A noted lack of diversity at Virginia Tech has resulted in an administrative task force to set into motion a plan to increase minority faculty and student numbers.
According to the 2008 Ethnicity Break Down by the university, 216 of the 1,320 professors, associate professors, assistant professors and instructors employed by the university are minorities.
Through the works of the Racial Task Force and its implementation team, Tech has begun a blanket search for qualified professors of minority backgrounds. The university is specifically looking for professors, at both the junior and senior level, whose research is congruent with that being conducted at the university, especially in the fields for which these professors are applying.
After a lack of diversity was noted in the final report of the Racial Task Force on Race and the Institution, released in August 2008, the implementation team set this as a focal point for the university.
The implementation team consists of many top-level administrators and faculty at Tech, including University Provost Mark McNamee, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Kevin McDonald, Vice President and Dean of Undergraduate Education David Ford, Director of Diversity Initiatives Ray Plaza, and many other faculty members.
The team has been focused on the Racial Task Force's goal since the final report was released in fall 2008.
"We will have concrete things in place, hopefully by the end of the semester," Plaza said, though he explained that the hiring process, which is ongoing, would not take effect until the 2009-2010 academic year. This is when the faculty members who have been hired during the nationwide search will assume their positions.
Goals
Periodic meetings of the implementation team have and will continue to discuss current progress and how the secular groups, each focusing on different aspects of diversifying the campus for their own projects, allows for a better focus on diverse employee recruitment.
"This will allow for an up-to-date snapshot of what's been happening with each group," said McNamee.
According to one meeting summary from the Commission on Faculty Affairs released on Oct. 12, 2007, the task force cited several criteria for the university to follow while it began this nationwide search for new faculty.
First was active and innovative recruiting, the necessity of being a chaired and endowed professor, strategic cluster hires, specially coordinated recruiting teams, and a "prime a pipeline approach."
The "prime a pipeline approach" included postdoctoral program searches and engagements with minority-serving institutions. These searches will focus on institutions with postdoctoral programs that are congruent with the positions looking to be filled at Tech.
"We are trying to ensure that they have candidate pools that are totally representative of everyone," Plaza said. "We are casting the widest net possible to ensure a diverse applicant pool."
The minority-serving institutions Tech will focus on are historically black colleges, such as Howard University, Tuskegee University and Fisk University.
"Minority-serving institutions can include historically black colleges or universities, Latino-serving institutions where over 25 percent of the student body is Latino, or tribal colleges," Plaza said.
McNamee explained that Tech seeks to develop bonds with schools such as these.
"We are looking at hundreds of institutions ... and strengthening relationships with historically black colleges and universities," McNamee said. "We are focusing on peer institutions, looking at schools that are most like us in terms of research programs."
The second criterion stated that there must be accountability and faculty incentives in order to bring new professors into the Tech community.
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Why is race still such a big issue in 2009? The initiatives presented in this article will only serve to waste university funding in a politically correct outreach effort. Why can't we just post a position, let potential faculty candidates apply, and select from the best candidate applicant regardless of their race. Who cares if professors are black, white, asian, or hispanic. So long as they communicate the material in a way that is understandable it makes no difference to me. I have had great professors here of just about every race and I have had some terrible professors here of just about every race. What matters to me is the content of their character, not the color of their skin. I think a famous minister had a similar sentiment.
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The same way court promise to let you be judged by a jury of your PEERS. Lets be honest here. i agree with WHERE youre coming from but not with WHAT you say. Are you telling me that you wouldnt FOR A SINGLE SECOND think anything at all if u went to court and every single person on the jury was black or asian or native american? Would you be ok with it if someone just randomly told you that they were qualified jurors? Would you just take their word for it? They literally hold your life in their hands, and its fine? OR... would you feel a tad better if at least half of them were from where your from, sort of identify with you in SOME way and maybe even look a little like you??? Im seriously just curious... also curious as to why people consistently want to be heard on here but can never put their names behind their statements. Something shady about that.
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i am so tired of this diversity debate. If you have the qualifications to get into VT then you get in, often easier when a minority. It is absolutely BS that this issue keeps coming up and that we talk about lowering standards and setting quotas. If you qualify to come here then you're in, if not then go someplace else! No subpar candidate should get in over another person because of their race.
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These diversity taskforces are such a waste of time and resources its ridiculous. VT is in Blacksburg, VA. It is not located near any major city and in southwest va. The surrounding population is mostly if not all white. This would only be a problem if it was found that "minorities" with the same qualifications were being rejected to let in non "minorities." This is not the case, so there is not a problem. The self-righteous douches that run most universties hold te belief of making the world a better place if only there was more diversity. Blacksburg is in the middle of nowhere, there is no need for any more old wooden ships, there is no where to harbour them. This is not to say there should be no wooden ships, but the reason VT doesn't attract more wooden ships is its location.
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Diversity is such total crap. Who exactly says we even have a problem with the racial makeup of faculty? And what's the desired endstate? 50% minority profs? 75%? 100%?
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