Faculty Diversity Committee Minutes
November 11, 1999
Members Present: S. Acker, B. Bates, K. Bobby, J. Bobo, E. Campbell, R. B. Gibson, B. Pierson, D.
Rosenberg, M. Valentine, C. Washburn
Members Absent: K. Bartanen, J. Dickson, C. Hommel
Guest: G. Mills, VP for Enrollment at UPS; J. Davis (for K. Bartanen)
Chairman David Droge called the meeting to order at 8:05 a.m. Minutes from the meeting on October
28, 1999 were approved as distributed.
Announcements:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Jim Davis announced that the inaugural Swope Lecture in Religion, Ethics & Values will be
given by Morris Dees, one of the founders of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The
title of the lecture is "Voices of Hope and Tolerance in America," and it will be on February 17,
2000 at 7:30 in Kilworth Chapel.
Carrie Washburn announced the availability of a 15-minute video from her office about the
SPLC.
David Droge announced that the National Communication Association (NCA) has formed a
partnership with SPLC to disseminate information on the Teaching Tolerance Curriculum.
Rosa Beth Gibson announced that it is time to nominate staff members for Staff Member of
the Year.
George Mills commended Kim Bobby for the outstanding "kick-off" of the Access to Education
Program on November 10, 1999. He noted that it was very well attended.
David Droge provided an update on the Gates Millenium Scholars Program (GMSP) and said he would
briefly describe the program at the Faculty meeting today. Kim Bobby noted that applications would be
available November 20 and that the undergraduate scholarships will be available to minority students
in all fields. Students must start putting packets together soon to meet the February 1, 2000 deadline.
The immediate task is to match students with faculty who can nominate them. Current information on
qualifications, application procedures, deadlines, and administration of the selection process can be
obtained at info@glf.org or www.gmsp.org. Inquiries can be sent to the email address at info.
We again considered various ways to disseminate information about GMSP and affirmed the
mechanisms discussed in the previous minutes. Diversity Committee student members will help. The
Diversity Center will have information. Coverage will be included in all campus publications.
George Mills was invited to this meeting by the FDC to speak on the recruitment of students of color
(especially African-Americans) at UPS. A list of specific questions had been sent to George by the
FDC. In his presentation George gave some background and then addressed the questions.
·
First, George announced that UPS would participate in National College Week (Nov. 15-19, 1999)
when we would promote the Access to College Initiative.
·
Background:
George gave a summary of the impact of legal decisions during the 1990s on our recruitment
of students. It has been necessary to abandon numeric "goals" for recruitment of specific
racial and ethnic groups. Interpreters of the US Supreme Court Bakke Decision have
concluded that numerical goals can be equated with quotas which are prohibited by the Bakke
Decision. Although we used affirmative action to put resources toward minority recruitment in
the past and may continue to do so in the future because the Washington State I-200 affects
public institutions only, the mindset of the public is opposed to affirmative action as evidenced
by the recent initiative (I-200 in Washington State). This public sentiment communicates a
disinterest in cultivating and enrolling underrepresented students on the part of higher
education.
·
Specific questions submitted by the FDC:
(1)
What are the current efforts undertaken to recruit African-American students?
George listed a variety of programs and efforts in place at UPS: 24-Hours of College Program,
Access to College, Academic Challenge. There are strong liaisons with student ethnic
organizations. The BSU telephones and sends letters to prospective students. We have
access to a list of a pool of approximately 1000 African American students with qualifying SAT
scores. We send letters to some and call students from the list when we are recruiting in their
geographic areas. We review financial aid packages and try to reduce the burden of "selfhelp" (loans and work). The intent behind reducing “self help” is to make loan and employment
levels manageable for students who have high levels of financial need.
(2)
How do our matriculation and retention trends compare to comparable and regional
institutions?
George explained that matriculation rates (or "yield") are not reported as hard numbers by
other schools. The number of students enrolled in each freshman class is reported, however,
and the percent of African-American students can be calculated. George shared a series of
pie charts for 1995 showing these percentages for state universities, Northwest liberal arts
institutions, and Northwest Athletic Conference Institutions. The following values were
reported for percentage of African-American student enrollment:
Northwest Liberal Arts
U of Puget Sound
1.6
Lewis & Clark
1.3
Reed College
1.4
Willamette
1.4
Whitman
1.7
NW Athletic Conference
George Fox
0.9
Pacific Univ
--Seattle Univ
4.0
Linfield
1.0
PLU
--Whitworth
1.1
State Universities
UW
3.2
WSU
2.2
WWU
1.5
CWU
1.8
EWU
1.9
Evergreen
4.1
George pointed out that both Seattle Univ. and Evergreen State College deviate on the high
side. Puget Sound, larger than the other four northwest national liberal arts colleges, enrolls
the largest number of African-American students of these 5. Rural liberal arts colleges in
general have low numbers of African-American students. The trend today in schools like UPS
is to see fewer African-American students.
George pointed out that retention rates at UPS have improved over the past six years. He
expects us to exceed the Puget Sound average 5-year retention rate with the group which
entered as freshmen in 1995. The Puget Sound five year retention rate exceeds the national
rate for colleges of its type (55.8% vs. 70%).
(3)
Have you studied African-American students who choose to matriculate
elsewhere or who leave Puget Sound to find out why they study elsewhere? If these
efforts have occurred, how have the results of your inquiries affected the University's
recruiting strategies?
George answered "yes" and that our greatest competition is from institutions that offer grant
aid beyond need. We don't. Historically black colleges also get more of the students. To
respond to these problems, we cannot exceed need. We work hard to involve the BSU in
contacting future students and responding to their concerns. Students who leave do so
primarily because of finances, a concern which we have mitigated through the financial aid
practices noted above, academic difficulty, or lack of a sense of belonging.
(4)
Does the University participate in “recruiting consortia” for African-American students?
What are your conclusions about the efficacy of participation in such arrangements?
George answered "yes and no." Several Tacoma area colleges work collectively to raise
college awareness among underrepresented groups. We work with high schools to explain
application process and financial aid. This is a one-time hit as opposed to the sustained
attention students receive through the Access programs. We attend the Portland area College
Fair designed to work with prospective minority college students. There is none in the Seattle
area. There are National College Fairs targeted to underrepresented groups in some major
urban areas, e.g., Denver and Los Angeles. Such fairs attract local students who plan to
attend local colleges and universities. National college fairs conducted by the National
Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) are an effective means of identifying
underrepresented students who are considering a national set of colleges. Consortia are okay
for raising visibility but are no substitute for one-on-one work.
(5)
Does the University offer assistance in the application procedure for admission or
financial aid? Could faculty or students aid in such an effort?
George replied that we do not offer such assistance. He thinks it sets a bad precedent and
misrepresents what school is all about here. We don't want to provide this kind of handholding. We do give much more specific help for financial aid forms, which are complex.
George made specific recommendations for how faculty could help:
· attend current student functions and celebrate their successes
· support our "policy-general" and "student-specific" level of recruitment
· stress the need for students to take rigorous programs in the lower grades
· faculty should participate in field-specific programs, e.g. MESA
(headquarters at PLU)
· should cultivate candidates for GMSP from high schools
· there are 1100 current African-American prospective students--can't call
them all, but faculty could help with calls.
· faculty should participate in on-campus access programs
David Droge thanked George Mills for his presentation and added two more queries:
(1)
What do data tell us about what we have done since 1990? Other minority numbers
have gone up but number of African-Americans has gone down.
(2)
Can we not take a leadership role in recruiting African-Americans? It appears that we
are not.
George disagreed and thinks we are through the Access suite of programs and the work of
current students. He distributed copies of the Executive Summary of the report "Reaching the
Top: A Report of the National Task Force on Minority High Achievement," which reports that
underrepresented students do not have regular access to strong college preparatory
coursework in high school. George noted that the academic profile of our students and our
academic expectations at UPS have increased over the past ten years. George stated that
"underrepresented students don't always have access to the quality of preparation they need to
get into UPS today."
As time was drawing short, David Droge noted that "underrepresented students" is a tricky term
because we have increased numbers in underrepresented categories other than African-Americans.
David Droge said we would discuss the presentation and issues it raises at our next meeting.
We thanked George Mills for his presentation and adjourned at 8:55 a.m.
The next meeting of the FDC will be December 2, 1999 at 8 a.m. in the basement meeting room of the
WSC.
Respectfully submitted,
Beverly Pierson, Secretary-of-the-day