UNH President's Commission on the Status of People of Color
Annual Report for the 2001-2002 Academic Year
Submitted to President Ann Weaver Hart, January 2003

On November 8, 2001, the Commission met at the Elliot Alumni Center for its annual retreat. The retreat opened with a dialogue with Dr. Todd DeMitchell, Chair of the Education Department. The discussion centered on how the Commission might provide assistance to the Department of Education in its efforts to recruit and retain faculty of color and ensure the promotion of diversity in its curricula and outreach programs. After admitting that there is an abysmal record of minority hiring in the Department (an admission that would apply, unfortunately, to almost every department in the University), Dr. DeMitchell reiterated some of the obstacles to minority recruitment. These obstacles include: the limited pool of minority Ph.D. candidates available for recruitment, the perspective that UNH cannot offer the competitive salary needed to attract qualified minority candidates, the lack of a critical mass of people of color in the university and environ to attract minority scholars, and the lack of information on how and where to reach potential minority candidates. The challenges facing the Department, Dr. DeMitchell concluded, are two: getting minority scholars to come to UNH and creating the conducive campus community climate that will keep them here.

After some exhaustive discussion of the issues raised, a number of suggestions were made to assist the Department of Education as it embarks on three new faculty searches during the 2001/2002 session. First, the realization that there are proportionately more people of color obtaining Ph.Ds in education than in any other discipline should serve as an encouragement for the Department to step up its efforts to hire some. Second, the expression of a strong commitment on the part of the University administration to go to any length to make adequate resources available to hire people of color should lay to rest the fear that UNH cannot offer competitive compensation packages to new faculty of color. Departments should just do its own part by first hiring qualified faculty and leave it to the university administrators to decide if they cannot pay. Barbara Krysiak, Commission member and associate professor of Education, reported that the Education faculty recently (by unanimous vote) overturned a previous departmental statement that no new faculty member could be hired at a rate higher than current members in equivalent status. This is a good sign of openness on the part of the faculty. Third, the University Speakers Series can also be utilized to identify and invite faculty of colors to spend a few days at UNH. This series also provides the community with a forum for encouraging these scholars of color to explore the possibility of UNH as a place of employment, either temporarily, as visiting professors, or permanently. If this is not a possibility, the series, at the very least, provides us with the opportunity to network with these scholars in order to identify and attract others to consider relocating to UNH.

Finally the Commission agreed with Todd that the traditional or conventional methods of hiring has not worked and cannot work in getting faculty of color to come to UNH. Consequently, there is a need for Departments to become more pro-active and more creative in devising new hiring methods to find, reach, and attract difficult-to-hire faculty. Doing this will involve: targeting institutions with large numbers of minority graduate students; working with minority graduate students advisers; offering a conditional offer of appointment to qualified scholars of color in the last year of their doctoral program, to pre-empt the deluge of offers that usually comes with completion of the program; taking advantages of the resources and possibilities offered by the future faculty program in which UNH is involved; establishing faculty and student exchange programs with institutions that have significant numbers of faculty and students of color, like Howard and Hampton universities (two universities with current on-going relationships with UNH); advertising in journals like Black Issues in Higher Education, Ebony, Hispanic Outlook, and others that will demonstrate our clear commitment to diversity to scholars of color who read these magazines; sending faculty recruitment teams to annual professional meetings dominated by scholars of color; bringing faculty of color to campus as post-docs or visiting professors with the possibilities of eventually hiring them in the future.

The meeting with Todd is part of an on-going series of dialogues between the Commission and various groups and principal officers of the University on articulating and drawing up workable strategies that will enable the university to translate its verbal commitment to diversity to concrete realities. This dialogue has engaged the Commission in meetings and discussions with the following individuals and groups: Stephen Reno (USNH Chancellor), Joan Leitzel (UNH President), David Hiley (Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs), Deans (at the 2001 Deans’ summer "Boot Camp"), the Committee of Deans and Chairs, Mark Rubinstein (Vice President for Enrollment Management), John Seavey (Chair, Department of Health Management and Policy, former Chair of the Faculty Senate, Chair of the Committee on the revision of the University General Education Program), David Butler (Assistant Vice President for Human Resources), Julie Williams (Assistant Vice President, Research and Public Service), and Bruce Mallory (Dean, Graduate School), among others.

Priorities and Goals:

At the November retreat, after a review of the Report of the Commission’s Work for the previous year, the Commission set itself a number of priorities for the 2001/2002 academic year.

1. Institutionalize various strategies and programs connected with the promotion of diversity at the university, such as the Speakers Series.
2. Continue the dialogue with administrators and other key players on how best to promote diversity on campus with regards to recruitment and retention of students, staff, and faculty of color at UNH.
3. Continue to work actively with Chancellor Reno in his system-wide initiated dialogue and strategy formation sessions on diversity promotion in the UNH system.
4. Work with the General Education Committee of John Seavey to ensure that diversity issues as well as a diversity requirement receive proper recognition and incorporation in the new General Education or Discovery program
5. Remain actively involved in the University Academic Action Plan initiative to ensure that the promotion of diversity remains a core value and goal of the University.
6. Continue to monitor Admissions’ recruitment of students of color. This is especially important in light of the abrupt resignation of Wilfredo Matos, Associate Director of Admissions. Jibril Salaam was hired following this event. Meet and work with VP for Enrollment Management to discuss ongoing concerns resulting from Wilfredo’s sudden departure, especially the need to create a more welcoming atmosphere for staff of color in the Admission’s office. Monitor the progress and adjustment of Jibril Salaam to his new position.
7. Work with and encourage the University administration, most especially the President, the VPs, and the Deans, to take definite steps to articulate and transmit their vision and commitment to diversity from the top to the entire university community.
8. Work with the UNH Alumni Association and UNH Alumni of Color on ways and means of promoting diversity at UNH.
9. Review our relationship with the Partnership Council for more effective networking and collaboration on promoting diversity at UNH and throughout the State of New Hampshire, through outreach programs to schools, communities, etc.

Accomplishments:

1. The Commission worked with the Academic Action Plan Committee to provide comprehensive recommendations on strategies that the university should adopt to achieve the stated diversity goals of the University Academic Plan.
2. The Commission was actively involved in the campus-wide discussion and reviews of the John Seavey-led General Education Review Proposal. In the wake of the heated controversy that greeted the inclusion of a diversity requirement in the proposed General Education program, the Commission had a meeting with John Seavey to dialogue on the issue. Thereafter, the Commission responded to the Discovery Program with a recommendation on how best to rationalize and integrate a diversity requirement into the program. We are gratified to note that our recommendations proved useful in the final wording and articulation of the diversity requirement aspect of the final proposal, which has been tabled before the Faculty Senate.
3. The Commission continued the ongoing dialogue with key players and groups in the University community on the importance and challenges of promoting diversity at the University. Notable among the people the Commission met with this session were: the Deans at the Deans’ "Boot Camp" in August; Todd DeMitchell, Chair, Department of Education; Julie Williams, Associate Vice President for Research and Public Service; and John Seavey, Chair of the General Education Review Committee of the Faculty Senate.
4. On June 14, Funso Afolayan (PCSPC Chair, 2001-2002), John Ernest (in-coming chair, 2002-2003), along with Sean McGhee, and David Butler met with Michael Worsley, President of Strategic Education for Ethnic Diversity (SEED). They met to brainstorm practical ways of promoting diversity at UNH and how best the resources and professional services of SEED can be utilized at the University. Follow-up meetings are planned (see Appendix).
5. The Commission worked with the Office of Multicultural Students Affairs, the CONNECT program (including a meeting with Carol Tonge who directs the program) to monitor issues related to the recruitment and retention of students of color.
6. The Commission worked with various pressure groups, within and outside the University community to mobilize resistance against the NH House Bill 1304 that would have precluded any form of considerations of race, sex, national origin, religion, or sexual orientation in student, staff, and faculty hiring, promotion or admission by any public institutions in New Hampshire. The University criticized the bill as being counter-productive and harmful to the efforts to increase and promote diversity in the State. In the face of effective opposition from the University and other concerned groups, the bill failed to garner enough support to go beyond the House Committee stage or ensure its passage into law (see Appendix).
7. The Commissions worked with and attended meetings of the system-wide diversity initiatives organized by Chancellor Reno and held at the Conference center in Concord. The forum provided a very useful opportunity for the various officials working on diversity related issues on the different campuses of the USNH to meet, share ideas and experiences, as well as network and plan together. Representatives from the Commission were asked to provide a brief bulletin of current practices and future plans on the recruitment and retention of diverse students, staff, and faculty. (See Appendix).
8. We worked with the University Alumni Association and the Athletic Staff to host, meet, and have discussions with several UNH alumni of color.
9. The Commission continued the Speaker’s Series with a lecture by Professor Juliet E.K. Walker, Professor of Business History and Director of the Center for the Study of Black Business, History and Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas. In addition to engaging members of the University Community on useful discussion on diversity faculty recruitment and retention, she gave an effective and stimulating lecture on “Racial Capitalism and American Business: Entrepreneurial Persistence” (see Appendix).
10. Members of the Commission were also involved at various stages and in the many aspects of the Search for a new UNH President, inputs both to the Chancellor as well as the Search Committee to ensure that, since diversity is one of the core values of the university, candidates' commitment to the promotion of diversity will be given due consideration. (See Appendix).
11. The Commission's recommendations and encouragement saw the creation and implementation of the Students of Color Survey. Gavin Henning from the Student Affairs Research and Assessment Center led the charge on this project. Gavin and his staff organized focus groups as well as implemented the survey this year.

On-Going Works

1. Continue to work with the Office of Multi-Cultural Students Affairs, the Diversity Coalition, the Connect Program, and the Admissions Office, to monitor the recruitment and retention of students of color. Thanks to the new commitment to minority student recruitment that came with the advent of Mark Rubinstein as Vice Provost for Enrollment Management, there has been an upsurge of students of color recruitment. Retaining these students and attracting new ones require the creation and maintaining of a conducive and inclusive campus climate.
2. Remain actively engaged in the Academic Plan to ensure that our recommendations on the promotion of diversity are translated from words to realities.
3. Continue to mobilize support for the inclusion of the diversity requirement in the final version of the General Education or Discovery Program. Work actively to support Faculty Senate’s inclusion of the diversity requirement and support of the Discovery Program.
4. Continue the Speakers’ Series with particular focus on education and the sciences. It is important to book for distinguished scholars months ahead, to ensure their availability. Steps should also be taken to ensure full participation by Departments and faculty in relevant disciplines related to that of the speaker to ensure good attendance at lectures. Prior arrangement can also be made to video-record, with appropriate permission, the speaker’s lecture to serve as a resource for future use.
5. Review the status, desirability and direction of the Partnership Council, and the Commission’s relationship with it.
6. Prepare, and make available to deans, chairs, faculty, and search committees, a manual on effective and useable strategies on recruitment and retention of faculty of color.
7. Continue liaison with the other two Commissions (Women and GLBT) on the desirability of continuing or institutionalizing the periodic meetings of the three Commissions.

Recommendations

The challenge of working with the university on the Academic Plan gave the Commission the opportunity to clearly and concretely articulate many of the issues, concerns, goals, and values that had been at the heart of the Commission’s work since it was established by the President a few years ago. The recommendations that were arrived at after hours of careful deliberations thus represent the Commission’s heartbeat and will therefore are presented here as the Commission’s recommendations for the coming year and beyond. Ensuring the implementation of the strategies should be among the key priorities of the university and among the main challenges of the Commission in the years to come.

The following is an edited list of the recommendations made to the Academic Plan by the President's Commissions on the Status of People of Color. The top priorities from the recommendations are highlighted here.

1. Make a diversity requirement a central and integral part of the general education curriculum. Approve and implement the proposed Social Identity and the Individual requirement being recommended by the John Seavey General Education Study Committee.
2. Develop and incorporate questions on sensitiveness to diversity in student evaluation of teaching forms.
3. Encourage and reward faculty for promoting diversity through teaching, research, as well as mentoring, advising, and other services. Create an annual award for Excellence in Promoting Diversity. In addition, letters of commendation from the President should be sent to faculty, staff, and students who have made significant contributions to the promotion of diversity at the University.
4. Support and institutionalize the relevant minors (Race, Culture, and Power; African-American Studies; and American Studies; etc.). Release, accept, and begin phased implementation of the recommendations of the College of Liberal Arts’ Visitation Committees on these three minors.
5. Include diversity-related content in the first-year orientation program and the First-Year Experience aspect of the Discovery Program.
6. Incorporate the promotion of diversity into the Teaching Excellence Program
7. In addition to personalized approach to recruitment, the University should advertise Faculty and Senior Staff positions in journals readily accessible to people of color such as Black Issues in Higher Education, Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, Women in Higher Education, Black Engineer, Ebony, etc. Advertisement cost should be shared with office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Place a single advertisement in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Black Issues, and Hispanic Outlook, at the beginning of the fall semester, for all the positions open, with the cost to be borne by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and the System Office.
8. Develop and Institutionalize a Visiting Scholars Program, with the specific aim of bringing to the university for a period ranging from one month to two semesters scholars of color whose research, artistic, professional and teaching expertise and interests might enrich the intellectual life of the University.
9. Develop and adopt a spousal hiring program for the university, with specific reference to underrepresented groups. In addition, assist spouses and partners of faculty and staff with housing and schooling arrangements.
10. Develop and institutionalize a Professional Education Program for chairs, faculty, administrators, extension workers, coaches and other athletic staff, on the social issues and challenges of having and maintaining a diversified college community.
11. Develop an explicit UNH Diversity Strategic Plan under the direction of the President.

Concluding Remarks

2001 - 2002 was a busy academic year for the Commission as it engaged the University community at various levels and on a wide variety of issues pertinent to the achievement of its mission. In concluding, it is appropriate to note that the unflagging commitment and leadership of former President Joan Leitzel and Provost David Hiley greatly facilitated the works of the Commission and the promotion of the cause of diversity at the University in the last few years. This past session also witnessed important administrative changes at the Commission’s office. Sylvia Foster replaced Barbara Sirois Doyle as the Educational Program Coordinator. Jane Stapleton, after a successful and highly productive tenure, left her position as Coordinator of the President’s Commissions. In February 2002, after a protracted search, Mary Taylor, UNH Smith Hall’s Resident Hall Director, was hired by the Search Committee as the new coordinator. Since resuming in her new position in February 2002, Mary has brought to the office a sense of duty, diligence, administrative competence, as well as the grace and commitment that have continued to serve the Commission and the University well. This year also witnessed the appointment of

Jibril Salaam as the coordinator of Multicultural Students’ recruitment; the Commission commends Jibril for a successful recruitment year. We also note with satisfaction the successful appointment of visiting professors and scholars of color in the Departments of Education, Foreign Language and Literature, and Political Science, as well as in the Women Studies Program. Finally we welcome the appointment and advent of Dr. Ann Weaver Hart as the new president of the University. We are gratified and encouraged by her clearly stated commitment to and appreciation of the importance and the challenges of the promotion of diversity in all its filaments at the University. For her benefit, we hope our multiple recommendations are not too overwhelming as a welcome reception for her to the university. Since this is her Commission, and we exist and function at her pleasure, we look forward with eager expectation to working with her to making this New Hampshire flagship institution the center of excellence it is designed to be.

Appendix

I. Commission Membership List, 2001/2002 Session
II. House Bill 1304
III. Letter to John Seavey RE: General Education Requirement
IV. Letter to Search Committee for UNH President's position
V. Flyer for Juliet E.K. Walker presentation
VI. Strategic Education for Ethnic Diversity (SEED) brochure
VII. Student of Color Survey
VIII. Chancellor Reno Diversity Meeting
IX. Commission’s Recommendations for the Academic Strategic Plan

APPENDIX I

UNH President’s Commission on the Status of People of Color
2001 - 2002
Membership

Chairperson:
Funso Afolayan – History (faculty)

Vice-Chairperson:
Barbara Larson – Anthropology (faculty)

Faculty Members:
Alberto Manalo – RECO
Jeff Bolster - History

Staff Members:
Sharon Demers – Human Resources
Tom Indelicato – University Police
Jibril Salaam – Admissions
Darryl Hilliard – Athletics
Giao Le – Graduate School

Undergraduate Students:
Manouchka Poinson
Kristina Witkowicki

Graduate Students:
Edith Butler – Ph.D. candidate in English

UNH-M members
Miho Bean – Admissions

Partnership Council Members:
Valerie Cunningham

Ex-officio Members:
Sean McGhee – OMSA
Pat Gormley – Affirmative Action
Sylvia Foster – Commission Office
Mary Taylor – Commission Office

APPENDIX III
February 25, 2002

The General Education Study Committee
C/o Professor John Seavey
Department of Health Management and Policy
337 Hewitt Hall, UNH, Durham

RE: Social Identity and Cultural Awareness Requirement

On behalf of the UNH President's Commission on the Status of People of Color, we want to
congratulate the members of the General Education Study Committee for a job well done for
the recently proposed Discovery Program. We consider the proposal with its objectives and its
innovative and holistic approach to learning a most refreshing and welcome development for the
cause of education at the University of New Hampshire.

We especially welcome the development, adoption, and inclusion of the Social Identity and Cultural Awareness (SICA) requirement of the proposed Discovery Program. We fully agree with the Committee, the American Association for Higher Education, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and the American Association of University Professors, that the inclusion of a diversity program in the educational curriculum, "enriches the educational experience," "promotes personal growth-and a healthy society," "strengthens communities and the workplace," and "enhances America's economic competitiveness." For the University of New
Hampshire to successfully achieve its cardinal objective of promoting diversity in teaching, learning, research, and in services, the inclusion of a diversity requirement in its most central curriculum requirement is crucial.

We recognize that the SICA requirement has come under attack from various quarters in the last few weeks. This, of course, is not surprising: promoting diversity through any means and in all societies is an inherently controversial affair. It rarely comes easy. We, however, welcome the criticisms as a good opportunity to further refine the definition, features, and operations of the requirement. Only a few (if any) of the critics have questioned the value and necessity of a diversity requirement; most are concerned with the way the proposed requirement is worded or
defined. In response to the criticisms, we offer the following suggestions and reflections:

CRITICISM 1: "categories to be included too narrow and too proscriptive."

While we sympathize with this criticism, we want the Committee to be mindful of the danger of over-expanding the boundaries of what can be included to such an extent that the requirement becomes too diluted and in the end meaningless and counterproductive. Nevertheless, to take care of this criticism, we support the inclusion of two additional categories that many have raised consistently, and which we consider significant enough to merit inclusion: religion and ethnicity.

RECOMMENDATION: Broaden categories to include religion and ethnicity.
The latter could be combined with race to form a single category: “race and
ethnicity.”

CRITICISM 2: "requirement as currently defined too USA oriented" or "promotes a narrowly American perspective."

This is an accurate criticism, though not necessarily a valid one. We do not see this restriction as being motivated by nationalistic or patriotic sentiments, though there is nothing naturally wrong with such sentiments; it is the end to which such sentiments are directed that matters. Rather we see the US focus of the SICA requirement as a matter of practical intellectual and social necessity. The vast majority of our students are Americans and the vast majority of them (both American and international students) will end up working in and for the United States. We see no reason why we should be apologetic about providing these students with curriculum opportunities that would enable them to become engaged with grappling with issues and "categories of cultural identity" that "have been historically used to define the social, legal and political norm throughout US history," and that "have been at the heart of our national experience," "have been the concerns of our most heated struggles as a national community" and our quest for freedom and democracy as a nation, and have continued to influence and shape our social, economic, and political life. Providing our students with an informed exposure to and engagement with the interplay of these categories in US history and society, past and present, is doing them a major social and intellectual service.

RECOMMENDATION: Retain the U.S. focus, with flexibility to consider some non-US focused courses if they compare on a fairly regular basis aspects of others cultures and experiences with US cultures and experiences (as discussed more fully in point 4 below).

3. Concerning Foreign Culture and International Perspectives

The Foreign Culture requirement (if retained) and the Historical Perspective requirement (which we recommend be resuscitated), should both substantially and potentially address the issue of the non-US dimension of this SICA requirement. It is difficult to see how any course focused on the categories we have delineated and with a non-US geographical focus will not easily fit into the Foreign Culture requirement. The proposed inclusion of an International Perspective requirement (if accepted) will also work towards the same ends. We, however, feel that the International Perspective requirement should be accommodated within, or merged within, or made an integral part of the Foreign Culture requirement to avoid unnecessary duplication, since they are closely related and can be encapsulated within the same framework. This, of course, will require some slight redefining of the current Foreign Culture requirement to accommodate and reflect the challenges of incorporating an international perspective in our students.

RECOMMENDATION: Retain the Foreign Culture requirement, but incorporate within it the International Perspective approach to form a single requirement. Resuscitate the Historical Perspective Requirement.

4. CONCERNING THE TITLE SOCIAL IDENTITY AND CULTURAL AWARENESS (SICA)

We agree with the Committee’s decision to emphasize a selective approach to diversity covering the categories of race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability; and we would add religion and ethnicity) because these concerns have been, historically, used to define the social, legal and
political norms throughout US history, identifying who will have access to the rights and benefits of citizenship.

Since the aim is to focus on those identities and processes that have resulted in discrimination and differential in power relations, rather than simply encouraging a kind of cultural tourism of diverse cultures and cultural identities, we feel a change of title to something like Social Power and Inequality or Social Power and Identity (SPI) might be in order to better reflect this focus.

Our hope is that the new title will take care of some of the objections already raised while accurately addressing the issue of social inequality that humans experience because of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and disability. No one would deny the responsibility of scholars to be intellectually engaged in pondering and teaching and learning about the reality of the issues of Social Power and Inequality.

SPI will focus on the categories of power and social categories in the U.S. and beyond. Our students confront contemporary problems, the majority of which are rooted in social inequality, and it is crucial that they have a perspective on how this operates. Inequities in social power have real implications for how people live their lives across the world. The sanctity of the individual human being has been compromised by social inequality. There has rarely been a society in the world that has not been characterized by social inequality. The processes of discrimination can occur in many different contexts. Differentials in power and social inequality might include but are not limited to race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and
religion. The ideal is to create an environment where people can pursue what they want, without limiting people's rights and individual freedoms. We need to understand the notion, the nature, the dynamics, the processes, and the consequences of social inequalities. This requirement should help students become attuned to the implications of social power and how these promote social inequality. The spirit of a liberal arts education is to promote a sense of humanistic inquiry, commitment to freedom, justice, and democracy. A fundamental paradox of the experiment of the U.S. experience is that social inequality jeopardizes these. Cardinal among the forces that have compromised the realization of these in many societies and over time is social power and inequality.

For us the baseline will be the United States. Thus courses under SPI or SICA (whichever title is retained) should relate directly to contemporary US experiences of students or contain components that compare, on a fairly regular basis, aspects of other cultures to those experiences. The intention is to place emphasis on US experience while making provisions for courses that focus on the dynamics of social inequality outside the US. The global nature of the categories in focus meant that some non-US focused courses could meet the requirement of SPI. Non-US courses should be defined and structured to provide the context for students to compare the dynamics of social inequality categories worldwide with relevant issues in the United States. Students should not be able to walk out of the class without having the opportunity to make the connections between what is happening outside the US to what is happening within the U.S.

RECOMMENDATION: Change the title to Social Power and Inequality or Social
Power and Identity or some such title that highlights the power dimension.

We wish the Committee the very best in the weeks ahead as you work diligently to revise and finalize the proposal.

Sincerely,

Funso Afolayan,
Associate Professor of African and World History and
Chair, President's Commission on the Status of People of Color

Barbara Larson
Associate Professor of Anthropology and
Vice-Chair, President's Commission on the Status of People of Color

APPENDIX IV

Trustee John Crosier, Chair, Search Committee
UNH Presidential Search Committee
Thompson Hall
Durham, NH 03824
December 7, 2001
Dear Members of the Search Committee;

During President Joan R. Leitzel's six-year tenure, the University made significant progress in creating structures, policies and programs to promote diversity on campus. The leadership role provided by President Leitzel has been crucial in transforming the University's commitment from words to action. As the trustees begin the initial process of searching for a new President, it is essential that we preserve and advance the achievements already made in realizing the University's diversity goals.

In as much as increasing diversity is one of the eight core values identified in the University's Academic Plan, we would urge the search committee to make sure that all candidates demonstrate an understanding of the centrality of diversity to the educational mission of the university and the goal of preparing students to work effectively in a global and increasingly multicultural world. We ask that the goal of diversity be reflected in the priorities of qualifications for the new President. Realizing our diversity goals and preserving the gains already made require that our new President must be somebody with a demonstrated commitment and proven record of successfully dealing with diversity issues in all of their complexity including issues such as recruitment and retention of faculty, staff and students of color, creating a favorable campus climate, and expanding curriculum offerings around diversity issues.

We also urge the committee to have candidates meet with representatives of the Commission on the Status of People of Color during their initial visits to campus. We would be happy to provide the candidates and search committee with whatever information is needed to better understand the importance and the challenges of fostering diversity on this campus.

Sincerely and respectfully yours,

Funso Afolayan,
Chair of the President’s Commission on the Status of People of Color and
Faculty member, History Department

Barbara Larson,
Vice-chair of the President’s Commission on the Status of People of Color and
Faculty member, Anthropology Department

Cc: Chancellor Reno

APPENDIX V

Juliet E.K. Walker
Professor of Business History, University of Texas in Austin
Director, Center for the Study of Black Business,
History and Entrepreneurship is speaking on
Racial Capitalism and American Business: Entrepreneurial Persistence

Tuesday, April 9th 12:40 - 2:00 P.M.
Phillips Auditorium
120 Spaulding Hall

A distinguished scholar, recipient of many honors and awards, Professor Walker has taught at universities in Hong Kong, Australia, Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Canada, and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, from where she re-located to UT-Austin in January 2002. Professor Walker's publications, for which she has received thirteen awards, are regarded as having provided the foundation for establishing Black Business history as a new sub-field in African American history. In addition to eighty articles, scholarly essays and encyclopedia entries, Dr. Walker’s is the author of The History of Black Business in America: Capitalism, Race, Entrepreneurship (New York/London: Macmillan/ Prentice Hall International, 1998), the first and only comprehensive history of the business and entrepreneurial activities of African Americans. Other books include War, Peace, and Structural Violence: Peace Activism and the African-American Experience (Indiana, 1992), Free Frank: A Black Pioneer on the Antebellum Frontier (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1983; 1995). Also, Dr. Walker is the editor of the Encyclopedia of African American Business History (Greenwood, 1999).

Dr. Walker’s visit is co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs, The President’s Commission on the Status of People of Color, the Whittemore School of Business and Economics, and
the Department of History. For more information, please call 862-2338

APPENDIX IX

UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE ACADEMIC STRATEGIC PLAN
SUBMITTED BY UNH PRESIDENT’S COMMISSION
ON THE STATUS OF PEOPLE OF COLOR

Goal 6: The University of New Hampshire will be a collegial and supportive community that values difference of opinion and disagreement along with civility and consensus; and in which all its members are valued for their contributions and are appropriately recognized and rewarded for what they do.

Strategy 6B: Incorporate the presentation and discussion of the values of community, citizenship, respect, and diversity into all aspects of students’ education, including the academic curriculum and appropriate co-curricular activities.

Measure 1: Make a diversity requirement a central and integral part of the general education curriculum
Action Step: Approve and implement the proposed Social Identity and the Individual requirement being recommended by the General Education Study Committee led by John Seavey

Measure 2: Encourage the adoption and integration of Diversity Across the Curriculum programs

Measure 3: Promote the respect for and inculcation of diversity in course development as well as in teaching. Hold Faculty accountable for respecting and being sensitive to issues of diversity
Action Step: Provide access to professional development for faculty that includes information and techniques to handle these issues in the classroom. This could be part of the Teaching Excellence Program.
Action Step: Develop and incorporate questions on sensitiveness to diversity in student evaluation form

Measure 4: Encourage and reward faculty for promoting diversity through teaching, research, as well as mentoring, advising, and other services. Create an annual award for Excellence in Promoting Diversity. In addition, letters of commendation from the President should be sent to identified Faculty, Staff, and Students, who have made significant contributions to the promotion of diversity at the University.

Measure 5: Support and institutionalize the relevant minors (Race, Culture, Power; and African-American Studies; etc.)
Action Step: Release, accept, and begin phased implementation of the recommendations of the Visitation Committees on these three minors.
Responsible Party: Dean, College of Liberal Arts

Measure 6: Include diversity-related content into the Freshman orientation program and the First-Year Experience aspect of the Discovery Program

Strategy 6H: Provide junior faculty members, especially members of under represented groups, with programs and activities that support their success.

Measure 1: Establish and sustain a mentoring program for new faculty of color
Baseline: Review existing forms of faculty mentoring
Action Step: Use Department Chairs meetings and New Chairs Orientation to plan and promote such mentoring programs.

Measure 2: Designate summer, research, and professional development fellowship programs directed specifically to new and junior faculty from underrepresented groups.
Action Step: Dean’s Offices and Office of Sponsored Research

Measure 3: New Faculty Orientation Program should be expanded to incorporate the particular needs of new faculty of color
Action Step: Provost’s office

Measure 4: Incorporate the promotion of diversity into the Teaching Excellence Program

Goal 7: The University of New Hampshire will be a community that actively seeks and welcomes a diverse faculty, extension educators, staff, and student body, and supports and values diversity.

Strategy 7A: Identify, recruit and take appropriate steps to retain significant numbers of under represented female and racial and ethnic minority students, faculty, extension educators, and staff to increase the University’s diversity.

Measure 1: Develop and adopt more pro-active, more effective, and often less conventional recruitment strategies specifically directed towards reaching and attracting faculty of color and other underrepresented groups

Action Step 1: Develop recruitment strategies specific to each school or college, and to each academic department, to recruit candidates from underrepresented groups. These strategies would have one year, five year and ten year steps. They would include the research to locate the pools of candidates (new PhD’s and senior faculty) who are in academic disciplines and specialties, beginning outreach to the universities which produce these scholars, and providing for direct dean-to-dean, chair-to-chair and faculty-to-faculty connections to establish networks of scholars and to assist in pursuing these candidates over the course of the next few years and the next few decades. Emphasize personal recruitment outreach over advertising to reach underrepresented populations of scholars.

Action Step 2: Have Commission teams go to departments or have chairs meet with the Commission to brainstorm about possible strategies for recruitment and retention

Action Step 3: Update the Faculty Search Guidelines, providing more detailed information and strategies for chairs, search committees, faculty, and administrators for recruiting faculty and staff of color.

Action Step 4: Ensure that all search committees comply with the requirement in the Guidelines to appoint an Affirmative Action Liaison.

Action Step 5: Make sure candidates of color have opportunity to meet with Commission members and/or resident faculty and/or staff of color during interviews.

Action Step 6: Develop sample letters (marketing the university and what it has to offer) to assist chairs and search committees with targeted and opportunity hires.

Action Step 7: Advertise positions in journals readily accessible to people of color such as Black Issues in Higher Education, Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, Women in Higher Education, Black Engineer, Ebony, etc. Advertisement cost should be shared with VP AA office. Place a single ad in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Black Issues, and Hispanic Outlook, at the beginning of the fall semester, for all the positions open, with the cost to be borne by the VP AA and the System Office.

Measure 2: Develop and Institutionalize a Visiting Scholars Program, with the specific aim of bringing to the university for a period ranging from one month to two semesters scholars of color whose research, artistic, professional and teaching expertise and interests might enrich the intellectual life of the University.
Action Step 1: Link with UNH Foundation and the Capital campaign to provide permanent source of funding [Program could be named after donor or donors]; Seek external funding as well – Ford, Rockfeller, etc.
Action Step 2: Create a visiting scholars’ program committee to be constituted by the Office of VP AA made up of faculty, staff, and students, and with representatives from the CSPC and OMSA to develop and administer this

Measure 3: Develop and adopt a spousal hiring program for the university, with specific reference to underrepresented groups. In addition, assist spouses and partners of faculty and staff with housing and schooling arrangements.
Action Step 1: Classify spouses of faculty and staff as part of the internal pool of candidates for job searches
Action Step 2: Establish liaisons with businesses in surrounding communities to facilitate employment of partners.
Action Step 3: Identifying and Designate a resource person(s) on campus to help with spousal hiring, housing, and other relocation matters.
Action Step 4: Have Personnel and Human resources develop a strategy and an action plan on spousal hiring.

Measure 4: Seek institutionalization, and support for the Speaker’s Series. Continue to develop its utility as means of networking with and interesting faculty of color in possible employment at UNH.
Action Step: Goal is to invite at least 2 speakers per year. To be coordinated and monitored by the CSPC working with the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Progress review after five years. Seek to guarantee funding for some fixed time period through linkage with UNH Foundation and Capital Campaign

Measure 5: Pro-actively package and market the University to the general public and the wider world and most especially to underrepresented groups.

Action Step: Develop standardized marketing packets, individualized for different constituencies, such as students, associations, conferences, international audiences, etc., that might make the area particularly attractive to people of color. These Packets should also be given to chairs to heighten their awareness of available resources in the area.

Measure 6: The University should seek to establish endowed chairs for diversity-related areas of scholarship that could be used for strategic and targeted faculty of color recruitment
Action Step: Link with UNH Foundation and Capital Campaign. Plan for this specifically in the next Capital Campaign.

Measure 7: Institute a program of yearly conversations with faculty, staff, and students of color to review their experience, needs, concerns, and welfare as members of the Durham University Community.
Action Step 1: Faculty interviews should be carried out by faculty, preferably from outside the Faculty’s own home department. Staff and student should be interviewed by the appropriate staff or peer interviewers.
Action Step 2: Issues of major concerns discovered in the course of the individual interviews should be communicated to the Commission on the Status of People of Color, with a view to ensuring that appropriate steps are taken to resolve them.

Measure 8: Conduct exit interviews with departing faculty, staff, and students of color to identify the reasons for their departure, so that appropriate measures can be taken to resolve noted concerns and avoid untimely departure and quick turn-overs in the future.

Measure 9: In predominantly white institutions faculty of color usually have disproportionate committee assignments and a heavy load of student counseling and mentoring. To avoid burnout or failure to publish and thus tenure denial, such responsibilities should be relieved through course release or reduced teaching load, as necessary and granted on a case by case basis.

Strategy 7B: Create a welcoming climate for and attract greater numbers of international and non traditional students through targeted recruitment and retention efforts.

Measure 1: Develop and adopt more effective marketing strategies to reach international students: innovative web-designs; sending packets to information centers such as United States Information Services (USIS) offices abroad, international schools; distribute packets through faculty traveling abroad for research and conferences, and through alumni in institutions abroad, etc.
Action Step 1: Include admission or recruitment information in Alumni Magazine as a permanent feature, full-page, half or quarter page.
Action Step 2: Develop linkages and partnerships with high schools (as UVM has done), re getting more students. Deliberately target specific population groups, such as the growing Hispanic population in Manchester and Nashua, among others.

Measure 2: Develop and institutionalize a Professional Education Program for chairs, faculty, administrators, extension workers, coaches and other athletic staff, on the social issues and challenges of having and maintaining a diversified college community.
Action Step 1: Use new chair and new faculty professional development and in-service opportunities.
Action Step 2: Develop and maintain a pool of experts (internal and external) on diversity issues, who can be commissioned to address Departmental meetings, Faculty Senate meetings, etc. on diversity issues.

Measure 3: Establish and continue Support Services and Comfort Zones, such as the OMSA office, Diversity Coalition programs, faculty lunches, and welcoming reception for new faculty, staff, and students of color.
Action Step: Continue to support the work of TRIO (Connect, Upward Bound, OMSA) as an important recruitment and retention tools for students of color.

Measure 4: Better use of alumni, both white & of color. Utilize alumni of color to create a dedicated alumni network for support, mentoring of current students, recruitment of potential students, and to advise the alumni Association.

Measure 5: Create a plan to institutionalize the Partnership Council or other community outreach council or committee, to maintain and enhance links to the community of color in New Hampshire, to serve as resource for the University community, assist in recruiting students of color, help with housing, employment, community issues for faculty/staff of color, and assist in establishing internship & career opportunities for students of color.

Strategy 7C (New Strategy): Develop an explicit UNH Diversity Strategic Plan under the direction of the President

Measure 1: Establish a task force with representatives from Presidential Commissions and other appropriate organizations/offices to develop this plan

Measure 2: Develop a procedure for monitoring the progress of all diversity-related initiatives set forth in the University Strategic Plan.