U. minority hiring practices defended

Despite having only 50 black professors out of 1900 standing faculty, University officials defended their commitment to recruiting black faculty, saying the pool they have to choose from is perennially small. Earlier this month, members of the African-American Association for Faculty, Staff and Administrators accused the University of failing to recruit black faculty and overlooking potential black faculty members' achievements outside of research. But University officials pointed to national statistics that show the pool of potential black faculty the University has to choose from is extremely limited since few blacks receive PhDs. "The best figures that we are able to obtain suggest that the proportion of black PhDs available for the rank of assistant professor in many areas is extremely small, and that is most unfortunate," Deputy Provost Richard Clelland said. Engineering is one example of a field with a small pool of black PhDs to choose from, officials said. According to Assistant to the Dean of Engineering Shirly Aderman, between 1986 and 1990, only 5 blacks received a PhD in Bioengineering, which was less than one percent of the total PhD recipients. In addition, across the country in Engineering, blacks make up .5 percent of the pool for faculty qualified for tenure. "It is a problem," said Kenneth Laker, chairperson of the Electrical Engineering Department. "It is sort of a vicious cycle -- when there is not many in pipe line, few come out." In addition, many University officials said they were not content with the small pool of black PhD candidates and are committed to increasing the number. Through minority recruitment and a new PhD program, the University is trying to increase the pool. The Graduate and Professional Program Initiative for Graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities is one new program currently being developed by the offices of the president and the provost to increase the number of black PhD candidates at the University. The program will have two components, an undergraduate summer research experience in which talented HBCU students will be selected, and a multi-year graduate and professional fellowship program. It "seeks to increase the number of PhD and professional degree recipients from the underrepresented minority groups in selected fields in the arts and sciences, thereby enlarging the pool of qualified applicants for appointments to college and university faculties," said the Minority Permanence report. In addition, administrators said they are working hard to recruit black PhD candidates. And, according to the Minority Permanence report, in order to find more qualified black professors, the University has even gone into industry and government to try and persuade PhD holders to return to teaching. "We pride ourselves in working hard to recruit the top black PhD candidates in the country." Associate Dean of Engineering Graduate Education Wayne Worrel said. "Our major attraction is that we really have a commitment to them. Our program is effective in retention." According to Laker, in a National Science Foundation 1990-91 study, the Engineering School ranked second only to Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the number of black PhDs who graduated. Still, only four black engineering students received PhDs at the University. According to administrators, another reason black faculty are hard to recruit is because they are in high demand. With a limited pool, all the top universities are vying for the same people. "Competition among the top universities for the best black candidates is very fierce," Clelland said. "Minority faculty candidates get many offers." But James Gray, one tri-chair of the AAA, said the University is not trying hard enough to recruit the few black PhD holders available. "I am not sure how hard the University tries to recruit African-American professionals," Gray said. "I don't think Penn is trying hard enough to compete with its peers in the Ivy League." Administrators also said that while a black professor is at the University, he may receive many generous offers tempting him to leave. And Gray added that the University has allowed many black faculty members to be "stolen away." "I am not sure if it tries to hold on to ones who come to Penn. We have lost some who are difficult to replace," Gray said. "The problem is the University is not trying hard enough to recruit, hold and push forward black faculty members."

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