, UPDATE,  November, 14, 1996 Pull-Out section

Faculty diversity focus of President's commission  During the current academic year, the President's Commission to Promote Racial and Cultural Diversity is concentrating efforts on its major priority-increasing faculty diversity.     "The University has made significant strides in increasing the number of underrepresented. students and has been nationally recognized for the retention of and successful graduation of African-  American students," commission chairperson Araya Debessay, accounting, said.     "At the same time, the small number of underrepresented groups within the ranks of our faculty is a major concern. We all recognize and respect that faculty decide which faculty members to hire. However, it is a fact that the faculty is far less diverse than the student body or the non-faculty employees," Debessay said.     "We want our recruitment and hiring to reflect the belief that by creating an educational community that is intellectually, culturally and socially diverse," Debessay said, "we can best prepare our graduates to perform successfully in a multicultural environment."     "The University is committed to the total education of our studentspreparing them to succeed in today's global environment. We must educate them broadly, and that education must include opportunities for them to interact with students, faculty and staff from different ethnic, national and cultural backgrounds," President David  P. Roselle said. "Diversity  and excellence are intertwined," he said.Last month, Roselle said, some  50  Araya Debessay college and  university organizations, including the National Association of State  Universities and  Land-Grant Colleges,the American Association of StateColleges and Universities and theAmerican Association of University

Professors, endorsed a statement on the importance of diversity in higher education. The statement was published as a full-page advertisement in The Chronicle of   Higher Education.  According to the endorsement, diversity "enriches the educational experience ... promotes personal growth and a healthy society.. strengthens communities and the workplace ... [and] enhances America's economic competitiveness."     Colleges and universities must "continue to be able to reach out and make a conscious effort to build healthy and diverse learning environments appropriate for their messages," the endorsement said, adding, "The success of higher education and the strength of our democracy depend on it."  Maxine Colm, vice president for administration, said, "The University of Delaware has made serious efforts to attract minorities and underrepresented individuals to our campus. We have a hiring policy in place that is designed to promote diversity within UD's workforce, and we are constantly seeking highly qualified candidates to fill positions that become available."     Ideally, Colm stressed, all employees need to share the University's interest in promoting diversity when they attend conferences and meetings and interact with their colleagues at other institutions.     "When this occurs, word of the University's commitment will be recognized beyond the campus," she said.     University Provost Mel Schiavelli said, "Faculty hiring is in the domain of the faculty, and it is, therefore, critically important that members of the faculty play a leading role in helping their respective units achieve excellence by ensuring that their students are benefiting from the presence of faculty from underrepresented groups."     Debessay said the commission's major focus this year has been to learn what the deans are doing to promote diversity within their respective colleges. The commission has invited each dean to make a presentation about the state of diversity in his or her college, he said. By learning more about their strategies and diversity-oriented programs, the ommission hopes to highlight the priority

" that must be given to diversifying the faculty," he said.     Commission members also are contacting other institutions to find out what has worked well there in promoting faculty diversity.  "We hope to collect a number of good practices that have worked well in other institutions," Debessay said, "and we will publish them on our web page as a reference for all members of the University community."     Over the years, the commission, which advises the president on ways to create an educational community that is intellectually, culturally and socially diverse, has held hearings, conducted surveys and monitored the campus climate to ensure that UD offers a welcoming and supportive environment for all members of the community.     A number of commission caucuses focus on issues of specific interest to African-Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Latino/Latina groups, members of the Jewish community, the lesbian/gay/ bisexual community, the campus religious leadership and persons with disabilities.   The commission's 1996-97 annual  report states:     "Demographic trends indicate that more women, racial minorities and recent immigrants are part of America's workforce than ever before. This change is occurring at the same time the global community is becoming more interconnected.     "For American business and industry to be competitive both at home and abroad, there must be a better understanding of the racially and culturally diverse marketplace of the 21st century."     Indeed, William T. Daly advises in the July/August 1992 issue of Academe that "employees who are sensitive to issues of gender, racial and cultural diversity are likely to be more valuable than those who are not."     For additional information on the work of the commission, contact Debessay at 831-6890 or visit the commission's web site at <http://www.udel.edu/stuhb/ 9798/AffAmP/ AAMPhtml>. A

The Commission to Promote Racial  and Cultural Diversity

124 Hullihen Hall  University of Delaware  Newark, DE  19716-0680  Ph: 302/831-8735/8703  Fax:  302/831/2063

University of Delaware  Fall 1996 November 14, 1996

As a member of the faculty and as the  chairperson of the Commission to Promote Racial and Cultural Diversity at the University of Delaware, I would like to elaborate on the University's commitment to diversity and to share with the University community some  thoughts regarding our collective responsibility in promoting diversity at the University.     Any university that claims to be a first-class J university is expected to prepare its students to successfully function in the "real-world" that is fast becoming a shrinking global community and to be able to work effectively in a workplace that is increasingly becoming culturally and ethnically diverse. To feel at home and to work effectively in a diverse and multicultural working environment, not only do our students need to be broadly educated, but they should also be ,n given the opportunity to interact with students, in faculty and staff of'different ethnic, national, WC cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. This  can, in part, be achieved by promoting diversity within the student body, the faculty and staff at the University.  THE UNVERSITY'S COMMITMENT  TO  DIVERSITY  The University is committed to creating an educational community that. is ntellectually, culturally and socially diverse. The University is fully aware of the need to enrich the academic nvironment by the contributions and full participation of persons from many different backgrounds. To this end, the University has a hiring policy in place designed to promote diversity within the University workforce.     The University also has been slowly increasing the number of minority students on campus. As reported in The Review (Oct. 25, 1996), this year's freshman class has the largest minority enrollment ever.     The ASPIRE program in the College of Education, the FORTUNE 2000 program in the College of Business and Economics, the RISE program in the College of Engineering, the HORIZONS program in the College of Human Resources, the NUCLEUS and John Henry Taylor Scholars programs in the College of Arts and Science all are designed to attract qualified minority students and ensure their retention and the successful completion of their  ducational objectives. These programs clearly show the University's commitment to promote diversity within the student population. Not only is the University interested in promoting diversity, but it  also strives to create an atmosphere in  which all persons--despite differences in views, values and religion, ethnic origin, racial backgrounds, physical disabilities

or sexual orientation--are tolerated, welcomed and comfortable to pursue their educational objectives with vigor. The University has issued clear and unambiguous policies on this matter.    Policy directives are not, however, enough to achieve a tolerant, welcoming and comfortable campus environment, particularly as it pertains to minority groups.     To help our University find its place among the best institutions of higher learning, it is important for all members of the campus community to work in unison and to take personal responsibility to promote an atmosphere of civility in which the free exchange of ideas and opinions can flourish. All of us can learn from one another, if we can appreciate and respect the richness in our individual and cultural differences, and if we can free ourselves from our biases and prejudices.  DIVERSITY AND MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION AT THE UNIVERSITY     Demographic trends make it quite clear that the American domestic workforce will include rapidly growing numbers of women, racial minorities and recent immigrants. In addition, in an increasingly integrated global economy, the growing numbers of international competitors and customers also will be racially and culturally diverse. Under these circumstances, as William T. Daly, writing in the July-August 1992, Issue of Academe, rightly points out, "employees who are sensitive to issues of gender, racial and cultural diversities are fikely to be more valuable than those who are not."     As a requirement for graduation, students at the University of Delaware  must take an approved course or courses stressing multicultural, ethnic and/or gender-related content. As the University catalog indicates, the purpose of the multicultural requirement is to  provide students with some awareness of and sensitivity to cultural pluralism in American society.  OUR RESPONSIBILITY AS EDUCATORS In my interactions with students over the years, I have observed a tendency among them to consider courses outside

I their major area of study as impositions that have to be taken to satisfy University academic requirements. We, as educators, should be helping our students understand the purpose served by their general education requirements.     Students have to realize that general education courses are meant to give them the tools that enable them to function successfully as educated people, not only within our  American society, but ideally, as members of the global community. Multicultural courses are meant to open their eyes to cultural perspectives other than their own.     Global/ multicultural courses provide students with insights into the lives of peoples in other parts of the globe and prepare them to deal with people from different national, ethnic and cultural backgrounds.     Similarly, diversity-oriented courses provide students with insights on cultural pluralism in American society and enable them to deal successfully in situations involving questions of gender, class, race and sexual orientation.     We need to encourage students to take the multicultural and diversity-oriented courses with an open mind and with a positive attitude to learn. However, encouraging students to take these courses is not enough. We should advise our students to interact with students who are ethnically, racially, culturally, linguistically and otherwise different.     The University provides a variety of programs where students can have the opportunity to be exposed to different cultures, and it is regrettable'~ if students fail to take advantage of such programs. For example, several diversity workshops are conducted by the University. These workshops can be effective in helping students to appreciate the richness of diversity.    Araya Debessay, Professor,Department of Accounting, College of Business and Economics and Chairperson, Comssion to Promote Racial and Cultural Diversity