UCCS Opportunity Hire Program to Promote Faculty Diversity

Discussion Draft 3, April 5, 2002

I.              Purpose. 

The job market for well-qualified faculty members who share the commitment of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs to effective teaching, high quality research, and meaningful engagement with the community is very competitive. In spite of its efforts to diversify its faculty and its policy of nondiscrimination in employment on the basis of race or ethnicity, UCCS has had limited success in recruiting and retaining faculty from underrepresented groups.

The purpose of the Opportunity Hire Program is to increase the number of underrepresented faculty at UCCS.  Engaging in ongoing recruitment activities and conducting searches that increase the number of faculty members from underrepresented groups is the responsibility of all Deans, Department Chairs, and Search Committees.  This policy assists those efforts by providing temporary financial support that facilitates the employment of individuals who contribute to the diversity profile of UCCS faculty.

II.             Responsibility for the Opportunity Hire Program and Funding

            The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs will be responsible for budget requests to support the UCCS Opportunity Hire program and for management of those funds to meet the purposes of this program. 

III.      Uses of Funds

Funds allocated to the Opportunity Hire Program will be expended only for salaries and immediately-related costs.  Because available funds will vary across years, the program will support a variety of strategies to enhance faculty diversity.  Possible uses of funds include, but are not limited to:

• Providing partial or full support for a School or College or the Library to hire an instructor, post-doctoral fellow, or visiting professor who is a possible candidate for an tenure track position in a department or program that the Dean has given priority for replacement or new hires.
• Providing temporary financial support that allows a School or College or the Library to make an offer of a tenure track position that exceeds the budget available in the line. (Nothing in this policy is intended to change the process through which salaries are established for tenure track faculty.  It is expected that these salaries will continue to be set in collaboration between unit faculty and administrators.)
• In exceptional circumstances and when funds available in a fiscal year are not fully utilized for temporary salary support, the VCAA may approve use of funds for other uses that support recruitment and retention of faculty members from the targeted groups, including support for such needs as: (a) providing start-up funds associated with recruitment of a faculty member to the campus; (b) supporting faculty development for untenured faculty members; and (c)  supporting unusual expenses associated with early recruitment, such as bringing an individual to the campus for a colloquium or consultation.

IV.             Decision-Making Process

At the beginning of each Academic Year  the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs will issue a memorandum to UCCS deans, department chairs and committees that indicates the total funding available for the Opportunity Hire Program along with any designation of priority uses of the funds (from the uses defined in Section II).  Proposals for use of funds must be initiated or endorsed by an Academic Dean and may be submitted to the VCAA at any time.

Proposals must describe how a potential opportunity hire will contribute to the diversification of UCCS faculty, support College priorities for new and replacement faculty positions, and provide additional benefits, such as diversification of the campus curricula and improved partnerships with the minority communities in Colorado Springs.  All proposed uses must be consistent with CU and UCCS personnel and affirmative action policies.

The VCAA will consult with the Faculty Minority Affairs Committee and the Academic Planning Committee in evaluating proposals.  While proposals for funds from this program will be considered at any time, those submitted early in the academic year will have the greatest likelihood of funding because resources for the program will be limited in any given year. 

Criteria for evaluating applications include:

1. Demonstrated qualifications of the individual recommended.

2. Impact of the recommended hire on diversifying the faculty.

3. Consensus within the unit or program for this recommendation.

4. Uniqueness of the contribution to be made through the hire.

5. Likelihood of the individual’s success within the unit.

6. When proposed, the rationale for forgoing a normal search process and degree to which there was a competitive analysis in choosing this individual.

7.  The unit’s plan to ensure that opportunity hires do not incur service requirements beyond those normally expected of faculty members.

8.  The relationship of the hire to the College’s priorities for replacement and new positions. 

9.  The College’s commitment for continuation funding, if applicable, after initial funding through the Opportunity Hire Program. 

V.  Requirements for Nominees/Candidates

Opportunity hire nominees/candidates shall be citizens or legal residents of the United States of America, its territories or possessions. To alleviate the under-utilization of minority faculty at UCCS and women in particular disciplines, priority will be given to women nominees/candidates and to individuals from historically underrepresented groups and to diversifying the faculty in ways that reflect the composition of our student body.

VI.  Responsibilities of Parties

A.  Units submitting proposals shall be responsible to determine in good faith that any specific candidate fully meets the eligibility guidelines outlined above and for ensuring the campus policies are followed in all aspects of the hiring process.

B.  The Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic and Multicultural Affairs  is responsible for providing assistance to minority faculty hired under this policy and for assessing the impact of the policy on faculty diversity on the campus.  The AVCAMA will make an annual report to the campus and the VCAA regarding overall progress in faculty diversity, including the impact of this program.   The report should include information about:

·          The current composition of the faculty

·          Assistance provided to search committees in recruiting diverse candidates

·          The impact of this policy on faculty hiring

·          Support services provided to minority faculty

·          The perceptions of minority faculty regarding the support they receive.

C.  The Academic Planning Committee and the Faculty Minority Affairs Committee will assist the VCAA in evaluating proposals and recommending uses of funds.

D.  The Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs is responsible for overall administration of the program, including:  final decisions regarding allocation of funds each year; negotiating agreements with units regarding the time period of support and the commitments of units for continued funding; and presentation of budget proposals to support the program.   When the use of funds involves hiring new tenure track faculty, the decision process will involve the campus groups involved in prioritizing new faculty positions. 

6 February 2002

To:       Dr. Thomas Bellamy, Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

From:  The Faculty Minority Affairs Committee

Re:       The Case for Funding an Opportunity Hire Policy

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs serves a community with a wide range of diverse ethnic and racial groups.  In accordance with the goals promulgated in President Elizabeth Hoffman’s Vision 2010 Plan, UCCS recognizes the crucial importance and value of diversity—both in its curriculum and its faculty—as an educational benefit and an essential component of its central mission.  UCCS recognizes that diversity is key to achieving academic excellence; we are, therefore, committed to the idea that diversifying our curriculum and faculty will greatly enhance our institution. This is essential to creating a supportive and inclusive environment that fosters tolerance, mutual respect, and critical thinking in its presentation of diverse and alternative perspectives.  Reflecting national norms and values, it is our firm belief that diversifying our campus helps eradicate discrimination and racism in that it breaks down stereotypes and the correspondent fear that comes from ignorance. More fundamentally, it reflects our attempt to aspire toward a democratic ideal in its acknowledgement of the fact that we are a pluralistic, richly diverse society.

UCCS has demonstrated its sincere commitment to diversity in numerous ways.  The Office of Multicultural Affairs coordinates a minority student/faculty mentoring program. The Office of Student Success has substantially increased minority student enrollment.   UCCS has strengthened its mentoring and other student development programs, resulting in higher minority student retention and graduation rates. The University has institutionalized the Ethnic Studies and Women’s Studies Programs.  The faculty of the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences approved a diversity requirement in the core curriculum.

In order to redress the under-representation of minority faculty at UCCS, former chancellor Linda Bunnell-Shade, with the support of the Faculty Minority Affairs Committee, charged the office of the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Multicultural Affairs with the task of establishing a mandatory orientation for search committee chairs. The orientation will encourage them to diversify their candidate pools and guide them in gaining access to traditionally under-represented faculty. In 1998, the Office of Multicultural Affairs developed the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Diversity Plan.  Among other things, the Diversity Plan sets a short-term goal of adding one percent a year to the percentage of faculty of color and the long-term goal of making twenty-five percent of new hires over five years from the ranks of faculty of color.

Though the Faculty Minority Affairs Committee applauds the administration’s efforts to attain diversity, UCCS has nevertheless fallen short of the goals outlined in the Diversity Plan.   According to the Office of Institutional Research, in the fall of 2000 minority faculty accounted for just over twelve percent of the UCCS faculty workforce, resulting in a gap of over eight percent between the original goal and the reality.

In order to make speedy progress toward achieving the University’s diversity goals, the Faculty Minority Affairs Committee supports UCCS in its effort to institute an opportunity hire policy. Such a policy would allow us to respond to President Hoffman’s call to “aggressively recruit and retain” a diverse faculty, and realize the vision outlined in the Faculty Diversity Action Plan (revised, June 2001) of modeling “a work milieu reflecting” the rapidly shifting demographics in our community and the larger reality of national and global pluralism.   It is our firm belief that a plan designed to recruit, hire, and retain minority faculty requires the willingness of the administration at the system- and campus-wide levels to “seed” or phase in appointments, which will eventually be supported through department/college/school base budgets.   In addition, its success is wholly dependent upon the faculty’s whole-hearted commitment to its objectives and its consequent involvement in achieving these goals.  In short, both faculty and administration must invest in this plan fully and share accountability for its implementation.

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