Free junior faculty from the daily responsibilities of teaching, advising, and
service for one quarter and allow them to pursue their research in an
uninterrupted fashion and at full pay (Ohio State University, Handbook, 1988).
Provide a summer stipend for tenure-track faculty during their probationary
period to allow them to pursue their research interests either on or off campus
(Ohio State University Handbook, 1988).
Make Instructional Enhancement Grants available for individuals who wish to
develop innovative teaching techniques or who want to create or restructure a
course (Ohio State University Handbook, 1988).
Develop a college and departmental reading shelf for publications concerned with
women and minorities in academe to increase the faculty's understanding of
diversity issues (Ohio State University Handbook, 1988).
A chair may wish to share with women and minority colleagues the curricula vitae
of recent successful candidates for tenure and promotion (Ohio State University
Handbook, 1988).
Given the fact that community service demands are frequently heavy for women and
minorities, the recently hired individual should be told by the chair, both
verbally and in writing, if this type of activity will be rewarded through merit
pay increases and recognized as a significant element in tenure and promotion
review (Ohio State University Handbook, 1988).
Chairs may wish to consider holding meetings with new colleagues on an ongoing
basis to discuss issues of timely importance - e.g., satisfaction with one's
teaching assignments, types of journals and presses to which one should consider
submitting manuscripts, plans for released time (Ohio State University Handbook,
1988).
Model institutions can point to a substantial history of multiple kinds of
partnerships with local communities of color, thereby offering new faculty a
variety of ways to connect easily with these communities (Turner, 2002).
Regular follow-up after hiring a new faculty member is essential; it helps ease
the transition and may uncover as well as address issues that often develop in
the first few months in the position (Turner, 2002).
Cluster hiring, or hiring more than one minority faculty, lessens the sense of
isolation and tokenism that often makes the new hire feel devalued (Turner,
2002).
Do not overload the new hire with excessive service demands, committee
membership, advising, etc. (Turner, 2002).
Provide activities to support professional growth and development (Spangler &
Wixon, 2000).
Provide a range of opportunities to participate in campus diversity activities
(Spangler & Wixon, 2000).
It is important to prioritize needs based on a prioritized list of ethnic
diversity activities and to exercise care in decision-making about
responsibilities assigned to a new faculty member of color (CEMRRAT, 1996).
To promote collegiality, schedule activities that require all faculty to
interact such as diversity training and staff development programs (Owens, Reis
& Hall, 1994).
Institutions must make more overt and sustained attempts to help faculty balance
and integrate their work and family lives through providing general support,
such as networking and professional development, workshops and counseling
related to extraorganizational issues, employment assistance for spouses or
parties, salary differentials, and child care (Tack & Patitu, 1992).
Institutional officials must work diligently to create opportunities, both on
and off campus, where women and minority faculty can interact with their peers
both formally and informally (Tack & Patitu, 1992).
According to Marshall and Jones (1990), colleges and universities should provide
opportunities for women and minority faculty to meet in preservice or inservice
workshops or seminars, with an acknowledged leader, to talk about values
clarification, time and stress management, decision making, gender role
socialization, family work sharing, and related topics (Tack & Patitu, 1992).
According to Justus, Freitag and Parker (1987), the first three years are
critical in the success of minority and women faculty; consequently,
administrators should keep initial responsibilities for teaching and committee
service to a minimum (Tack & Patitu, 1992).
Institutions should provide half-year sabbaticals in the third year. A
sabbatical at this time permits junior faculty members to consolidate their
work, producing research and publications in good time for the tenure review
process. A new policy among several Ivy League campuses routinely provides this
sabbatical and many of their departments manipulate workloads as well . . . Use
mid-career development awards. This strategy provides extra funds for research,
usually in the fifth year, particularly in fields [that] have little extramural
support . . . (Justus, Freitag & Parker, 1987, p. 44, cited in Tack & Patitu,
1992).
Because of a heavy service load that cuts into research time, the University of
Michigan "has established a development fund for junior minority faculty for the
support of research proposal development, release time, summer institutes, and
travel (Tack and Patitu, 1992).
According to Justus, Freitag and Parker (1987), the single most important
problem is attracting and retaining women and minorities is finding jobs for two
academics from the same household (Tack & Patitu, 1992).
According to Stafford and Spanier (1990), the Family Employment Program (FEP)
developed by Oregon State University is an attempt to help solve many of the
problems often encountered by dual-career couples. The FEP has three main
functions:
To facilitate and locate employment opportunities;
To coordinate position openings and hiring activities for spouses and
partners of new personnel
To provide resources and referrals for companies desiring assistance with
spousal employment (Tack & Patitu, 1992).
Conscious efforts must be made by deans, department chairs, and division heads
to incorporate all faculty into the decision-making process of the college, to
mainstream the teaching assignments and include them in all facets of campus
life and activities (Owens, Reis & Hall, 1994).
Colleges should schedule activities that require all teaching faculty to
interact on a regular basis . . . Staff development programs in areas such as
teaching skills, cross-cultural communication, at-risk learning, personal
computers, and research skills can also help solidify staff relationships
(Owens, Reis & Hall, 1994).
Formal mechanisms that will help new members feel included can feature such
items campus tours for faculty and their spouses; information packets (including
information on the adjoining community as well); and assistance with college and
campus resources, housing, shopping, and community services (Owens, Reis & Hall,
1994).
Develop a system of support and accountability for minority faculty members
where they can meet on a monthly basis to discuss each person's research and
challenge each other to bring drafts of manuscripts to the meeting. Meetings can
occur over an extended lunch hour at a site off campus to encourage focused
discussion on the research without interruptions. The authors can then review
each other's manuscripts, offering suggestions and comments. Collaboration and
accountability have proven to be successful formula in increasing the number of
manuscripts and papers. By working together as a group, the feeling of isolation
is lessened and they have become more productive as scholars (Butner, Burley, &
Marbley, 2000).
Promote more community-based organizational planning to help combat alienation
(Gubitosi-White, 1999).
Structure departmental faculty meetings so that there are opportunities for
small group interaction (Gubitosi-White, 1999)
Develop departmental faculty forums where presenters are required to conduct and
present their research in teams (Gubitosi-White, 1999).
Tenure is important for minority-group scholars to help give them protection if
they were to speak out on issues that they might see differently from
more-established faculty members (Smith, 1996).
Provide advancement opportunities to women and minorities. This is a primary
cause of high turnover among women and minorities (Wheeler, 1996).
Conduct Dialogues on Diversity, where people of various ethnic persuasions come
together to talk about issues such as how people are treated within the
organization and what programs and plans should be instituted to help raise
awareness (McCune, 1996).
Hold a diversity workshop to help build "cultural competence" that
is voluntary and open to all employees (McCune, 1996)
Hold "Lunch and Learn" talks on diversity (McCune, 1996).
Publish human resource materials in English and Spanish. This includes not only
company-written materials, but also those from vendors. For example, retirement,
EAP, and health vendors, can hold question-and-answer sessions in both languages
(Raphael, 2001).
Career counseling and advising is very important and should be done. This could
help solve the problem of a high turnover rate (Swanson, 2002).
Offer research funding support for establishing new or continued research
agendas (Phillips, 2002).
Offer teaching development support to increase teaching skills (Phillips, 2002).
Offer counseling or other supportive efforts (Phillips, 2002).
Provide help with preparing for tenure and promotion processes (Phillips, 2002).
Offer programs and services to all new faculty and try to help organize women
and minorities into networking groups to further enhance retention efforts
(Phillips, 2002).
Identify and hire all-but-degree women and minority candidates; reduce teaching
and service loads so degrees can be finished (Phillips, 2002).
Establish a visiting scholar program or distinguished lecture series in areas
where women and minorities are underrepresented (Phillips, 2002).
Implement a support network for development and review of women and minority
faculty members' research and publications. A research consortium or a
publication review network may be helpful in supporting faculty's efforts to
establish a research agenda (Phillips, 2002).
Assist ethnic minority faculty to adjust. Make course assignments according to
the faculty's expertise, ensure that teaching schedules are reasonable, reduce
the number of preparations, if possible, and allow them to teach the same
course(s) in back to back semesters (Plata, 1995).
Avoid overloading ethnic minority faculty with traditional "hot spot" committees
and task force assignments. Administrators need to closely monitor faculty
appointments to committees, task forces, and related activities (Plata, 1995).
Provide a working environment free from distractions (Plata, 1995).
When organizations lose men and women that represent diverse talent because of
indifference, insensitivity, or discrimination, attracting diverse talent in the
future becomes an even greater challenge. Almost invariably, women and
minorities may pass along the word that an organization does not respect
diversity and therefore is not a good place to work. With this type of
reputation, an organization should consider a detailed assessment to discover
the underlying factors in its corporate culture that should be changed. The
necessary changes may require changing the focus or goals of the leadership
team, and changing leadership style to better respond to the evolving needs of
the organization, its business and community objectives, and its vision for
diversity. The organization may find that it must change the way it does
business (Coleman, 1994).
"Networks of every kind can help sustain diversity work, renew commitments,
expand knowledge, and reduce the sense of loneliness. They can be as informal as
potluck dinners or as formal as a national organization, as intimate as a group
of colleagues known over time or as anonymous as a listserv. Some are internal
to the workplace; others require leaving the workplace" (McTighe Musil et. al.,
1999, p. 39). "Long time diversity practitioners have strong networks, local and national,
personal and professional. If there isn't a network locally, then create one.
Regionally and nationally, there is a wider range of professional networks
available. Many are organized as caucuses within traditional professional
associations. Because of the new technology, it is also possible to join an
animated group of professional colleagues who care about diversity issues across
a range of interests. For example, between listservs and Web sites, a person can
be connected to colleagues who share the same concerns" (McTighe Musil et. al.,
1999, p. 39).
Organizations can increase minority representation in their ranks by creating
more opportunities for advancement and providing professional development
training. Andy Szpekman, director of research at Brecker & Merryman Inc., a New
York-based consulting firm, "argues that while many companies say they offer
such training and career paths, they actually do not, or their programs are too
weak to be effective" ("Retaining Minority," 1996).
Employee-assistance programs offer a number of work/life and diversity services
such as helping to find child and elder care, or providing tips on working with
foreign customers (Gale, 2002).
"Diversity and work/life programs help employees discuss and resolve harassment
or discrimination problems" (Gale, 2002).
"Diversity services can be as simple as offering a newly transplanted worker
help in finding an ethnic grocery store, or as critical as providing education
and seminars to help management create an atmosphere that is hospitable in a
culturally rich environment" (Gale, 2002).
There are hotline referrals services available through family care and workforce
diversity consultants that can assist employees with finding things such as
schools, community centers, housing, and scholarship programs for members of the
employee's family. Such referral services can help employees find a school or
community center with a diverse ethnic makeup (Gale, 2000).
By offering a conflict-resolution program, employees can bring complaints to
senior managers, executives, and even the CEO if they feel they aren't being
fairly heard. This lets the employees know that they can speak their minds
without retaliation, and they are encouraged to take care of their personal
needs, with the support of the organization (Gale, 2002).
Managers need to help their employees explore career goals and help them to
aspire to a higher level in order to retain them (Blank & Slipp, 1998).
Make sure any overt barriers to promotion of internal candidates are removed.
Make sure information about position openings and development opportunities are
accessible to all employees through an organization-wide posting system
(www.thiederman.com, 2003).
Create a month-long sign-up sheet where department faculty, staff and students
sign-up for one or two times during the month to acknowledge and support the new
faculty member (Gubitosi-White, 1998).
"It is essential that diversity figure into succession planning if there is
truly a commitment to advance minorities within the corporation. How do you
implement a program of diversity succession planning?
First, make the commitment to increase minorities in the management and
divisional leadership.
Set objectives overall and then spread responsibility for the program so that
all understand the process and goals.
Study what others are doing and benchmark.
Determine required competencies to advance.
Define the organization's culture; does a culture of change exist as
well?
Develop a scorecard. Study trends and projections that include information on
diversity at the senior management level, upward mobility within the
organization, first, before seeking candidates from external sources.
Identify the gender and minority talent pool as managers and candidates
seek advancement. Seek internally, first, before seeking candidates from
external sources.
Determine how to leverage candidate potential.
Discuss customized 360-degree evaluation tool.
Define the method of evaluation for all candidates, i.e., overall mean scores
for minority and non-minority candidates" (Fraser, 2003, p. 14).
"Minority employees cited these reasons for leaving their companies:
Lack of advancement opportunities 26%
Lack of professional development 14%
Compensation 14%
Supervisor 13%
Company 12%
Job responsibilities 10%
Coworkers 3%
Other 8%" ("Retaining Minority," 1996).
"Students seek out women as advisors and departments appoint them to committees
most directly related to hospitality or nature, like director of undergraduate
studies. If they say no they're "difficult," but if they say yes, they spend
more time than male peers on work that doesn't count toward tenure. Departments
should make tenure expectations explicit and monitor assignments over the
pre-tenure years for an equal distribution of opportunity and drudgery" ("How to
avoid," 2003).
"Parental tenure clock extensions can help level the playing field . . . Ease
the bind by defining the work required for tenure and granting extensions
automatically instead of upon request" ("How to avoid," 2003).
