REJOINDER TO THE NCATE BOARD OF
EXAMINERS’ REPORT
SOUTHEASTERN
LOUISIANA UNIVERSITY
July 8, 2002
Southeastern Louisiana University’s
Continuing Accreditation visit was held April 13 – 17, 2002. All
standards were met at the initial and advanced level. The purpose
of this rejoinder is to address the one area for improvement that
was sited.
Standard 4: Diversity
(formerly Standard IIIB – Composition of the Faculty)
Area for
Improvement: Cultural diversity in the faculty is
limited.
Rationale: The number of diverse
faculty has increased by one but remained a small percentage of
the total faculty.
In this
rejoinder, it is critical to present the reorganization of the
College of Education and Human Development and a brief history of
the changes in key personnel that have taken us into 2002.
Effective in the 2000-2001 academic year, Southeastern Louisiana
University reorganized it’s academic areas to strengthen
collegiality and academic experiences and to enhance opportunities
relating to technology, workforce development and collaborations
both within and outside the university. As a result, the College
of Education was renamed the College of Education and Human
Development, incorporating the university’s social work degree
program from the College of Arts and Sciences and bringing the
special education degree program (from what was previously the
Department of Special Education) into the Department of Teaching
and Learning. In addition, the areas of educational technology
and educational leadership were brought together to form a new
department, the Department of Educational Leadership and
Technology within the College. In the reorganization, the
previous College of Education lost the Department of Kinesiology
and Health Studies and the degree program in Communication
Sciences and Disorders to the College of Nursing and Health
Sciences.
Additionally,
in 1999 the Dean of the College of Education left the institution
and an Interim Dean was appointed. With the reorganization of the
academic areas in 2001-2002, the need for new department heads was
identified. Thus, Interim Department Heads were appointed for two
of the new departments within the College of Education and Human
Development. The reorganization presented many challenges, one of
which was an evaluation of the many organizational structures
within the College. This process was extensive and included
reviews of existing office and committee work. These were
completed and steps were taken to strengthen committees over a
period of time in the College. For example, the effectiveness of
the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Issues, with a single
coordinator, was evaluated and the results indicated that the
responsibilities and activities identified in the diversity plan
were overwhelming assignments for one individual. A decision was
made by the Dean’s Administrative Council to replace the Office of
Diversity and Multicultural Issues and create a new Diversity
Committee (Diversity and the Multicultural Advisory Council)
comprised of faculty and community members. The committee’s main
goal was to develop and revise the existing diversity plan for the
new college of Education and Human Development. The BOE reviewed
the Diversity Plan-Revised March 2002 (BOE Report, Pg. 80).
In reviewing
the Profile Data on Ethnicity and Gender for Full-time Faculty by
Department and College from the Office of Institutional Research
and Assessment from the last NCATE visit to present, it was
discovered that there was an increase of diverse faculty from 6.1%
in 1996 to 7.9% in 2001. While this does reflect a small
increase, it is important to note that the 6.1% was based on a
total of 81 faculty members and the 7.9% represents the reduction
of a total of 63 faculty members, reflective of the downsizing to
the total faculty after the reorganization of the University. The
data, from the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment,
was available to the NCATE BOE at the time of the visit.
While the
number of faculty with diverse backgrounds in the new College of
Education and Human Development has increased by one position, new
efforts to recruit, hire, and maintain faculty with diverse
background were finalized in March 2002. In fall of 2000, the
College of Education and Human Development established a Diversity
and Multicultural Advisory Committee composed, not only of
faculty, but other significant people in the community, including
the mayor of the city of Hammond. The charge of this committee
was to assist in the review and implementation of the College’s
Diversity Plan and provide the College with activities that would
broaden the diversity base for our candidates. This committee was
instrumental in bringing highly acclaimed exhibits that
contributed to the further diversification of ideas for our
candidates. However, the committee members decided that the
charge should be expanded.
In the fall of
2001, the membership of the Diversity and the Multicultural
Advisory Council was revisited and additional faculty and
community members were added. This committee made suggestions
that were adopted in the spring of 2002. One suggestion was to
have the Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention of Diverse Faculty
Plan monitored by the College of Education and Human Development
instead of by the Council for Teacher Education. It was felt that
this administrative change would increase the success of the
design and implementation of the plan. Thus, in March 2002 as
revised plan was submitted to and accepted by the Diversity and
Multicultural Advisory Council.
The revised
plan contained major changes in the efforts to recruit diverse
faculty members. The plan shifted the benchmarks from mail outs,
memos and reminders from the Department Heads to the Human
Resources Department. The activities for recruiting became part
of standard advertising procedures in the Human Resources
Department. This was to ensure more systematic and consistent
recruitment efforts in the College of Education and Human
Development. The revised 2002 Plan for the Recruitment, Hiring,
and Retention of Diverse Faculty had three objectives with a
different number of activities under each. (The BOE reviewed the
Diversity Plan – revised March 2002).
OBJECTIVE 1:
The College of Education and Human Development will increase
efforts to recruit a diverse faculty.
ACTIVITY 1:
The Human Resources Department will include, as standard
advertising, all faculty positions in Black Issues in Higher
Education instead of relying on a memo and a reminder from a
Department Head.
ACTIVITY 2:
The Human Resources Department will mail advertisements directly
to Department Heads at minority institutions as standard
advertising, as well as , register all positions with the Minority
Directory.
ACTIVITY 3:
Advertise all faculty positions encouraging minorities to apply.
ACTIVITY 4:
Have the University Webmaster to include information about
diversity in Southeast Louisiana on the Southeastern web site.
All activities listed under this
objective were implemented (100%) and will have continuous
monitoring of successful efforts by the Diversity and the
Multicultural Advisory Council.
OBJECTIVE 2:
The College of Education and Human Development will increase
efforts to hire a diverse faculty.
ACTIVITY 1:
Address equitable salary, benefits, and personal adjustment
matters in College of Education and Human Development search
committees. This information was given to all applicants. In
2002, all faculty search committee chairs were provided this
information in a packet form that went out to prospective
applicants. All activities listed under this objective were
implemented (100%) and will have continuous monitoring of
successful efforts by the Diversity and the Multicultural Advisory
Council.
OBJECTIVE 3:
The College of Education and Human Development will increase
efforts to retain a diverse faculty.
ACTIVITY 1:
Annually review and monitor the SLU Faculty Index to ensure that
minority faculty remuneration differentials are fair and
consistent. This is a process that has been established and
the information will be presented on an annual basis to the
Diversity and the Multicultural Advisory Council.
ACTIVITY 2:
Make use of the New Faculty Forum (NFF) to provide support to new
minority faculty members. The NFF is for new minority and
general faculty members who are assigned mentors, faculty members
with years of experience. These mentors become part of a support
group to help new faculty members establish networks early in
their tenure in the College. Feedback data from the NFF members
show that the forum has been successful and it will continue as a
support to new faculty members.
ACTIVITY 3:
Activities involving minority faculty in non-academic settings
will promote inclusion in the University community. Before
the revised plan, baby showers, Christmas parties, and end of the
year parties were open to all faculty members, but not
systematically planned. The new plan will provide a vehicle for 2
distinct social gatherings at the beginning and before the end of
each academic year specifically to engage minority faculty.
Policies and procedures are in place and one social was held at
the end of the spring semester in April of 2002.
ACTIVITY 4:
Exit interviews will be conducted with minority faculty who choose
to leave. This is part of the Human Resources exit process and is
completed on a voluntary basis. The results will be shared
with the Dean of the College of Education and Human Development
and with the Diversity and Multicultural Advisory Committee. The
policies and procedures are in place and will reveal important
information for the College of Education and Human Development.
All activities are 100% in place and are successfully implemented.
OBJECTIVE 5:
The College of Education and Human Development will monitor the
College of Education and Human Development Diversity Plan.
ACTIVITY 1:
Continue the Diversity and the Multicultural Advisory Council
activities. This activity is 100% operational.
It is felt that
the College of Education and Human Development has a strong plan
for the Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention of Diverse Faculty that
was adopted in March 2002. The plan will be modified and
monitored by the Diversity and the Multicultural Advisory Council
and changes will be made when and where appropriate. The plan has
provided for systematic steps to increase the efforts to recruit
and to retain diverse faculty members in the College of Education
and Human Development. Changes will be made in the plan, as
deemed necessary, to increase the pool of diverse faculty members
in the College of Education and Human Development at Southeastern
Louisiana University.
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