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| Vol. 17, No. 24 | March 26, 1998 |
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| Vol. 17, No. 24 | March 26, 1998 |
During the current academic year, the President's Commission to Promote Racial and Cultural Diversity is concentrating efforts on its major priority-increasing faculty diversity.
"The University has made significant strides in increasing the number of underrepresented students and has been nationally recognized for the retention of and successful graduation of African-American students," commission chairperson Araya Debessay, accounting, said.
"At the same time, the small number of underrepresented groups within the ranks of our faculty is a major concern. We all recognize and respect that faculty decide which faculty members to hire. However, it is a fact that the faculty is far less diverse than the student body or the non-faculty employees," Debessay said.
"We want our recruitment and hiring to reflect the belief that by creating an educational community that is intellectually, culturally and socially diverse," Debessay said, "we can best prepare our graduates to perform successfully in a multicultural environment."
"The University is committed to the total education of our students- preparing them to succeed in today's global environment. We must educate them broadly, and that education must include opportunities for them to interact with students, faculty and staff from different ethnic, national and cultural backgrounds," President David P. Roselle said.
"Diversity and excellence are intertwined," he said.
Last month, Roselle said, some 50 college and university organizations, including the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the American Association of University Professors, endorsed a statement on the importance of diversity in higher education. The statement was published as a full-page advertisement in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
According to the endorsement, diversity "enriches the educational experience...promotes personal growth and a healthy society... strengthens communities and the workplace...[and] enhances America's economic competitiveness."
Colleges and universities must "continue to be able to reach out and make a conscious effort to build healthy and diverse learning environments appropriate for their messages," the endorsement said, adding, "The success of higher education and the strength of our democracy depend on it."
Maxine Colm, vice president for administration, said, "The University of Delaware has made serious efforts to attract minorities and underrepresented individuals to our campus. We have a hiring policy in place that is designed to promote diversity within UD's workforce, and we are constantly seeking highly qualified candidates to fill positions that become available."
Ideally, Colm stressed, all employees need to share the University's interest in promoting diversity when they attend conferences and meetings and interact with their colleagues at other institutions.
"When this occurs, word of the University's commitment will be recognized beyond the campus," she said.
University Provost Mel Schiavelli said, "Faculty hiring is in the domain of the faculty, and it is, therefore, critically important that members of the faculty play a leading role in helping their respective units achieve excellence by ensuring that their students are benefiting from the presence of faculty from underrepresented groups."
Debessay said the commission's major focus this year has been to learn what the deans are doing to promote diversity within their respective colleges. The commission has invited each dean to make a presentation about the state of diversity in his or her college, he said.
"By learning more about their strategies and diversity-oriented programs, the commission hopes to highlight the priority that must be given to diversifying the faculty," he said.
Commission members also are contacting other institutions to find out what has worked well there in promoting faculty diversity.
"We hope to collect a number of good practices that have worked well in other institutions," Debessay said, "and we will publish them on our web page as a reference for all members of the University community."
Over the years, the commission, which advises the president on ways to create an educational community that is intellectually, culturally and socially diverse, has held hearings, conducted surveys and monitored the campus climate to ensure that UD offers a welcoming and supportive environment for all members of the community.
A number of commission caucuses focus on issues of specific interest to African-Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Latino/Latina groups, members of the Jewish community, the lesbian/gay/ bisexual community, the campus religious leadership and persons with disabilities.
The commission's 1996-97 annual report states:
"Demographic trends indicate that more women, racial minorities and recent immigrants are part of America's workforce than ever before. This change is occurring at the same time the global community is becoming more interconnected.
"For American business and industry to be competitive both at home and abroad, there must be a better understanding of the racially and culturally diverse marketplace of the 21st century."
Indeed, William T. Daly advises in the July/August 1992 issue of Academe that "employees who are sensitive to issues of gender, racial and cultural diversity are likely to be more valuable than those who are not."
For additional information on the work of the commission, contact Debessay at 831-6890 or visit the commission's web site at <http://www.udel.edu/stuhb/ 97-98/AffAmP/ AAMP.html>
