitful record of advocacy to higher education, and education generally; and to issues relevant to Blacks particularly. Achievements considered may be in their profession and in public service. This award is given to persons who exhibit the brilliance of the diverse Black talent pool and contribute to its preservation and growth.
The Legislative Award is given to a legislator (usually an Illinois legislator), who has: exhibited an exemplary legislative record; demonstrated commitment to the goals of ICBCHE; has sought information for input into the legislative process in just ways regarding constituents in general, but under represented groups, particularly; and continues the tradition of jurisprudence of foreparents of whom were Black jurists.
The Do The Right Thing Award is one bestowed upon a chancellor, president, or provost of an Illinois institution who has produced extraordinary results demonstrating commitment to the placement of more than token representation in the hiring of Blacks in top administrative positions in their institutions.
The Trustee Award is given to a member of an educational institution governing board. The Award is given to recognize one who has best represented the goals and objectives of ICBCHE in executing their role on their board.