Annual Report on Diversity

Overview

The faculty diversity initiative is now in its fifth year. At the start of the 2010–11 academic year, 31.7 percent of our faculty were women, compared to 28.6 percent in 2006 (table 1). This represents an increase from 411 women faculty members in fall 2006 to 520 in fall 2010. The proportion of faculty who identified themselves as members of an underrepresented racial or ethnic minority group was 3.4 percent in fall 2010, compared to 2.6 percent in 2006. This represents an increase from 37 underrepresented minority faculty members in fall 2006 to 56 in fall 2010. Between July 1, 2009 and July 1, 2010, the University hired 158 new faculty, of whom 44.9 percent were women and 5.1 percent were underrepresented minorities. During that same period, 77 faculty left the University, of whom 39 percent were women and 6.5 percent were underrepresented minorities.

New Directions

When Vivian Lewis was appointed, one of her first priorities was to double the size of the Faculty Diversity Officers Committee (FDOs) in order to broaden the conversation about diversity to a wider audience. The Office for Faculty Development and Diversity (OFDD) and the expanded group of FDOs have been working to clarify and redefine their vision and mission. With approval from the president and the deans, we are pleased to share the results. Vision: The University strives to reflect, celebrate, and incorporate the richness of individual and group differences in all our pursuits. The mission of the OFDD and FDOs is to collaborate with academic leadership and faculty in the hiring, retention, and advancement of diverse faculty.

The strategies to achieve this mission are to:

• Discover and encourage best practices for recruitment, retention, and promotion of underrepresented groups to the faculty.
• Empower underrepresented groups to prepare for and seek leadership opportunities. • Provide data and analysis to inform decision-making by leaders and other stakeholders in building the best possible faculty.
• Establish and sustain frank conversation and awareness among faculty and others throughout the University about the current state of diversity and how it can be enhanced to foster a more inclusive culture.

Diversity related scholarly activity is another new direction for the OFDD. With Vivian Lewis as primary investigator, the University was recently awarded approximately two million dollars by the National Institutes of Health to help improve diversity in the scientific workforce. Over the next three years, Vivian Lewis will study the effects of different mentoring interventions in promoting resilience among biomedical researchers and trainees from underrepresented groups. The study will be a collaborative effort including faculty and graduate students from the University at Buffalo and Upstate Medical College along with the University of Rochester.

Focus on Faculty Recruitment

Special Opportunities Fund (SOF)

The goal of SOF is to assist deans and department chairs in the recruitment or retention of faculty candidates who will contribute to the diversity of the faculty and who might otherwise not be recruited because of lack of departmental resources. There was $600,000 available in the fund for FY 2011 and there will be $750,000 available in FY 2012. During FY2011 SOF supported hiring or retention of ten faculty and helped with seed funding for three new programs. Eight of our FY 2011 commitments will continue into FY 2012 (see table 2). We look forward to expanding the usage of the fund to include visiting faculty and post-doctoral fellows.

Building the Applicant Pool

OFDD strives to help the University’s academic units expand their faculty applicant pools. For example, in FY 2009 OFDD launched a recruitment grant program to encourage faculty to attend academic conferences, symposia, and other professional association meetings that have large underrepresented faculty audiences; faculty request up to $1,500 to support travel and conference fees. The office has also created a new initiative to research and monitor faculty development and diversity related grants University-wide. In addition, we have created a new database to match potential underrepresented minority candidates with postdoctoral and faculty positions at the University.

Job Postings and Recruitment Packets

During FY 2011, OFDD assisted in academic searches by posting 13 positions in Inside Higher Education and the Higher Education Recruitment Consortium of Upstate New York. Our office provided more than 400 recruitment packets to various academic units in FY2011 (approximately 100 more packets from FY 2010). These faculty recruitment packets include materials to give prospective faculty an overview of cultural resources in the Rochester community, the University’s “family-friendly” policies, the UR Home Mortgage Program, the UR Year One Program, and more.

Focus on Faculty

Retention Faculty and Staff Child Care Needs

In the past year, the Office of Human Resources has conducted a needs assessment, a review of existing real estate and facilities, and a preliminary study of physical locations for new buildings for child care needs. Doris Robinson oversaw the issuance and review of a request for proposals (RFP) from national child care vendors. There is interest by providers and a clear demand for expanded services. There is also support for more ad hoc services such as sick child care and adult care. All these services were included in the RFP and there continues to be interest expressed on these topics from many quarters of the University.

Web Resources

OFDD distributes the Faculty Development News electronically to all faculty three times per year. This popular publication includes news about upcoming faculty development events, awards, and newcomers to the University. We also maintain a Diversity calendar that includes more general University and local diversity events.

Focus on Building Community

Presidential Diversity Award

This award was created in 2009 to recognize faculty, staff, students, units, departments, or teams who have demonstrated leadership in recruitment and retention efforts, teaching, research, multicultural programming, cultural competency, community outreach activities, or other initiatives that promote diversity or inclusion. The 2010 awardees were the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the undergraduate student group UR Genocide. All nominees were recognized at a reception at the Witmer House. Posters describing the efforts of all of the nominees have since been prominently displayed in public areas throughout the University.

Campus-wide Workshops

OFDD sponsored two campus-wide workshops this year. The first, in December 2010, was a workshop on micro-messaging with guests from the LGBT community and the Muslim Community. The second was a mentoring workshop, a collaboration of the OFDD and CTSI, held in March 2011. Over 50 faculty members attended each of the workshops.

2nd Annual Diversity Conference, “Why Diversity?”

On April 29, 2011, OFDD hosted the second annual University-wide Diversity Conference. Leadership from across the University, including Board Members, administrators, faculty, staff, students, and alumni came together to affirm the importance of diversity for progress and innovation. The conference highlighted the progress that has occurred in making the underlying culture more inclusive; a critical step on the road to becoming a more diverse faculty. For those who could not attend, conference content was posted on the OFDD website, including: a video recording of the President’s welcome and keynote address, detailed descriptions of the workshops, and conference materials. The website will be a resource for continuing discussions on diversity with the community throughout the year.

University-wide Coordination of Celebrations of Diversity

Our success as a University in building a welcoming community depends, in part, upon everyone being aware of the work done to promote diversity. OFDD has begun to identify specific University offices to provide central coordination of selected month-long annual diversity and inclusion programs. We have expanded to celebrate Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, LGBTQI Appreciation Month, Asian Heritage Month, and have plans underway to add Native American Heritage Month in the fall.

Conclusion

As we look ahead to the next five years, OFDD is developing new initiatives to address the ever more complex needs of our University community. Given the decentralized nature of our University, this office depends on deans and FDOs from each school to implement new programs and policies, advocate for diversity initiatives within their own schools and units, contribute to strategic planning, and assist in monitoring and evaluating diversity initiatives within the unit.

All six schools have much to be proud of. The next portion of this report highlights the efforts of other University-wide efforts and each school’s achievements.

UR Year One & Early Career Program

2010-2011 marked the fourth year of “UR Year One,” an orientation and professional development program for new and early career faculty, designed to reinforce the support received in their home departments and create opportunities to meet colleagues University-wide. Comprised of two workshop series, one on career development, the other on teaching excellence, and a set of social events, the program’s most distinctive feature is its wide-spread engagement of the university community as instructors and discussion facilitators. In 2010-2011 a total of 100 faculty, administrators, and academic leaders played a role in the program, including: 28 faculty, of both associate and full professor rank; 15 academic deans, the president, and provost; the professional staff from Office of Research Administration; the assistant deans and administrators for grant writing from each school; the University Counsel; the Editor of the University Press; professional staff from Security, Health Services, and the University Counseling Center; and 30 academic librarians.

Participation in the workshops and social activities has increased each year of the program. In 2010-2011 approximately 217 new and early career faculty participated. Percentages of new faculty participation overall were: The College- 83%; Eastman-75%; Simon-100%; and Medicine-40%. The Warner School and Nursing did not appoint new faculty in 2010. Percentages of early career participation overall were: The College58%; Eastman-75%; Simon-50%; Warner-33%; Nursing -58%; and Medicine-29%.

2010-2011 also marked the first year in which a comprehensive satisfaction survey of the fall programs was administered. All programming was well received by both early career and new faculty. On a scale of 1 to 4, with 4 indicating high satisfaction and 1 indicating dissatisfaction, workshop averages ranged 3.2 to 3.3. Social event average satisfaction scores ranged between 3.4 and 3.6.

Future Faculty

Initiative In January 2010, in collaboration with the Senior Associate Provost, Warner School of Education Dean Raffaella Borasi convened a group of graduate deans and faculty leaders to design a professional development program to prepare doctoral students and post-docs for faculty careers. Two half-day pilot workshops, The Faculty Role and Teaching Innovations, were introduced that spring. In fall 2010, the Provost’s office assumed responsibility for the program; managing the promotion, registration, event logistics, and evaluation. The office lead the implementation of two additional sessions, Finding the Opportunity in Diversity and Mentoring. Like the UR Year One program, this initiative is distinctive for its involvement of faculty and academic leadership University-wide as the instructional team. 23 faculty members, associate deans, and professional staff served as keynote speakers, workshop leaders, and discussion facilitators in the 2010-2011 programs. Over two hundred doctoral and post-doc students participated in this year’s four workshops. All four workshops received high marks from participants. Average scores were 3.7 to 4.3, on a scale of 1-5 with 5 indicating high satisfaction and 1 indicating dissatisfaction.

Academic Leaders and Diversity Pilot

A one-half day pilot program, Diversity & Leadership, was delivered November 12, 2010 at the conclusion of an interview survey of 36 academic department chairs and the FDOs. The workshop was led by two current department chairs: Kathryn Douthit, Human Development & Counseling and Robert Quivey, Oral Biology. Dr Douthit facilitated a discussion of the film, “Shattering the Silences,” which turns a lens on the experience of minority faculty. Dr Quivey led a discussion of a faculty search committee case study. 40 department chairs and the FDOs attended. At the conclusion, the group decided to form a committee to begin the application for NSF Advance Grant.

Arts, Sciences and Engineering (AS&E) ran 23 faculty searches this year that (as of April 1, 2011) have resulted in twelve hires, including one African American woman in Religion and Classics. In fall 2010, Laurel Carney, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, joined Beth Olivares as a FDO representing AS&E. Among the activities AS&E has undertaken to increase the diversity of our faculty, we highlight four here. AS&E continues its work to make our application and data collection processes more user-friendly and efficient, to work in-depth with search committees before and during the process, and to build the pipeline through graduate students. Finally, AS&E has shepherded a department through a successful target-of-opportunity hire.

On-Line Application Process

To make the faculty application process more seamless for applicants and search committees alike, AS&E created a fully on-line application process that was put in place mid-year. This system allows the applicant to track his/her materials and ensures that AS&E collects the demographic information required by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance, as well as internal data requirements. Whereas the prior system relied on applicants to answer a survey separate from the actual application, this system requires that each applicant either decline to answer or provide their demographic information. All applications will have a response, which allows AS&E to have a fuller picture of the racial, gender, and ethnic makeup of the applicant pools, which is only shared with search committee members at the end of the selection process. These data should be complete enough to provide a useful comparison to the demographics of candidate pools.

Training & On-Going Support of Search Committees

The search for a new faculty member, from the first definition of the position to negotiating the final offer, is delicate and complicated. The FDOs, along with the deans, have developed a multi-pronged approach to working with members of search committees and their chairs, to ensure that every possible effort is taken to search broadly and deeply for diverse candidates and to provide all manner of resources for committee members who have questions or concerns about various aspects of the process. To that end, in spring 2011 AS&E compiled demographic information on the pool of recent doctoral recipients in the domains in which we have active searches. This year, we will provide these data to committees after the searches are complete to provide comparative information about their pool and the national one. In the future, we will also provide this information in advance. The AS&E Deans meet with search committees to provide broad guidelines on inclusive searches, and materials have been developed that will provide more guidance and support to upcoming searches. The FDOs met with several search committee chairs and provided individual advice and guidance. During the summer and fall of 2011, training sessions will be held with each search committee to discuss all aspects of the process and the available support.

Pipeline Development, Graduate Student Support

During 2010-2011, the Kearns Center expanded to support graduate students and AS&E adopted family-friendly policies for graduate students. Two professionals in the Kearns Center, Donald Mitchell and Valeria Sinclair-Chapman, focus on the recruitment and retention of graduate students of color. Along with the Graduate Studies Office, the Kearns Center hosted programs and held social events for current graduate students. We held the second Graduate School Visitation Program in which 21 students participated (7 students applied, and 3 students were admitted to the University with one accept as of April 4, 2011); we hosted our fourth Visiting Dissertation Scholar (Sara Luna in the Department of Anthropology); and we attended 14 high-impact recruitment fairs for the purpose of recruiting underrepresented minority students (connecting with ~220 prospective students). This year, underrepresented minority PhD applications are up ~27% from 2010 and underrepresented minority PhD admits are up by ~30%. We are currently undertaking a brief survey of graduate student needs so as to effectively provide programming and service to this population.

The family-friendly policies recently adopted for graduate students extend up to eight weeks of parental leave to graduate students who are the primary caregivers to a newborn or adopted child. This change came about as a result of a recommendation from the Listening Tour.

Successful Target-of-Opportunity Hire

The deans have encouraged departments over the past several years to seek out outstanding potential faculty members who can add to the diversity of the AS&E faculty regardless of any on-going search. The Department of Religion and Classics completed a successful search for a new faculty member, but in the process they identified an additional outstanding candidate. Margarita Guillory, an African American woman, was successfully recruited as a target-of-opportunity hire to join the Department of Religion and Classics in 2011. The example set by this success should encourage other departments to aggressively seek out diverse candidates.

The Eastman School of Music (ESM) continues to develop dynamic diversity and inclusion initiatives relating to both University goals and those of the American music school culture more generally. The ESM Diversity Committee, consisting of faculty and staff, is responsible for devising, administering, and assessing these initiatives.

This year the committee created a new position, Diversity Committee Intern, which is currently filled by a graduate student in the Ethnomusicology Master’s degree program. In addition, we divided ourselves into various sub-committees to better address different projects. Over the past year we continued our work, focusing on the following:

Eastman Departmental Diversity Initiatives (EDDI)

EDDI merged with the Expanding Our Horizons Series in 2009-10, and encourages various departments to define for themselves what constitutes diversity within their discipline and recruit visitors to come to ESM to perform/teach/talk. The visitor conducts a master-class, gives a lecture, and speaks with various constituencies about diversity, access, and inclusion within music school culture. This year’s guests included the following:

• Theory Department- Professor Yayoi Uno Everett, Emory University, November 18, 2010
• Musicology Department- Professor Guthrie Ramsey, University of Pennsylvania, February 3, 2011
• Jazz and Contemporary Music Department- Steve Wilson, Professional Saxophonist, February 1, 2011
• Accompanying &Woodwinds, Brass, & Percussion Department- Imani Winds, February 9, 2011
• Composition Department- Professor Cuong Vu, University of Washington, March 30-April1, 2011
• Voice Department- Omari Tau, Performer and Dancer, April 6, 2011

Diversity Webpage and Imaging/Branding

The committee assigned two members to oversee the ESM diversity webpage: to update announcements and to provide links to other diversity efforts throughout the University and beyond. Another sub-committee will work with the Advertising and Public Relations Department to better advertise diversity goals, events, and to create a diversity “logo” for Eastman.

Eastman Conference on Diversity in the School of Music

Planned for fall 2011, guests of this conference will join speakers and performers at ESM to discuss successes and challenges to diversity and inclusiveness within music school culture and plans to move forward.

Recruitment

FDOs and the Diversity Committee work with search committees and ESM admissions office on recruitment efforts that build relationships over many years with historically underrepresented minority high schools, colleges, and universities to better recruit music faculty and students.

Faculty Recruiting

The Simon School of Business had a successful recruiting effort for faculty for the 2011- 2012 academic year. Two confirmed new faculty members will join Simon on July 1, 2011. Robert Ready, completing his doctoral program in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School, accepted an offer as Assistant Professor in Finance. Ron Kaniel, from Duke University, accepted an offer as Associate Professor.

Simon continues to expand recruiting efforts by publicizing positions in several of the publications and services provided by OFDD, as well as in professional journals (both electronic and print), and professional affiliations. All applications are screened through a committee of faculty for each area. Most areas have professional annual meetings that faculty attend to interview prospective candidates prior to inviting them to campus to present their research and further interviewing with faculty. All faculty then meet to review all candidates and make final selections prior to extending offers.

Leadership and Direction

With the departure of Vivian Lewis from the Office of Associate Dean for Faculty Development – Women and Diversity, the appointments of Mark Taubman as Dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD) and Linda Chaudron as Acting Associate Dean for Faculty Development – Women and Diversity, a unique opportunity developed to re-evaluate the Associate Dean role and determine the future of diversity efforts in the medical school and medical center.

The deans conducted interviews with key stakeholders and formulated a vision for the future of the office. A national search was conducted and at the conclusion of an eight month process, Linda Chaudron was named to the position of Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and multiple theoretical and practical changes were implemented.

In response to feedback about the critical and central need to address diversity across the medical education continuum, the position was changed to report directly to the Dean of SMD; an expanded view and scope of responsibilities beyond faculty development is reflected in the title, the central location of the office, and the increased time and resources allocated. Dean Chaudron will be responsible for creating and facilitating a comprehensive program to enhance the professional growth of increasingly diverse faculty, medical students, clinical and basic science graduate students, residents, and fellows. She will work with the other senior associate deans to develop targeted programs to address the needs of underrepresented minorities and women in medicine, programs that include efforts to promote recruitment, retention, and advancement. Dean Chaudron’s office seeks collaborative efforts and opportunities within and outside the medical center and works to develop new initiatives to enhance diversity and inclusiveness. The establishment of an office that reports directly to the Dean with additional resources allows for improved centralized organization, tracking and publicizing of medical school and medical center diversity events, as well as an enhanced centralized liaison to the University diversity efforts and leadership.

During the 2010-2011 academic year, Dean Chaudron’s office and multiple departments embarked on a series of new diversity education and faculty development efforts. Examples of select programs follow.

Office of Senior Associate Dean for Diversity Initiatives and Programs

The annual Dr. Tana Grady-Weliky Lecture on Women and Diversity in Medicine was established to honor Tana Grady-Weliky’s dedication to medical education and her commitment to women and diversity in medicine. This will be an annual event focusing on the diversity efforts and leadership in SMD with its inaugural event in early 2012. Funds are actively being raised to endow this lecture; to date, approximately $15,000 have been raised.

Another major initiative included two successful Women in Medicine focus groups and breakfasts, one targeted to early career women and one targeted to mid-career women. Over 90 women attended between the two groups and provided critical feedback regarding their experiences and needs as a SMD faculty member. A networking session to bring the two groups together, along with others interested in the advancement of women in medicine is scheduled for spring 2011.

Dean Chaudron successfully helped to select and facilitate the nomination and acceptance of multiple faculty for prestigious awards: Susan McDaniel was accepted as a Fellow in the 2011-2012 Class of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program for Women; Wendi Cross and Anne Brayer were accepted to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Mid-Career Women Faculty Professional Development Seminar; and three early career women have been nominated for the AAMC Early-Career Women Faculty Professional Development Seminar. When these faculty complete their experience, they will all participate in future Universitywide faculty development programs as teachers. The Dean’s Office, in collaboration with Dean Chaudron’s office, committed to participating in the AAMC Faculty Forward Program. This program is designed to understand and improve faculty workplace satisfaction, retention, and organizational performance by providing an on-line satisfaction survey, analysis of results, benchmarking, and tools to target improvement.

A planning committee was established to develop a Diversity Lecture Series for SMD faculty and will begin in fall 2011.

Departmental Initiatives and Programs

As part of the Department of Pediatrics mentoring program, a women’s luncheon series was started in 2007. Faculty in this large department are spread throughout the campus and community, and this program gives them an opportunity to come together, meet one another, and discuss shared issues. The luncheons focus on academic issues about career advancement, promotion, and tenure. Discussions are led by departmental faculty as well as colleagues from within the medical center and university on topics such as leadership, balancing professional and personal responsibilities, securing research funding, and writing scientific papers. The luncheons are held every 6 weeks with approximately 20-25 junior and senior faculty attendees.

In 2003, Lynne Maquat, in conjunction with her first NIH T32 application for graduate student education, initiated a program to address the difficulties experienced by women in the early stages of scientific careers. This program, Graduate Women in Science (GWIS), has been very successful and is a model for other programs. The GWIS meetings consist of monthly round-table discussions with an invited speaker. Speakers include successful individuals from areas in academics, big pharmaceuticals, small startup companies, publishing, and funding agencies. They provide examples of individuals who are utilizing a PhD in traditional and non-traditional ways. Approximately 50 individuals, mainly graduate students but also post-docs, faculty or staff, attend each meeting. Lynne Maquat successfully renewed this T32 in 2010. GWIS programming is frequently included in other T32 applications from URMC.

The Department of Psychiatry established cultural competence and diversity requirements, including 3 hours of workshops, readings or cultural immersion events per year offered by the Department, the URMC, or the community. A course developed by the Department of Psychiatry’s Cultural Competence Leadership Team provides readily available “trainings” through Blackboard to meet these requirements.

The structure and functions of the Dean’s Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusiveness were reorganized this year. Mary Wilde, Associate Professor, who was appointed FDO in September 2010, is currently chairing the council. Michael Fisher was appointed as a staff representative and now serves as a contact person for issues and concerns related to diversity and inclusiveness at regular staff meetings at SON. As a part of the reorganization, Dean Kathy Parker, Frederick Jefferson, Mary Wilde and previous co-chairs Sally Fletcher and Ulandus Powell-Quinn held a series of meetings to identify practical next steps to complement the goals identified during the previous year.

The next steps include support for:

• Recruitment of faculty and staff
• On-boarding of faculty and staff
• Professional development strategies and programs for staff
• Stress-reduction programs
• Cultural competence programs that help all School of Nursing (SON) staff and faculty understand how to manage unintentional bias, prejudice, incivility, and intolerance or exclusion of another

Activities related to these steps include Mary Wilde’s appointment as the liaison to faculty search committees and Christina Koulouglioti’s appointment to lead the subcommittee for on-boarding support. The other steps are being addressed in part by placing increased emphasis on promoting diversity activities offered by the Office of Faculty Development and Diversity (OFDD) and/or through the Multicultural Affairs and Inclusion Program in Human Resources. Marian Moskow (staff) and Mary Wilde have received training to conduct workshops on sexual identity issues. They will begin to provide this education in the spring/summer 2011 for SON and, as a part of a team, for the University. Two new diversity programs were launched this year: a book club and film viewing. Each event will be offered in the fall and spring next year. The first book was “The Help” and featured a blog discussion as well as an in-person discussion led by Mary Dombeck. The first movie was Normal, which is about a family dealing with a husband and father’s decision for a sex change operation. There was also a Winter Celebration that featured a dance performance by Rochester’s Bharata-School of Indian Classical Dance & Music. The programming and activities have all served to advance the goals of the Dean’s Advisory Council – to address diversity issues in a holistic and non-threatening way, to make attendance easy, and to include faculty, staff, and students at all events.

Faculty

There were 3 search committees for senior faculty positions: Associate Dean for Research, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity, and a Statistician. Resources for the search committees, which were provided through the Deans Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion and OFDD, aimed to increase success in recruiting persons of traditionally underrepresented backgrounds. After national searches, two faculty from other universities have been hired and a third from within the SON. Starting in July, Emily Hauenstein, from the University of Virginia, will be the Associate Dean for Research. Din Chen, from the University of Alabama, joined the faculty in January as a statistician. Daryl Sharp, Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing here will become the first Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity.

Diversity and inclusion are central to the Warner Graduate School of Education mission; thus the information below represents only a snapshot of what faculty, students, and staff pursue in teaching, research, and service.

Special Events

Warner hosted several film viewings and presentations to address diversity and inclusion. These events provided important opportunities for dialogue among Warner community members and the public. Several were co-sponsored with campus or community organizations, connecting Warner to a variety of entities with shared commitments.

Featured film viewings and presentations

• Urban Teaching and Leadership Program Events
  • Urban Teachers as Agents of Change: A Screening and Discussion of Waiting for Superman
  • The New Political Economy of Urban Education: Neoliberalism, Race and the Right to the City o A Gendered Agenda: Adolescent Girls in Urban Schools
  • Urban Charter Schools: Perspectives from the Inside Spring Forum on Urban Education
• Schooling the World: The White Man’s Last Burden
• From High School to College: What We Know and What We Don’t Know about Increasing Access to College for Low-income Youth
• Environmental Education, Biological Diversity, and Resilience: Lessons from East Africa
• School Experiences of Latino/a Students in Rochester, NY: A Community Based Study of Resources, Challenges and Successes
• Publishing Productivity in STEM Fields: Exploring Why Women Publish Less than Men
• LGBTQ Issues in Education and Human Development and a film and panel discussion

Warner Diversity and Inclusion Committee Activities

Warner continues its school-wide Lunch Hour meetings. Small groups of staff, faculty, and students discussed readings and co-constructed suggestions for action. As well, the Faculty Forum met to discuss language focusing on diversity and inclusion for course syllabi; several examples of language to include were sent to all faculty and adjunct instructors. The faculty committed to including such language in all courses. We continued the use of the Warner Diversity Site on BlackBoard™ for job postings, interactive wiki, and link to the University resources website. We provided outlets for advertising faculty openings targeting underrepresented groups.

Safe Space Training

Students, staff, and faculty attended a two-day training session to become “Safe Space” trainers. This work was co-sponsored by Warner and the Multicultural Affairs and Inclusion. Participants included: students Amy Shema and BJ Douglas; staff members Pia Bunton, Logan Hazen, Laura Brophy; and faculty members Brian Brent and Nancy Ares.

Diversity Award Recipient

The Rochester Ibero-American Action League presented Warner with the “Friend of the Year Award” at Ibero’s 42nd Annual Luncheon in October. Ibero, the largest Latino human service agency in Upstate New York, provides numerous services to children, youth, families, seniors, and individuals with special needs. Every year the organization presents an award to an individual or team of people who collaborate with them in supporting the agency’s mission.

Grants

The New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council awarded the Institute for Innovative Transition at the University of Rochester, and the Westchester Institute for Human Development a $150,000 grant to increase awareness and improve the quality of inclusive college-based initiatives for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in New York State. The Institute for Innovative Transition is a partnership between Warner School, B. Thomas Golisano Foundation, and Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities. The grant will support initiatives that develop and facilitate a statewide learning community to evaluate and promote promising practices for students with disabilities after completion of secondary school.

The Institute for Innovative Transition also received a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education under the Transition and Postsecondary Program for Students with Intellectual Disabilities. Faculty from the Institute will establish, implement, and sustain four demonstration projects that involve inclusive postsecondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities at the consortium: University of Rochester, Keuka College, Monroe Community College, and Roberts Wesleyan College. As well, Institute faculty will manage the evaluation, technical support, training, and information dissemination nationwide.

The Staff Diversity Initiative includes three overarching goals:

• To increase the number of diverse professional, administrative, supervisory (PAS) grade 50+ staff
• To focus on inclusion and retention activities by providing internal programs and consultation/organizational development activities, as well as training and talent development
• To collaborate with the Greater Rochester community through recruitment and pipeline-building opportunities and activities that foster community engagement

The Staff Diversity Initiative continues to show modest progress in meeting its objectives. Efforts include recruitment activities and training and development programs that foster inclusion and community engagement. Recruitment activities focus on the goal of creating a more diverse professional workforce as well as developing future healthcare practitioners and leaders. Training and development programs provide opportunities for members of the University community to explore and discuss diversity, inclusion, and cultural competence.

Several programs are in place to deepen and embed inclusion efforts and provide opportunities for staff development. The activities include the Affinity Groups, the Career Development Program, and the Mentoring Program. Each of these efforts supports the internal development of staff in the areas of career advancement and increased individual commitment to the University, as well as the celebration of our diverse community. Community engagement activities provide opportunities for networking and recruitment, and enhance the community’s perception of the University.

Recruitment of Professional, Administrative, Supervisory Staff at Grade 50+ (50- 59, 98, 99)

Our multicultural recruitment specialists interview prospective candidates, conduct reference checks, and forward candidate resumes and supporting documents to the hiring managers. This effort provides an internal recruitment process for assisting hiring managers to diversify their professional candidate pools. For the period ending March 31, 2011, 6.9% of the total PAS Grade 50+ staff were members of underrepresented groups (defined as African-American, American-Indian, Hispanic and Pacific Islander) compared to 6.5% for the period April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010).

Inclusion and Retention Activities

The Career Growth Development Program provides current Human Resources (HR) staff with development support and training in career counseling. This skill enhancement training enables HR representatives to provide career counseling to interested members of the University community. During this review period, 45 departments have taken advantage of these services equating to more than 250 units of service. A unit of service may include general counseling/coaching, mock interviews, job search strategies, and resume reviews.

Affinity Groups

University Affinity Groups provide enthusiastic support for the University’s diversity activities by planning and implementing multicultural events, providing networking opportunities, recognizing and celebrating diversity, and taking a lead in volunteerism in the Greater Rochester community. The African-American Network co-sponsored a True Networking Thursdays event in January 2011 with record-breaking attendance of 150 people. The Pride Alliance worked with MCAI to coordinate a “Safe Space” Train-theTrainer program for University faculty and staff in July 2010: eighteen individuals, representing three schools, HR, and the Office of the Intercessor, were trained. University-wide training programs have been scheduled for the months of April and May 2011. The collaboration also successfully added gender identity and gender expression to the University’s Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment Policy. Additionally, work is underway to complete the Human Rights Campaign’s 2011 Health Equality Index for Strong Memorial Hospital.

Consultation, Facilitation, and Training

MCAI provides organizational development support to departments and units to deepen their commitment to the University’s and the department’s diversity mission by providing training opportunities for staff and faculty. MCAI worked with 15 departments during this review period, 10 of which were new.

Community Youth Enrichment Programs

The Healthcare and Technology Youth Apprenticeship Program provides early pipeline opportunities for area high school youth. It was developed in conjunction with the Rochester City School District and runs from September through May. In September 2009, a new group of 7 high school juniors entered the program. Evening programs for parents and students were presented that included information about selecting colleges, finding financial aid, and professionalism. These events were well attended by students and their parents. In 2011, all 7 students, now in their senior year of high school, applied for early decision in the College. All 7 were offered admission. Four of those students accepted the University’s invitation and will begin their studies this fall. Three other students have been hired to work this summer in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, the Inpatient Pharmacy, and the Palliative Care Unit.

Stanley Byrd, MCAI manager, joined University Intercessor Kathy Sweetland as cochair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee this year. Representatives from each of the University’s five affinity groups joined the committee as well. Members of the committee continue to focus on enhancing the environment for diversity and inclusion across the University. The Spotlight on Diversity initiative, which began in the spring of 2010 and has been very positively received, become a monthly feature in @Rochester, and recently began to appear in the Student Buzz and the Parents Buzz. Members of the committee actively participated in school and departmental diversity programs and contributed to broader initiatives related to “Community Conversations” (a community dialogue involving students, staff, and faculty)

At the University of Rochester, student diversity initiatives are school-based. See Table 6 for student gender and race or ethnicity in the entire University and Tables 7-13 for school-specific data for 2001, and 2006-2010. In fall 2010, 51.3% of the total University student population were women, 8.6% were underrepresented minorities (African American, Hispanic, or Native American), 8.5% were Asian or Pacific Islander, and 8.4% of our students were not self-identified by race or ethnicity. What follows describes the diversity among students at each individual school.

Arts, Sciences and Engineering Students

Although two departments in AS&E have specific responsibility for underrepresented minority undergraduates- Office of Minority Students Affairs and Kearns Center- every department in AS&E is responsible for responding to the needs of all members of our student population. This includes the creation and sustenance of a climate in which all students are encouraged to succeed in their educational endeavors at every point in the continuum of the student experience, from pre-admission through graduation.

This year, AS&E appointed an International Student Advisor, a member of the staff of the Center for Academic Support, with primary responsibility for handling the academic needs of a growing population of international undergraduates. Many programs in the areas of Admissions, the Interfaith Chapel, Student Activities, Office of Minority Students Affairs, and the Kearns Center have expanded. Further information regarding specific efforts can be found in departmental websites (and in a forthcoming report from the Dean of the College, to be published by July 1, 2011).

Eastman School of Music Students

This year, ESM added two students to the Diversity Committee and charged them to create various “safe zones” for students to discuss issues of diversity, access, and inclusion. This resulted in successful discussions that brought student concerns into the overall picture.

School of Medicine and Dentistry

Students For the last several years, SMD has been a leader among medical schools nationally in the successful recruitment and matriculation of students underrepresented in medicine.

School of Nursing Students

The Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) program, “New Careers in Nursing”, continues to provide financial support for students in the accelerated nursing programs. This supports adult students from underrepresented minorities or those with disadvantaged backgrounds. The long range goals of SON is that these students will help to increase the diversity in the nursing workforce and that they will help us attract others of their background to our programs.

In May 2011, we plan to add a new Center for Academic and Professional Success modeled on the University of Shady Grove in Maryland (presented at the fall 2010 RWJ Summit). The Center will house and consolidate the SON current academic support offerings (test-taking strategy, writing support, and academic and clinical coaching) as well as expanded staff/services, including: a math tutor, a nursing career/professional services officer, a stress management expert, and an editor to assist with doctoral student manuscripts and publications. It will be available to all SON students.

Simon Students

In June 2009 Simon joined Management Leadership for Tomorrow, an organization that develops African American, Hispanic American, and Native American young adults for leadership positions in corporations, non-profits, and entrepreneurial ventures. We have an ongoing relationship with the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, whose mission is to increase the representation of underrepresented minorities in full-time MBA programs, as well as within the ranks of management.

We held our 4th annual Diversity and Women’s Weekend recruiting event for prospective students in October 2010 and had 19 attendees.

Simon has the most internationally diverse full-time MBA program among top tier business schools. Average enrollment of the top 30 MBA programs has grown from 16% international students in 1990 to over 33% today. Our MBA enrollment is >50% international, well above the average for the top business schools. We have the most internationally diverse full-time MBA program of all business schools in the top 50, in terms of percentage of the student body that hails from outside the United States. Over our history, we have drawn students from more than 130 different countries.

We place a strong emphasis on diversity within the student experience, including geographic background, culture, gender, race, ethnicity, academic background, work experience, and personal perspective.

Warner Students

The admissions office continues work toward recruiting a diverse pool of applicants for admission into Warner programs. Some of these efforts include attending the McNair conference in Niagara Falls and the Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers conference outside Boston, both of which attract national candidates from various racial and ethnic backgrounds. We also attend specific minority recruitment events, particularly in Western NY (e.g., University at Buffalo and Oswego). In addition, there are direct mailings sent to McNair offices throughout New York State with information about our programs.

The mission of the Office for Faculty Development and Diversity is to collaborate with academic leadership and faculty in the hiring, retention, and advancement of a diverse faculty to achieve our vision of a university that reflects, celebrates, and incorporates the richness of individual and group differences in all pursuits. Our progress toward this vision is slow but steady. Going forward, we will build on the energy, talents, and commitment of the leadership in each school and the Faculty Diversity Officers with focused themes and strategic activities to hasten the pace of change. Our current focus on professional development and organizational culture has helped build awareness of the importance of an inclusive environment for faculty recruitment and retention. The University- wide workshops, conferences, and celebrations have all contributed to creating such an environment. The newly acquired grants to support scholarly activity related to diversity and the expanded special opportunity fund provide additional resources for making the University an ever more inclusive place in which to work, teach, learn, and do research.

We would like to thank the Faculty Diversity Officers, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Inclusion for their sustained and invaluable collaboration.