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Introduction

Diversity ImageVillanova University is a community of men and women increasingly diverse in culture, ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic status and welcoming to individuals of diverse religious traditions.

Villanova University

Villanova University is a comprehensive Roman Catholic institution that welcomes students of all faiths. Located in a suburban community twelve miles west of Philadelphia, Villanova was founded in 1842 by the friars of the Order of St. Augustine. Villanova has more then 6,000 undergraduates from 49 states, plus Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 29 foreign countries.

One of twelve strategic goals of Villanova University...

Dear Reader:
This project began with a startling surprise. Two years ago, when Villanova University first decided to collate a comprehensive set of best practices regarding attracting and retaining diverse faculty and staff, we presumed such collections already existed in some form … books, manuals, and of course the Internet. We hired a faculty member and an external consultant researcher to jointly “seek and find this source.” We were open-mouthed when these trained researchers reported, some months later, that they could not locate such a central repository that spoke to this critical issue of attracting and retaining diverse faculty and administrators.

At this point, the lead group, our University Inclusiveness and Diversity Committee (UIDC), a team established directly by our University President, chose to proceed and to develop such a compendium on our own. We are greatly indebted to our President for actively supporting this work, our Vice President for Academic Affairs for funding a graduate research assistant to undertake this work, and to the UIDC and its co-chairs for moving this project forward. We are also deeply grateful to the UIDC Steering Subcommittee who helped guide this effort.

However, we are most grateful to Ms. Jennifer M. Doyle, M.P.A., who authored this piece. Jen did truly marvelous work, under the mentorship of our Office of Planning, Training and Institutional Research, as she tirelessly tracked down sources, developed the organizational schema and wrote the text. The end product truly exceeded our expectations, in breadth and depth. It is a groundbreaking volume. We hope it will be an extremely useful resource, not only to Villanova University but to many higher education institutions and to other types of organizations as well.

Please do not hesitate to contact me directly if you would like to order copies of this volume or if I can be helpful in any other way.

Teresa A. Nance, Ph. D.
Assistant Vice President
Center for Multicultural Affairs
Villanova University

Acknowledgements

Research

This research was conducted to determine the best ideas and recommendations for the recruitment and retention of diverse faculty, administrators and staff for Villanova University. The research begins with examining different definitions of diversity. It is followed by many different ideas, recommendations and examples drawn from a spectrum of sources.

The recommendations are followed by case studies from universities, corporations, nonprofit organizations and public agencies. Also included in this research are listings of diversity-related organizations, associations, search firms, consultants, training providers and general resources, as well as Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs).

University Inclusiveness and Diversity Committee

This research was assembled for the Villanova University Inclusiveness and Diversity Committee. This committee was established by the President in the Fall of 2001, and was charged with:
  • Engaging the University community in continuing public discourse and action regarding issues of diversity.
  • Undertaking new initiatives that further enrich the academic.
  • Professional and moral preparation of our students.
  • Faculty, and staff appropriate for responsible citizenship.
  • Fostering a diverse and welcoming learning community.

Resource Manual

The information contained in this document is meant to serve as a resource. It includes hundreds of recommendations. However, not all recommendations will fit your university or organization type. When utilizing any of the recommendations, it is important to select only those that fit your unique organization. The recommendations are drawn from both higher education and the corporate world but many sources are not supported by evidence.

Click here Adobe PDF Document to download the Resource Manual.

We would like to thank following people:
Rev. Peter M. Donohue, O.S.A.
President		 Dr. Helen K. Lafferty
Vice President
Dr. John R. Johannes
Vice President for Academic Affairs		 Dr. Edwin L. Goff
Director, University Honors Program
Ms. Linda Coleman
Affirmative Action Officer		 Dr. Terry Nance
Associate Vice President, Office of Multicultural Affairs
Dr. Barry Johnson
Dean, School of Engineering		 Ms. Melinda German
Dean, Commerce and Finance
Dr. Lawrence S. Little
Associate Professor and the
University Inclusiveness and Diversity Committee.
 		 Dr. John M. Kelley
Executive Director, Office of Planning, Training, and Institutional Research (OPTIR) & the (OPTIR) staff.