EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/ AFFIRMATIVE ACTION INITIATIVES
Increasing Faculty, Staff and Women
Having a faculty, staff and student community that reflects the profile of the Commonwealth is important to us. We would like the campus community to provide a rich array of role models for our students that allows them to prepare to live in a global community. To ensure that this happens, given some of our geographical isolation, we have put attention and focus on our recruitment and hiring processes.
Several years ago, to respond to a campus commitment to increase the diversity in our campus community, we instituted a new hiring process. Our goal was to focus attention on how our recruitment practices were enhancing or inhibiting our ability to recruit and hire diverse individuals as well as improve our compliance with campus, trustee, and state and federal hiring polices and guidelines. Our approach was to decentralize some EEO responsibilities and create EEO Liaisons at the College and major department levels. Our goal was to have a broader group of individuals embrace the goals and responsibility to enhance our campus diversity.
As a result, we now train approximately 30 faculty and staff each year to be EEO liaisons for their colleges and divisions. Thus, each search committee has a designated liaison that is College or department based to work closely with the process. In addition, we adopted a process of identifying Positions of Opportunity. These positions received targeted focus in recruiting diverse pools of candidates. Our Deans are now working collaboratively with our EODO office in identifying those positions for which they have made a commitment to recruit a diverse pool of candidates. These positions are usually targeted in areas where we know a diverse pool of candidates will be available or where the department profile really would benefit from having a broader, more diverse profile.
We know awareness has improved because many more positions are being designated as Positions of Opportunity. This year we have hired 10 new faculty of color. One faculty appointment, the Director of the African/African American Studies program, was specifically hired to move African/African American Studies from a program to a department. In addition, it is the University's intent to establish a Chancellor's Scholar Development Program in which we recruit non-traditional doctoral candidates from various colleges including Historically Black Colleges & Universities, and predominately Latino colleges and universities. These candidates spend a year on campus working as Full Time Lecturers while they complete their dissertations.
On the staff side, we also found that we had much more success in recruiting diverse pools for administrative positions by investing in recruitment firms. In the past two years, we have been able to hire a female Dean of the Charlton College of Business, a male Dean of the College of Nursing, and three African American males: the Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement, the Director of Human Resources and the Director of Registration and Records. As we begin our search for a new Provost, we are very clear with our search consultants about our desire to have a very diverse pool.
The Chancellor's Affirmative Action Advisory Committee, constituted of members representing all collective bargaining units and administration, is charged with advising the Chancellor on strategies and actions that the campus should undertake to effectively accomplish its aspirations to be an inclusive and diverse community of learners.
The Human Resources/Equal Employment Opportunity (HR/EEO) Team, composed of the Associate Chancellor, the Director of Human Resources, the Assistant Chancellor for Equal Opportunity, Diversity & Outreach, and on occasion appropriate members of the University staff, meet to discuss and develop a plan of action concerning matters that come to the attention of HR/EEO. The HR/EEO Team has dealt with a variety of issues important to both areas.
The University of Massachusetts People of Color Think Tank (POCTT), comprised of individuals from the University and the region, will examine selected urban policies affecting people of color in the South Coast region and assess the impact of these policies on us. In an attempt to help inform and influence public policy debate and policy formulation, the University of Massachusetts People of Color Think Tank will issue commentaries and propose strategies or initiatives to maximize the positive impact of such policies. The primary areas of concern for the Think Tank are to increase educational access, decrease drop out rates, and increase opportunity for people of color, particularly with regard to college and university enrollment, retention, and graduation. However, since many social, economic, health, mental health, and other factors affect educational access and opportunity; these factors may also be subjects for further examination.
The primary areas of concern for the Think Tank are to increase educational access, decrease drop-out rates, and increase opportunity for people of color, particularly with regard to college and university enrollment, retention, and graduation. However, since many social, economic, health, mental health, and other factors affect educational access and opportunity; these factors may also be subjects for further examination.
