3/28/11

The meeting took place from 3:00-4:00 in Lighty 405, with President Floyd (PF), Provost Baily (PB), and all AFD officers in attendance. The president and provost were given a series of talking points the members had submitted, and addressed those issues during the meeting.

1. After introductions and a short preamble by AFD president, Lincoln James, President Floyd (PF) opened up the discussion by asking AFD members for their common understanding of diversity climate at WSU. Some comments were:
   1. Overwhelming service load of diverse faculty is detrimental to the T&P process.
   2. Loss of Native American [and other] faculty/staff
   1. 7-9 have left fairly recently
   2. No exit interviews in some (or most) cases
   3. Tokenization in hires
   4. 'Bridging town and gown' issues; community climate, and schools are important in retaining faculty members.
2. PF stated that retention becomes more difficult when individual has initiated process/ discussions with another university. It is a national issues of which we are not exempt. Sometimes he learns of certain situations too late in the process to be effective in retaining faculty. It is a two-way street and we all need to be participants.
3. PF asked what could be done to prevent faculty from considering leaving (initiating the job search process).
   1. Perception that scholarship is not valued [even if it is considered relevant to tribes in the case of Native American faculty].
   2. Dissatisfaction with treatment at institution.
   3. Evaluate what is the value of diverse faculty to institution; what is brought to the table.
   4. Institution is focused on research and service is undervalued/ unrecognized.
   5. Some superior skills in leadership and experience brought in by non-traditional faculty are not recognized in T&P process. This also includes students.
4. PF stated that having diversity-related research and service be valued remains challenging to faculty members unable to recognize that value; it is a key cultural change that needs to be promoted.
5. The provost went on to comment on some of the talking points provided:
   1. On recruitment efforts
   1. They have been hit or miss, sporadic.
   2. Alex Tan has worked hard to bring structure to the process: all search committees will have a liaison with the dean/ provost offices to facilitate and ensure the identification of a diverse pool of candidates. Alex is engaged in 12 searches or so at this time.
   3. Websites are emerging that, depending on specialty, have assembled pools of candidates we can tap into; this should give us more choices.
   2. On mentoring/retention
   1. We don't bring faculty [to WSU] to be anything but successful; too much is invested. 90% are granted T&P at WSU so we need to ascertain what happens to the other 10% [how to increase their chances of success].
   1. Organize mentoring committees within their first 6 months at WSU.
   2. Mentors need to be proactive and give good advice.
   3. If research is not being acknowledged, then some refining needs to be done and that is part of the mentoring mission.
   4. We want to maintain all faculty; we need to go the extra mile.
6. On the need for a comprehensive plan: President Floyd went on to state that this was the first gathering of this kind he had attended in his four years at WSU. He's been exposed to pieces but not to a larger group [such as ours.] He's asked who is responsible for promoting diversity at WSU but never received a clear answer. From his perspective, this issue is vital but, in order to progress and move forward, you have to have a plan, and he accepts he'll be held accountable for the plan, including to the Regents'. (He's changed Raúl Sánchez's accountability response so that he reports to the president directly.) He (PF) is open, receptive, but does not have a comprehensive plan for students, staff, faculty, or overall issues. He wants us to give him a blueprint of where we want to go as an institution in terms of diversity and in advancing this agenda:
   1. We should recognize the unique views and needs of diverse faculty
   2. Search process should elicit clear information on type of research and T&P implications.
   3. We need to be honest regarding WSU's commitment to diversity to students and parents and, to that effect, CLA faculty (CrimJ and Sociology) will lead a study on police targeting of students of color.
   4. He wants openness and accessibility but that may not be WSU's tradition, though we did have Ernestine Madison come to WSU in the 90s as VP of Diverse issues.
   5. We need to have a recruitment strategy that emphasizes inclusiveness; we should write policy [to that effect] but as part of a larger plan/protocol that is comprehensive and includes elements of excellence, quality and accountability.
7. On the [D] GER change to a Global Diversity UCore:
   1. Members expressed their concerns that our students' background is not inclusive and that this change may not help in promoting awareness that diversity-related concerns continue to be real, and important in the US. The emphasis on global may come at the expense of American diversity and imply that we are living in a color-blind society with no problems. [Nota bene: At that point, AFD had taken up the issue with Mary Wack, which resulted in some changes in the description of this content area.]
   2. Another faculty member asked if [D] related ways of knowing were going to be institutionalized in the way we do things at WSU so they are part of our narrative.
   3. PF stated that there was still time to intervene. They need our help to continue to improve particular spaces at WSU. We should not make assumptions that they necessarily know which ones they are.
8. Vancouver faculty asked that, given that economic times are hard, how is PF going to protect diversity? PF responded that there are some core things we need to have as an institution:
   1. We are not of high quality if we lack diversity. It is a core value.
   2. People believe that STEM disciplines push means we don't value the Liberal Arts as the core, but they are, and need to be supported.
   3. We need to think strategically about growing our own pool of potential candidates; one example is the summer research program for pre-doctoral students not currently built about recruitment to WSU but [rather] sending them somewhere else.
9. Other faculty members brought up the need for cross-cultural communication training for faculty, and more diversity-oriented workshops. PF answered that he has initiated a leadership group on campus and that these ideas could dovetail with that group's efforts. He went on to say that his administration is completely open to thoughtful suggestions on what we need to do or where we need to go.
10. On the need to contextualize WSU: a faculty member brought up the issue that we need to identify how we see ourselves, what does the state expect of us, and where do we sit among our peer institutions in the state in terms of our involvement with diversity issues.
11. On AFD's role: PF sees the group as an important participant in helping him and his administration think through all issues pertaining to diversity and, in order to ensure we can develop a comprehensive plan for him to pursue, he will find some operating funds for the group, so AFD can work on these issues for PF.

Meeting adjourned at 4:00; Notes taken and submitted by Ana M. Rodríguez-Vivaldi, AFD secretary