Black, Hispanic hires below UW goal

Kayla Webley
2004-06-02
The Daily

Despite efforts to widely advertise tenure-track faculty positions as a way to encourage more qualified minority applicants, the UW's rate of hiring minority faculty members is lower than an internal UW study suggests it should be for blacks and Hispanics.

Although the total number of minority faculty is increasing, minority faculty comprises only 13.7 percent of the 2,831 tenure-track faculty members, which concerns the Office of Minority Affairs.

In 1999 the number of minority faculty members was 11.6 percent, according to the UW Office of Equal Opportunity. While the number of minority faculty members has increased at the UW by 2.1 percent, or 86 people, a UW report suggests it could be higher.

"We need to see a lot more faculty of color on this campus, especially under-represented faculty," said Nancy Barcelo, vice president for minority affairs.

The Office of Equal Opportunity creates the "Utilization and Goals Report," which details the potential for minority hiring. It addresses the number of faculty the UW would expect to have, delineated by race, based on the availability of qualified people with the degree necessary to be hired by the UW.

According to the report, in 2003, the UW did not meet its goals for black and Hispanic faculty but met self-imposed goals for hiring Asians, American Indians and overall minority.

"Given the availability, we would expect to see 28 more African Americans on the faculty than we see," said Helen Remick, assistant provost for equal opportunity. "We have to do better."

According to the report, 10 more Hispanic professors would also need to be hired.

Barcelo was also concerned about the number of black faculty on campus. There are 58 black tenure-track faculty members.

"We are concerned about African American faculty. For example, we lost two last year. Two may not seem like a lot ... but when we look at the total numbers, it's substantial," she said.

Enrique Bonus, an associate professor American ethnic studies, said while the increase is positive, more can be done.

"I think it is good because on the one hand, as opposed to certain enrollment figures for students of color, where some of them are going down, it is good that [faculty employment] is not going down," said Bonus. "But on the other hand, I think we need to do better in terms of not only recruiting but also retaining faculty."

According to Barcelo, the UW makes efforts to draw diverse hires.

"We try to make sure that when we advertise for positions that it goes to broad sources so that we attract a diverse pool," she said.

Bonus said he hopes these efforts will increase the number of minority staff and become a crucial part of what makes up the UW.

"I would like to see an increase in numbers to 20 to 25 percent of the faculty," he said. "So that it's not something that we hear just every now and then as an addition to some kind of program but rather a big part of what constitutes us as a University."

The largest minority group represented by tenure-track faculty members is Asian, comprising 68 percent of all minorities. Still, Asians make up only 9.4 percent of tenure-track faculty members.

Bonus feels it is important to look beyond the percentages to see the actual number of faculty. With small numbers, the addition of one or two faculty members can look like a large percentage increase, and sometimes minority faculty members are concentrated in a particular field. For example, Barcelo pointed to the American Indian Studies Center, which naturally attracts more American Indians.

"We don't want to reinforce the false impression that all racial groups are doing well," she said.