Initiatives increase minority faculty

The University hired 7 black and Latino faculty members this year. With the addition this year of four black and three Latino professors, University President Judith Rodin is pleased with the effect the minority recruitment and retention plan has had in attracting underrepresented minority professors. The rise in the combined number of black and Latino faculty members, from 87 in 1996-97 to 94 this year, represents an 8 percent increase. According to Rodin, "central resources" -- the recruitment and retention plan's special allocation of $5 million -- were used to increase hiring packages offered to the new faculty members. She said other universities were also actively recruiting many of these professors. Statistics indicate that the bolstered packages have been effective incentives. The School of Engineering and Applied Science appointed six new tenured professors this year. Five of them are minorities -- three Asians and two blacks. Out of Engineering's 98 total professors, four are Latino. And the two black professors hired this year are the school's first black faculty members in 17 years. "They're top rate people who we thought would do very well in the Penn community," said Dwight Jaggard, Engineering's associate dean for graduate education and research. He added that the hiring criteria for minority faculty is no different from the criteria for other professors. "Just like we're looking for someone who can teach but also will be useful in research, we're looking for people who can also be role models for minority students," Jaggard said. Black Student League President Rasool Berry said the function of black professors as role models plays a crucial part in black student excellence. "It's very important for black students to have someone comfortable to talk to in terms of letting you know about opportunities, supporting you in your academic endeavors -- someone to point you in the right directions," the College junior said. In the Nursing School, three professors are black and two are Latino, out of a total standing faculty of 48. Two of the underrepresented minority faculty members hold fellowships granted by the University. Mary Naylor, associate dean and director of Undergraduate Nursing, said the school has sought to develop a national pool of "doctorally prepared" minority nurses through a program with Hampton University in Virginia. Faculty members from the historically black university come to Penn for doctoral and post-doctoral study, she said. At the Wharton School, officials are continuing a search which began last year for a minority professor to fill the Whitney M. Young Jr. Endowed Professorship. Wharton's African American MBA Association last year joined forces with alumni and Wharton to honor Young, a civil rights leader and executive director of the National Urban League. Interim School of Arts and Sciences Dean Walter Wales said he did not know how much the school's underrepresented minority faculty increased this year, but of the 444 faculty members in SAS, 13 are black and nine are Latino. Although the University's affirmative action officers ensure that minorities are considered for every faculty appointment, Wales said criteria for hire and tenure in SAS are strictly based on merit. "We try to hire the best people that we can," he said, adding that minority issues are one of several attributes considered when recruiting professors. Despite the central funding, the University's faculty recruitment and retention efforts are highly decentralized, according to Associate Provost Barbara Lowery. Lowery said each of the 12 schools and their academic departments is responsible for recruitment and retention. The hiring process requires departments to submit requests for faculty appointments to the dean of their respective school. If approved, the provost then considers the hire. The University's 12 affirmative action officers -- one for each school -- oversee search and appointment on the departmental level. With the release of Rodin's plan, the University has begun urging the affirmative action officers to take a more "pro-active approach instead of waiting until searches are completed," according to Lowery. This includes meetings between the officers and departments, where officials examine the department's minority hiring trends and the pool of doctoral candidates seeking jobs. English Professor Maureen Quilligan, the officer for the School of Arts and Sciences, explained, "My job is to make certain that no opportunity is missed in hiring minority faculty in a normal hiring situation." The officers play an additional role with their service on the Affirmative Action Council, an advisory board for Rodin. "We as a council continue to support affirmative action for the underserved population who feel various challenges but are able to serve here, study here and be productive workers of society," said Council Chairperson Peter Vaughn, the associate dean of the School of Social Work. Electrical Engineering Professor Jorge Santiago-Aviles, who has been meeting with Rodin, Chodorow and other minority faculty members, is encouraged that administrators are "honestly concerned with the University becoming a truly cosmopolitan place with different backgrounds and perspectives." With the addition of the three new Latino faculty members, Santiago-Aviles said he believes the University is moving forward. He stressed, however, that the plan should not only focus on faculty recruitment but also on retention. The latest faculty retention data show that it takes minorities on average five years to gain tenure. The average time for all faculty members is 5.4 years. Because achieving tenure can take seven years, the data are available only through 1990, Lowery explained. Santiago-Aviles, however, cited personal observations in claiming that the University needs to work harder at retaining underrepresented minority faculty members. "I have known six Latino faculty members since I've come to Penn but none of them have made tenure," he said. "The administration should not only offer fiscal resources but also offer guidance for new assistant professors -- of any ethnicity, but especially minorities -- through the process of tenure."

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