UNH President's Commission on the Status of People of Color
Final Report submitted to President Joan R. Leitzel May 11, 1998

Introduction
Recruitment Committee
Climate, Equity and Welfare Committee
Academic Programs Committee
Community Relations Committee
Nominations and Rules Committee

UNH President's Commission on the Status of People of Color

Co-Chairs:

Patsy Schweickart, Professor of English
Jim Washington, Director of Admissions

Members:

Aine Aikeley, Undergraduate Student
Linda Corliss, Public Safety Officer, University Police Department
John Ernest, Associate Professor of English
Linda Foulsham, Associate Director of Student Life - Judicial Program
Sharon Gordon, Dispatcher, Maintenance
C. Jaime James Jr., Partnership Council
Barbara Krysiak, Associate Professor of Education
Pat Madsen, Senior Accountant, Controller's Office
Dean Moosavi, Graduate Student
Diane Padilla, Partnership Council
Ernest Proper, Undergraduate Student
Yae Sock Roh, Assistant Professor of Hospitality Management
Rolanda Sequeira, Undergraduate Student
Angel Tirado, Undergraduate Student

Ex-officio Members:

Cheryl Daly, Director of Multicultural Student Affairs
Pat Gormley, Special Assistant to the President for Affirmative Action
Liisa Reimann, Commission Staff
Jane Stapleton, Commission Coordinator

Introduction:

In establishing the Commission on the Status of People of Color, President Joan R. Leitzel charged the commission with proposing, recommending, and evaluating programs, policies, and services aimed at enhancing diversity and supporting people of color within the UNH community. The commission was asked to act to ensure implementation of goals to increase campus diversity through minority student, faculty, and staff recruitment and retention, and curriculum development. The commission monitors the climate on campus to be sure the environment is supportive of the minority population. As an advocacy group, the commission identifies, recommends, and supports creative strategies for campus diversity; assesses and responds to issues, needs, and concerns identified within the community; and establishes effective and collaborative working relationships between departments, offices, committees/commissions, special programs, and support structures that play a role in fostering diversity on campus. It is in this spirit that the commission puts forth this final report.

The priorities and concerns put forth in the report represent the work of the commission during the 1997-98 academic year. The information presented builds upon and reflects the goals established in the 1994 document, Building a New University Community: Minority Student and Faculty Recruitment and Retention at the University of New Hampshire. The commission began its work in October of 1997 by reflecting on this document and the subsequent 1996 audit. As a result, we organized our work around four areas: recruitment; climate, equity and welfare; academic programs; and community relations. Information is presented and recommendations are made in each area. It is our hope that the president carefully considers the entire report and acts accordingly to all recommendations put forth.

Recruitment Committee:

Committee Members:

Aine Aikeley, John Ernest, Sharon Gordon, Pat Gormley and Jane Stapleton. Jim Washington, chairperson.

Committee Objective:

The Recruitment Committee formulates action plans and policy recommendations that will enhance the presence of faculty, staff, and students of color at the university's Durham and Manchester campuses.

Priority Concerns:

Undergraduate Student Recruitment

The May 1994 Building a New University Community report established an enrollment goal "in the range of 7.5% for undergraduate minority student population on the Durham campus by September of 2005." Furthermore, the report states that "intermediate check-points will be 3% by September of 1995 and 5% by September of 2000."

In "Broken Promises" (Appendix I), the Black Student Union called for an African American student enrollment "of at least 500 by the year 2004". According to the March 11, 1998 Ethnic Counts at R+30 (Spring 1998 report prepared by the Office of Institutional Research), there are 315 bachelor's degree candidates and 22 associate's degree candidates on the Durham campus who belong to minority groups. This minority student total , 337, represents 3.4% of Durham's total traditional undergraduate degree enrollments, 9964. While the 5% target by September 2000 may still be realized, it is clear that an enhanced and coordinated minority student enrollment effort will be required to move the university beyond the 3.4% plateau of the past several years. Tangible and timely indicators of progress can be the university's only response to the growing frustrations shared by faculty, staff, and students concerning minority student enrollments.

The Building a New University Community report also called for administrativeadjustments to include "the formation of a minority recruitment 'team'" that would work in partnership with a student advisory group. While it is not yet clear to the Recruitment Committee how many additional "team members" may be required to help the university realize its objectives, it is clear that team performance is heavily dependent upon its organizational and leadership structure.

Within an environment of scarce resources, it is particularly important that all minority student recruitment team members know a symbiotic relationship. At present, however, the university's organizational structure seems incompatible with the goal of maximizing recruitment efforts for students of color. For example, most would expect undergraduate admissions and minority student recruitment to be interdependent university functions. The university's present model, however, informs our public that undergraduate admissions and minority student recruitment are independent operations (note physical locations of offices, directory listings, etc.). Moreover, the reporting lines and budgeting process for these areas seem illogical in light of the university's aggressive strides toward consolidation and student service efficiency in other areas such as business and registration services.

Faculty Recruitment

The successful recruitment and retention of faculty of color in many cases may be linked with the candidate's ability to establish a strong family foundation at UNH. Accordingly, we recognize that salary offers alone may not guarantee the hiring of highly desired candidates. During the 1997-98 academic year, for instance, the commission was contacted by hiring departments for counsel regarding how to negotiate the employment of a candidate's spouse. In each case, the department identified that finalizing a candidate's hiring also included the need to secure a suitable university teaching or staff position for his or her spouse/partner.

While commission members received each request for counsel with interest and enthusiasm, we soon recognized that satisfactory resolution of these cases was hampered by the university's absence of hiring policies and/or guidelines to assist department chairs and college deans. The creation of such policy and its endorsement by the president, therefore, has emerged as a Recruitment Committee priority.

Staff Recruitment

Although Building a New University Community does not address issues related to staff hiring and people of color, the commission recognizes the potential for effective staff hiring and promotion practices to aid our efforts in the areas of student/faculty recruitment and climate enhancement. Accordingly, Recruitment Committee discussions this year involved an assessment of staff hiring practices and advancement opportunities for people of color at the university.

Climate, Equity and Welfare Committee:

Committee Members:

Linda Corliss, Cheryl Daly, Linda Foulsham, and Ernest Proper. Jane Gruba, non-commission committee member. Pat Gormley, chairperson.

Committee Objective:This committee has two missions. The first is to monitor the campus climate specific to "quality of life" and equity concerns for students, staff, and faculty of color at UNH Durham and Manchester. The second is to formulate action plans and policy recommendations when monitoring reveals climate deficiencies.

Priority Concerns:Faculty, student and staff retention and quality of life issues need to be discussed together because they are inherently linked - the latter naturally impacts the former. Currently, exit interviews do not track why, relative to campus climate, faculty, students and staff leave the university. There have been recent indicators such as the publication of the Smith Hall dissatisfaction, "Broken Promises" by the BSU, and anecdotes discussed by students with staff and faculty that suggest that the quality of life is less than acceptable for students of color on campus. However, quality of life continues to only be assessed on an informal basis. It is clear that to effectively measure and address both of these issues it is necessary to address them in systematic ways.