A statement supporting the recommendations of the Professor Recruitment and Retention Task Force passed without debate at Tuesday night's Student Assembly meeting. The report represents the culmination of year-long Assembly efforts.
The task force compiled its report using information gathered from a winter 2006 student survey and interviews with professors conducted last spring and statistics and research, in order to craft recommendations for the College.
Task force chair Yuki Kondo-Shah '07 explained the importance of examining the College's minority professor population.
"I think, in summary, as an institution that's committed to diversity, we want to see it reflected in all bodies," Kondo-Shah said, emphasizing that diversity encompasses factors such as sexual orientation and socioeconomic status in addition to race.
According to the task force's report, Dartmouth currently leads the Ivy League in its percentage of minority professors -- though both Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania did not release these data.
Task force member Anoop Rathod '07 noted, however, that while Dartmouth may have a relatively high percentage of minority faculty members, the actual number of minority professors at Dartmouth is significantly lower than those of other peer institution, as Dartmouth is the smallest school in the Ivy League.
The report also notes that Dartmouth has seen a decrease in the growth of employment of minority professors since 1995.
During the meeting, members of the task force outlined several specific problems revealed in their research.
Rathod said that in the course of faculty interviews, several professors reported feeling as if they were the "token" minority or ethnic group member within their department.
The faculty interviews also revealed "Dartmouth-specific" obstacles in the recruitment and retention of diverse staff -- including the area's rural setting and small minority community.
The task force's report enumerates several recommendations to improve the recruitment and retention of minority faculty, including increased coordination between the offices that influence the hiring of faculty and staff.
Kondo-Shah stressed the importance of improving Dartmouth's strategy in advertising to potential diverse faculty, administrators and staff.
"I think what happens sometimes is that we get the minority faculty in the pipeline," Kondo-Shah said during the meeting. "In the end we offer them the job, and there's just that factor that makes them not want to come."
She emphasized the need to do a better job of branding and marketing Dartmouth.
The report also calls for a better and more coordinated system of collecting information and compiling data on this issue. Task force members encountered difficulty in their attempts to gather statistics about minority faculty and staff.
Kondo-Shah explained that the task force worked to solicit the input of administrators by submitting drafts to them.
"We learned from the [Committee on Standards] Task Force that we should talk to the administration first," Kondo-Shah said.
Kondo-Shah commended the administration for their support of the task force's efforts.
"I just hope that students know that when you want something done if you ask the right people and go through the right avenues [the administration is] incredibly helpful," she said.
Dean of Faculty Carol Folt plans to present the task force report to the College's associate deans. The report will also be circulated among administrators and student organizations, and Kondo-Shah has scheduled a meeting with College Provost Barry Scherr to discuss the report on Friday.
Legislation to fund the "Course Guide Incentives Program" was also passed at Tuesday night's meeting. As a result, 150 $15 gift certificates will be distributed to students who complete reviews on the online Student Assembly professor and course guide at the end of Winter term.
Students' participation in the course guide has diminished in recent years -- a problem Assembly members hope this program will help rectify.
"The course guide is one of the most important services that Student Assembly provides," Corey Chu '08, chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, said. "We would like the course guide to be as comprehensive and accurate and helpful as possible."
