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New affirmative action hiring procedures anger Faculty Senate
Derek Simons
Issue date: 10/8/07 Section: News
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Faculty and administration are at loggerheads over the new affirmative action hiring policy.
The plan requires faculty members to attend a training seminar each and every time they serve on a search committee for hiring new faculty. The pool of potential candidates must also be reviewed by the Affirmative Action Office, and the candidates must undergo an interview with the office.
When the Director of the Office of Diversity, Access and Equity Karen Dace and Affirmative Action Director Grace Hernandez presented a draft of the new requirements for hiring tenured and tenured-track faculty at the Faculty Senate meeting Sept. 18, it was met with a less than enthusiastic response.
Two weeks later, after consulting with their respective units, the senators were even more vocal in their opposition. Though all who spoke were in favor of the principle of affirmative action, they expressed concerns about the feasibility, speed and effectiveness of the new procedures.
"We are whole-heartedly against this," said Senator Peggy Ward-Smith, School of Nursing. "Why is the training recommended for everyone? That's insulting. It's not even available online. We don't have the time."
She said the lack of diversity in nursing is well known.
"If the [Affirmative Action] Office has a list of diverse Ph.D. candidates, bring it on, because we don't have it," Ward-Smith said.
Senator Tom Mardikes, Theatre, wondered what good the interviews with Dace's office would do.
"They're going to look at the person over all the research and background that the faculty has done and know 'This person is better because of my three-minute interview'?" he asked.
Faculty Senate Chair Gary Ebersole, Arts and Sciences, said he didn't think Dace quite understood what it meant when she said she wanted one-on-one interviews with each candidate.
"I don't know how many hours she has in a day," he said.
Ebersole also said he predicted greater difficulty in finding faculty willing to serve on search committees if the policy remained unchanged.
The plan requires faculty members to attend a training seminar each and every time they serve on a search committee for hiring new faculty. The pool of potential candidates must also be reviewed by the Affirmative Action Office, and the candidates must undergo an interview with the office.
When the Director of the Office of Diversity, Access and Equity Karen Dace and Affirmative Action Director Grace Hernandez presented a draft of the new requirements for hiring tenured and tenured-track faculty at the Faculty Senate meeting Sept. 18, it was met with a less than enthusiastic response.
Two weeks later, after consulting with their respective units, the senators were even more vocal in their opposition. Though all who spoke were in favor of the principle of affirmative action, they expressed concerns about the feasibility, speed and effectiveness of the new procedures.
"We are whole-heartedly against this," said Senator Peggy Ward-Smith, School of Nursing. "Why is the training recommended for everyone? That's insulting. It's not even available online. We don't have the time."
She said the lack of diversity in nursing is well known.
"If the [Affirmative Action] Office has a list of diverse Ph.D. candidates, bring it on, because we don't have it," Ward-Smith said.
Senator Tom Mardikes, Theatre, wondered what good the interviews with Dace's office would do.
"They're going to look at the person over all the research and background that the faculty has done and know 'This person is better because of my three-minute interview'?" he asked.
Faculty Senate Chair Gary Ebersole, Arts and Sciences, said he didn't think Dace quite understood what it meant when she said she wanted one-on-one interviews with each candidate.
"I don't know how many hours she has in a day," he said.
Ebersole also said he predicted greater difficulty in finding faculty willing to serve on search committees if the policy remained unchanged.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Lloyd Hansen
posted 10/12/07 @ 10:30 AM CST
This is beyond ridiculous. Diversity training for each search committee every time? The approval of the Affirmative Action office for the list of candidates? It is illegal to use race as a criteria in hiring decisions and this is clearly the intent of the the AA proponents in the university. (Continued…)
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