DIVERSITY TASK FORCE
Resources Subcommittee Meeting
Friday, September 21, 2007
MINUTES
Members Present: Judy Rodriguez, Simon Shiao, Shunda Brown, Lina Monell
Since there were no immediate volunteers to Chair the subcommittee, Lina Monell led
the discussion for this meeting.
Recruitment:
Lina distributed copies of the “Quick Guide for Filling Vacant Faculty Positions” and
copies of the procedures for faculty employment both of which are available on the EOP
website. Discussion centered on some possible reasons that we are unable to attract
minority faculty. Lina indicated that in most cases we are in fact attracting very good
pools of minority faculty as confirmed by the EOP applicant pool approval process. Units
are encouraged to advertise in minority journals some of which are listed on the EOP
webpage, so it appears that there may be other factors at play here. Judy suggested that
some search committees may feel more comfortable with colleagues that they know from
other institutions and may lobby for them rather than to recommend an “unknown”
candidate. Judy and Shunda indicated that because minority recruitment is so
competitive, we are not always able to offer competitive salaries to attract candidates, and
that has been an ongoing problem.
Since this is a reality we will continue to face in the future, the question was posed as to
what other incentives we may be able to offer that could make a difference in the
negotiating process. The following suggestions were offered:
--Payment of moving expenses
--Start-up Funds to assist faculty in that first year, i.e. technology support or special
equipment; OPS funds; research assistance; travel for international presentations, etc.
--Spousal/Family support or information with respect to good schools; real estate
information, etc.
The committee also suggested an “orientation” session for chairs from someone with a
Public Relations/HR background to help the hiring officers “sell the department and the
university” more effectively. It was also suggested that the University select or hire an
“Ambassador for UNF” who would be invited to interact with minority candidates who
have been given offers to help them in accepting the University’s offer. The thinking
behind this is that since we cannot always match the salaries offered by other institutions,
we may have to give these candidates special attention and provide a more welcoming
environment.
Internal/External Resources:
Lina shared some of the limited information received from the University community in
response to the Campus Update request for information: 1) National Association for
Multicultural Education (NAME); 2) Jacksonville Diversity Network; 3) Asset Building
and Community Development Program by the National Economic Development and Law
Center, “Closing the Racial Wealth Gap”; 4) Equality Florida
Judy will compile a listing she came across with reference to various cultural groups in
Jacksonville and will distribute this at our next meeting. This could serve as materials to
distribute to minority faculty as social support systems available to them.
Available internal resources may include groups such as the “UNF Black Faculty/Staff
Association and the UNF Hispanic Council. Lina also indicated that a group of Korean
faculty is interested in forming a Korean Council on campus which can also serve as a
resource. Simon felt that some minimal financial support from the University in helping
to create these various groups would be beneficial in laying the foundation for greater
support systems to attract other minority faculty.
Other Business:
Shunda referred to a document from VCU called “Strategies for Successfully Recruiting
a Diverse Faculty”. She will forward the document to the committee by email; we will
review and compare with our recruitment process, and it will be discussed at our next
meeting.
The committee also asked if we had data with respect to Retention of Minority Faculty.
Lina will contact Marianne Jaffee to see what information is already available.
Next Meeting:
October 11th – 10:00am-Lina’s Office
Submitted by Lina Monell