USC Dornsife Seeks To Improve Faculty Diversity
Diversity is a major concern for students at USC. Student Government is demanding a reaction from the university to hire professors from different ethnic backgrounds to support such a diverse campus.
USC Dornsife, the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, developed a study during fall 2014 to analyze how diverse Dornsife's faculty and staff were. Based on that study, approximately 20% of the 850 plus faculty members are minorities; most of those are Asians. As a result, Professor George Sanchez, Dornsife’s Vice Dean for Diversity and Strategic Initiatives, is heading a program that aims to promote diversity in USC Dornsife though faculty recruitment, and the academic success of both Ph.D students and undergraduates.
The Diversity Council found a large gap between race ethnicity and employment at Dornsife. For example, less than seven percent of Dornsife professors on the tenure track are Black, Latino, or Native Americans. Meanwhile, eight percent of those same ethnicities are non-tenure. Out of 868 professors, only four are Native Americans.
The first step to solve this issue was creating a new position to assist Professor Sanchez. In July, Dornisfe hired Mary Ho to become Assistant Vice Dean of Diversity and Strategic Initiatives. The Dornsife Council for Faculty Diversity plans to conduct annual evaluations on Department Chairs to revise faculty diversity.
The Council determined that this plan should be implemented in phases during the next year. Some ideas for the future are an annual prize for faculty diversity and a more transparent process to achieve tenure.
It is important to note that the Dornsife Diversity Council is only focusing Dornsife, rather than other colleges at USC.
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