UCLA Faculty Diversity
Initiative
proposed by
American Indian Studies Center
Asian American Studies Center
Chicano Studies Research Center
Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies
presented to
Chancellor Albert Carnesale
University of California, Los Angeles
February 13, 2003
The four ethnic studies research centers at UCLA propose
a new initiative that will make UCLA the preeminent university in
the nation with respect to ethnic studies scholarship, community-based
research and public service in underserved communities, and faculty
diversity. Despite the state budget crisis, there exists a unique
opportunity to expand ethnic studies research capacity, diversify
the university curriculum, and increase employment opportunity. These
steps are crucial if UCLA is to fulfill its public mission and to
keep step with the significant demographic changes taking place in
California.
This proposal has been developed in response to serious
concerns about the need for UCLA and the UC system to be more responsive
to
the state's underserved communities. These concerns have been voiced
by our various constituencies: faculty, students, alumni, elected
officials, and community leaders. This proposal is based on extensive
consultation with these constituencies. It is meant to complement
UCLA Chancellor Carnesale's creation of two new Vice Chancellor
positions aimed at community partnerships (UCLA in LA) and faculty
diversity,
and UC President Atkinson's Faculty Recruitment Initiative.
While
important efforts, goals and guidelines have been outlined over
the last decade, a simple fact remains: without a critical
mass of faculty whose research advances the understanding of
the state's
diversity, UCLA and other UC campuses will fail to provide an
intellectual environment that can attract, nurture, and prepare all
students
for the new century. Such a critical mass would be a crucial
resource for undergraduate outreach and retention, and it would begin
to
address
the current disparities in research capacity, graduate enrollments,
and faculty hiring.
If UCLA is to remain competitive as a world-class research institution,
it must allocate sufficient resources in order to develop its research
and teaching capacity related to ethnic studies, underserved communities,
and the state's diversity. This initiative proposes augmenting support
for the ethnic studies Organized Research Units (ORUs) in order to
expand their campus-wide contributions to research and teaching.
In this way, UCLA can ensure academic excellence across the entire
campus (rather than within one unit). We also identify two additional
areas requiring attention and resource allocation in order to ensure
a comprehensive approach. While this proposal addresses the specific
situation at UCLA, we feel that it can provide a model for the UC
system during a period of combined enrollment growth and budget cuts.
BACKGROUND
By the end of the decade, student enrollments
in the University of California System will increase by 50,000 to
60,000, driven
in large
part by the growing diversity in the state population. This increase
will require roughly 2,500 to 3,000 new faculty positions (FTE)
over the same time period. UCLA is slated to increase student
enrollment
by 4,000 -- an increase that will generate at least 200 new FTE.
This increase in FTE represents a silver lining in the state budget
crisis now affecting the University of California. With thoughtful
allocation of these resources, both UCLA and the UC system can
actually increase its ability to address the specific needs of
the state population. The increase in student enrollment reflects
the changing demographics for the state, wherein minority groups
now make up over 53 percent
of the general population, but account for a much larger percentage
of the student-age population. Latinos alone account for nearly
50 percent of children now entering the California school system
(and
61 percent in Los Angeles).
The 2000 Census Data and UCOP data
on faculty and student composition (June 2002) reveals not only
the increasing diversity of the
student body, but a growing disparity in terms of access to
and employment
within higher education. While minority groups combined constitute
64 percent of college age adults, they represent 53.6 percent
of the UC undergraduate enrollments (a 10.4 percent drop in
levels of representation), and 37 percent of graduate enrollments
(a
27
percent
drop in levels of representation). This situation is starkest
for Chicanos and Latinos, who comprise 43 percent of college
age adults,
but just 13 percent of UC undergraduates, and 9 percent of
UC graduates.
For faculty, the disparities are even more dramatic, with minority
groups comprising just 19.1 percent of UC ladder-rank faculty, less
than half their representation within the California workforce.
In
response to these growing disparities, UC President Atkinson announced
a "Faculty Recruitment Initiative" on January 3, 2001.
He explained:
The University of California must meet the challenge of serving
a state that is growing in ethnic diversity and struggling with
disparities
in economic and educational opportunity. Continued academic excellence
will require increased attention to issues such as multiculturalism,
economic opportunity, and educational equity to ensure that they
are reflected strongly in the University's teaching, curriculum,
and research.
The initiative addressed what President Atkinson
called the "need
for the University of California to recruit a faculty that will
meet the expanding demands of the State of California in the
new century." That
pilot program is now in its final year.
PROPOSAL
It is crucial that the University of California understand
the enrollment growth as a direct product of the increasing diversity
of the state
population. The four ethnic studies Organized Research Units
at UCLA are ideally suited to meet the still-growing demands facing
the campus. These demands include the need for increased ethnic
studies and community-based research relevant to the changing
state
population, the need for increased ethnic studies curricula relevant
to an increasingly diverse student body, and the need for faculty
diversity in hiring in order to ensure employment equity. Addressing
these areas will also produce an intellectual and professional
environment that will enhance outreach, recruitment, and retention
efforts at all levels within the university.
The new faculty
positions (or FTE) referenced by this initiative would be drawn
from the 200 FTE the UCLA campus will receive as
part of the enrollment growth. This initiative contributes
to the current
efforts aimed at community partnerships and faculty diversity.
But it also brings support for the American Indian Studies
Center, Asian
American Studies Center, Chicano Studies Research Center, and
Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies into alignment
with
the challenges they are now facing.
We propose increasing the
institutional FTE at each ethnic studies ORU by an additional 6
FTE (for a total of 24 FTE). Since their
founding in 1969, these ORUs have played a preeminent role
in producing and
disseminating research about specific ethnic groups that now
comprise the majority populations of the state. These centers
also have
a significant track record in promoting multidisciplinary studies,
community and public service, diversifying the curriculum,
and training
new generations of leading scholars in ethnic studies. Given
their campus- and state-wide mandate, the centers report to
the Office
of the Chancellor at UCLA.
The ORUs currently have 24 institutional
FTE combined, and have been a significant force in advancing the
racial and ethnic
diversity
of UCLA's faculty. These institutional FTE were originally
designed to increase the research capacity of the ORUs, to
diversify the
curriculum
across the campus, and to diversify the faculty across the
campus. The faculty members who occupy these positions have
excelled
in their scholarship, administrative service, and community
service, but they
have also been pivotal in expanding the ethnic studies curriculum
within their departments. Indeed, these faculty members have
increased
both enrollments and majors within their departments, and
they have often played significant leadership roles within their
departments and schools, including as department chairs or
associate deans.
Most of the ORU institutional FTEs have
been filled for over a decade, and sometimes much longer. These
faculty members
represent a significant
cohort of senior scholars on campus. Without new resources,
the centers must wait until these faculty members retire,
then replace
them with
a new generation of scholars. In the process, the university
will
lose the opportunity to create and nurture a multigenerational
intellectual environment for ethnic studies research. It
will also lose a valuable
recruitment incentive: a critical mass of colleagues within
the candidate's field.
An increase in the institutional
FTE will allow for the appointment of ethnic studies specialists
across a wide
range of departments.
It will also allow for these new hires to benefit from
the experience and mentoring by senior scholars. These
FTE will
increase the
ethnic studies research capacity of the four ORUs, but
also the entire
campus, while they will provide an important mechanism
for increasing faculty
hires related to ethnic studies. These FTE would also
benefit the Interdepartmental Degree Programs (IDPs) and Center
for Interdisciplinary Instruction (CII) through cross-listing
of courses that enhance
the interdisciplinary and interdepartmental exchanges
across campus.
Below we identify the strategic plans for each ORU
with respect to the additional institutional FTE. These plans
have been
developed in consultation with the Faculty Advisory
Committees. While each
ORU has a distinct set of priorities, all are committed
to using at least one half of the additional FTEs to
address key areas
in which California faces severe workforce shortages,
particularly with
respect to public service. In this respect, the ORUs
will contribute to the underlying principles of the
UCLA in
LA
initiative.
American Indian Studies Center
The institutional FTEs that were allocated
to the UCLA American Indian Studies Center are currently placed
at the following departments
and programs at UCLA: Linguistics, Ethnomusicology, Sociology,
English/American Indian Studies, Law, and World Arts & Cultures.
In discussions of both the American Indian Studies IDP Committee
and the Faculty Advisory Committee over the past several years,
the faculty have identified the following critical areas for additional
faculty appointments in American Indian Studies as a means of strengthening
American Indian Studies in the university-wide faculty as well
as of expanding and enhancing the Center's overall research and
academic mission: Public Health, Psychology, Law (particularly
in the area of comparative hemispheric indigenous law), Education,
Public Policy, and Applied Arts/Design.
Asian American Studies Center
The institutional
FTEs that were allocated to the Asian American Studies Center are
currently being occupied by faculty in Urban
Planning, Education, English, History, Film and Television, and
Public Health. All of these professors plan to become split 50-50
appointees between their current home departments and the new
Department of Asian American Studies when it is approved. A search
is being
conducted now for a Filipino American Studies specialist, and
potential candidates are being reviewed with the World Arts and Cultures
Program.
The Faculty Advisory Committees of the Asian American
Studies Center
and the IDP in Asian American Studies have developed a strategic
plan which describes the need for more faculty members to meet
current and future research, teaching, and service needs. The strategic
plan
outlines the rationale for FTE requests for replacement of current
faculty (Economics, Psychology/Mental Health, Media and Communication),
for immediate unmet needs (Art History, Religion and Philosophy,
Gender and Sexuality/Women's Studies, Vietnamese American Studies,
Filipino American Studies), and for long-range needs (Geography,
Political Science, South Asian American Studies, Pacific Islander
Studies, and New Technology). Institutional FTEs would allow
the ORU and IDP/Department of Asian American Studies to build mutually
beneficial linkages of expertise with departments in the College,
as well as those in the professional schools like Public Policy,
Theater, Ethnomusicology, Social Welfare, Law, Critical Film
Studies,
Library and Information Studies, and Nursing.
Chicano Studies Research Center
The institutional FTEs that were
allocated to the Chicano Studies Research Center are currently
occupied by faculty in Urban Planning,
Social Welfare, Education, Theater, and Ethnomusicology. The
Faculty Advisory Committee is in the process of developing a strategic
plan that will be used in order to define priorities for filling
an open position next year. The committee has already identified
immediate needs in public service and professional programs,
especially
with respect to California workforce shortages in education,
medicine, nursing, and libraries. Law has also been identified as
an area
in which Latino communities remain severely underserved. The
strategic plan will address and prioritize the need to fill critical
gaps
in the following areas with respect to Chicano Studies faculty:
Anthropology, Art History, Economics, Geography, Library and
Information Studies, Management, Musicology, Philosophy, Public Health,
and
World Arts & Cultures. Finally, the Committee forsees a need
for the replacement of current faculty due to retirement in major
areas that have had just one faculty member (but where the need
may be greater and where replacement by the department remains
uncertain): Political Science, and History.
Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies
The institutional
FTEs that were allocated to the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African
American Studies are currently being occupied
by faculty in English, History, Political Science, and Psychiatry
and Biobehavioral Sciences. The Center also has two faculty jointly
appointed with the Interdepartmental Degree Program -- one in
Anthropology and one in Political Science. Due to the Center's areas
of strategic
focus, additional institutional FTE would be most effectively
distributed across the following departments/schools: Theater, Film
and Television,
Art History, Anthropology, Sociology, and Psychology.
FURTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
While this proposal addresses the specific
needs of the Organized Research Units in order to meet the challenges
of changing state
demographics and student enrollment growth, we feel that there
are at least two other areas requiring distinct attention and
allocations in order to ensure a suitably comprehensive and multi-tiered
approach
to these challenges.
First, there is a pressing need to augment
current support for the four ethnic studies degree programs within
the College: the
three "Interdepartmental
Degree Programs" (IDP) and the "Center for Interdisciplinary
Instruction" (CII). This augmentation in FTE will help meet
the needs and enrollment potential of the existing degree programs
as they continue to grow and move toward departmental status.
The Chancellor has already signaled his strong support for departmentalization.
However, it is also clear that the College lacks the necessary
resources. Each of these programs has unique characteristics
and
must determine
the actual number of FTE required to fulfill their mission. The
proposed additional allocation to these units will enhance the
ability of
the College to more adequately support these programs in the
future. For example, the Cesar Chavez Center for Interdisciplinary
Instruction
demonstrates that allocation of FTE in this area will produce
a high rate of return with respect to both enrollments and majors.
Since
the hiring of its founding faculty in 1993-94, that unit experienced
a consistent and continued growth resulting in a three-fold increase
in enrollment and a two-fold increase in majors.
Whereas the
institutional FTE of the ORUs provide a campus-wide
function appropriately located in the Office of the Chancellor,
these FTE
will allow for the hiring of ladder-rank faculty within the
distinct ethnic studies degree programs as they move toward formal
departmental
status in the College.
Second, new campus-wide efforts for faculty
diversity require sufficient allocations to provide for year-to-year
efforts
at a level commensurate
with the challenges facing the university. The Associate
Vice Chancellor for Faculty Diversity position represents an important
new initiative
at UCLA. Currently, this position has just eight FTE from
President
Atkinson's Faculty Recruitment Initiative. Four of these
have been filled and will not be available for reallocation until
2007. We
feel that the position requires sufficient FTE allocations
with which to pursue the goal of increasing faculty diversity
across
the campus.
In contrast to ethnic studies hires, which are
oriented toward specific areas of research and teaching, faculty
diversity
is defined more
broadly and is not necessarily tied to a discipline or
specialization, but rather reflects an overall commitment to economic
opportunity
and employment equity. The Chancellor's Advisory Group
on Diversity defines this commitment as one that requires both
resources
and openness to change with the goal of:
including and
integrating within the campus community individuals from different
groups as defined by such characteristics
as race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic background,
religion, sexual
orientation, age, disability, and intellectual outlook
(September 20, 1999).
These FTE will be an essential tool
for stimulating new hires, especially given the budget crisis facing
the
UC system over
the next several
years. We propose an extension of President Atkinson's
Faculty Recruitment Initiative and Chancellor Carnesale's
commitment
of 12 FTE toward
that initiative, both of which provide important precedents
for such an allocation. An appropriate FTE allocation
will allow
this effort
to continue at a higher level and on a year-to-year
basis.
We further recommend that the Faculty Fellows Program
for recent University of California Ph.D.s be placed
under
the Vice Chancellor
for Faculty Diversity or another appropriate unit
(for example, the Institute of American Cultures). Currently,
UCLA is the
only campus
not in compliance with this system-wide program,
which is designed to provide recent UC Ph.D.s with valuable
experience and mentored
training in teaching and research. This program offers
an
important mechanism for bringing potential faculty
members to UCLA, while
also providing them with the support and intellectual
environment for
developing their research.
CONCLUSION
We propose a comprehensive and multi-tiered initiative
for increasing the university's competitiveness with respect to
ethnic studies
research, community-based research in underserved communities,
and ethnic studies degree programs. These efforts will have the
secondary benefit of addressing questions about employment equity.
There are three immediate benefits to this initiative:
1. It
increases much-needed research and teaching across the entire campus
on the state's underserved communities, and thereby
increases
public knowledge and understanding for addressing the challenges
facing the state. And it strengthens the major ethnic studies
ORUs in the UC system so that they are better able to meet these
challenges
through their research, publications, library holdings, and public
service.
2. It helps develop existing degree programs as they
move toward formal departmental status. With these allocations,
the degree
programs will be able to address the needs of an increasingly
diverse student
body, providing opportunities for majors, minors, and students
fulfilling general education requirements. Past experience
has shown that with
proper support these programs can serve as a frontline resource
in meeting enrollment growth.
3. It addresses the significant
gap between a diverse state population and the small number of
minority ladder-rank faculty,
a disparity
that reduces the ability of the university to recruit and
retain a diverse student body at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Unless that gap is closed, and unless research capacity in ethnic
studies in significantly increased, the university
will be unable
to meet the demands of its student body and the state population,
and will falter in its ability to maintain both competitiveness
and academic excellence.
Hanay Geiogamah
Professor and Director
American Indian Studies Center
Darnell Hunt
Professor and Director
Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies
Don Nakanishi
Professor and Director
Asian American Studies Center
Chon Noriega
Professor and Director
Chicano Studies Research Center |
