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Virginia Tech
Governance Minutes ArchiveApril 20, 1993
University Committee on Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Minutes April 20, 1993 Present: A. Bayer, J. Harrison, B. Greene, J. Reilly, R. Sapon-White, N. Klein, P. Hyer, K. Tarnoff, M. Flynn, J. Scarrette, M. Holmes, H. Pence, C. Morton, M. Farmer, L. Holloman (in place of Valerie Giddings), B. Feldman, A. LoMascolo Guests: Dean H. Doswald, College of Arts & Sciences and Dr. P. Eyre, College of Veterinary Medicine Dr. Cornel Morton called the meeting to order at 2:05 P.M. 1. Approval of the minutes from January 19, 1993 These minutes were approved with corrections. 2. Introductions Cornel Morton asked everyone to introduce themselves for the benefit of our guests. 3. Marion Farmer presented a report concerning on-campus rape. Marion Farmer presented the following statistics concerning on- campus rape: 1989 - one reported 1990 - one reported 1991 - four reported 1992 - none reported She explained that on-campus rape is the most extreme form of sexual harassment and is a violation of the law. A discussion ensued questioning the outcome of the on-campus sexual harassment survey that Judith Scott began, as well as questioning the number of unreported rapes and whether or not some reports might be routed through the Dean of Students Office. 4. Report from Peter Eyre, Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Eyre shared information related to several equal employment/affirmative action initiatives that are underway in the College of Veterinary Medicine. * The College of Veterinary Medicine been functional for just over a decade. Female to male ratio has stayed very constant over time, but the numbers are about to change as the female population coming out of graduate school increases. The first class graduated about half men and half women; now it is 2/3 to 3/4 female. * At present, the faculty is comprised of 13% women, two Asian, two Hispanic, no African-Americans. Our minority status is very poor. We do not attract African-Americans in particular. Our four department heads have been told to actively search for African- American candidates when a faculty opening occurs. * There are only 27 schools of Veterinary Medicine in the U.S. If you eliminate Tuskegee from the statistics, there are only 31 African-American Veterinary Medicine faculty in the entire nation. With this kind of competition, it is extremely difficult to recruit African-American faculty. * We continue to work on this problem whenever we have a vacancy. Much time is spent trying to contact people; even the creation of special opportunities have been unsuccessful. There are several universities with very aggressive affirmative action programs and they make the competition very difficult for Virginia Tech. * We are putting a great deal of effort into graduate program. There are now growing numbers of African-American students in the program; more than double the number of graduate students as there are faculty. There is a tendency across the nation to do the same thing we are doing -- try to increase the pool of graduate students. * In 1992, we created a specific African-American recruiting program. We were able to fully fund three graduate positions. We were able to fill two of the positions and have almost filled the third one. Next year, we will add two more positions. We were also able to create one minority graduate internship and that has been filled at this time. * Four years ago we signed two memoranda-of-understanding agreements with two universities so we could take several of their students from very good Honors programs, channeling students into medicine, into our program at Virginia Tech. Virginia State University channels students into Veterinary Medicine but they all go to Tuskegee, not to Virginia Tech. We've worked with Virginia State for three years and not a single student has come in our direction; not even a serious inquiry. They are still sending their students to Tuskegee. Since, there is no tradition of veterinary medicine for African- Americans in the past, It appears that we need to go into high schools and make veterinary medicine a career choice. * Our relationship with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore has been a different matter. Last year, we took two students from Eastern Shore into the freshman class. We have every expectation that this cycle will continue and we can take even more students. We have developed a relationship with one of the members of the faculty at the University of Maryland. She seems to trust us and things have been working out extremely well. * We have formed a diversity council, comprised of faculty, staff, and students, a mixture of females, males, and different minority groups. This council, enthusiastically received by everyone in the College, looks at faculty, staff, and student recruitment and all other aspects of maintaining a respectable diversity within the College. 5. Report from Herman Doswald, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences. There are six main areas Dr. Doswald wanted to share with the Committee in terms of EO/AA actions: * Assignment of an assistant dean for special projects * Developed an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Committee which is a committee to develop affirmative action planning, discuss diversity issues affecting faculty and students, and the chair of this committee serves on steering committee for the College's long-range planning effort. * Faculty Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention area: * Acquiring new annual directories for faculty recruitment, * Ongoing development of innovative faculty mentoring program, * Monitoring EO/AA target lists for faculty hires, * Providing matching support for minorities and women to enable them to apply for support from University Creative Match Grant Program. * Diversity Issues: Panels and Programs * Sponsored a seminar and workshop focusing on curriculum transformation in the sciences, * Programs on sexual harassment and dealing with disabled students. * Undergraduate and Graduate Student Recruitment and Retention * Improved contact with minority students regarding minority- directed scholarships in the Arts and Sciences, * Surveyed departments to determine type of minority-directed programs being offered, * Diversity initiatives in curricular programs, * Continuing participation in undergraduate and graduate student recruitment. * Outreach Initiatives * VAMPSE (Virginia Alliance for Minority Participation in Science and Engineering), * Collaborative program with the School of Sciences at Virginia State University, * Other program linkages in the planning stage. 6. Muriel Flynn handed out statistics on the 1993 Goals for Staff On-Campus at Virginia Tech and discussed the statistics in some detail. 7. Announcements Dr. Cornel Morton addressed the Committee regarding the Associate Director of EO/AA Position. He apologized to the committee regarding the inability of all the members to meet with Michael Buda, a practicing attorney from Fresno, California, who was the first candidate interviewed. He shared the names of two other potential candidates and said that Sue Bowen would be in touch with everyone regarding an opportunity to meet with said candidates. The Committee meeting adjourned at 3:30p.m. This was the last meeting of the 1992-93 academic year. Respectfully submitted, Bobbi J. Lowe Executive Secretary
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