Term Paper on "Diversity Policy at Lehigh"

Quoted Instructions for "Diversity Policy at Lehigh" Assignment:

mocosteinman

The President of Lehigh University has called for an

increase in diversity (multiculturalism) at Lehigh. Become familiar with the

particulars of recent diversity measures. Then argue whether you think these

measures are working or not.

Introduction and Principles

It is essential for Lehigh¡¯s future that we achieve greater diversity among

our student body, faculty, and staff and maintain a campus environment in which

all people may interact with each other openly, confidently and creatively.

The reasons are straightforward. First, diversity is consistent with the

core values of the university. The Lehigh Mission Statement clearly articulates

our commitment to diversity and pluralism. We should live it. Our students will

live in a diverse world; their Lehigh experience should help prepare them for

it.

Diversity is essential to ensure that Lehigh is educationally and

intellectually vibrant. Creativity thrives in an atmosphere of diverse

perspectives and viewpoints and is inhibited in a restricted world of

predictable thinking and homogeneity.

Diversity is also a pragmatic issue. The national pool of new students,

faculty and staff is becoming more and more diverse. We must be attractive to

students, faculty, and staff of all backgrounds, or we will find it difficult to

attract the best and our academic quality will suffer.

This challenge is not new. The decision made over thirty years ago to

transform Lehigh into a fully coeducational university was an obvious step

toward diversity. Had it not been taken, it is doubtful that Lehigh would enjoy

the success it does today. Lehigh affirmed its commitment to diversity under the

leadership of President Peter Likins, and we must continue to make that

commitment a reality. Our success in doing so will directly affect Lehigh¡¯s

level of academic distinction in the coming decades and even its survival.

It is important to emphasize that achieving a diverse Lehigh is a continuing

challenge rather than a fixed goal. We should indeed make steady progress, but

the effort is one that will be ongoing. Diversity may not be a matter simply of

numbers, but numbers do count because a community must have sufficient people

from different backgrounds to retain them and attract others.

Diversity is multifaceted. It relates to women and men; people of different

races, ethnicity, and religions; people from different intellectual perspectives

and socioeconomic backgrounds; those from the U.S. and those from other

countries; people of different sexual orientation; and persons with

disabilities. It is not a matter to be taken piecemeal by deciding that some are

welcome but others are not, but a commitment that must be embraced as a whole.

Of course, diversity is not just about people, it is also about thinking and

attitudes. Our goal is a community not a collection. Open doors are essential,

but if they lead to closed minds, they lead nowhere. An organization may be

highly diverse in statistical terms, but if it sums only to a collection of

isolated groups and not an interactive and supportive community in which diverse

individuals feel part of a greater whole, then it misses the point.

From an institutional standpoint, our commitment to diversity is not a

matter that can be left to one person or one office. It cannot be patched onto

this organization; rather, it must permeate all aspects of Lehigh. One person

alone cannot be responsible for achieving a diverse community; we all must be.

That said, without goals, accountability, and regular assessment, the

anticipation of progress will fade into an exercise of good intentions.

Therefore, accountability must be built into each of the initiatives we

undertake.

It also is important to emphasize that many of the steps needed to increase

Lehigh¡¯s diversity, particularly of its faculty and staff, must be taken by

colleagues at the departmental level. The president, provost, vice presidents

and deans can lead, but success or failure will be largely determined in local

interactions and individual departmental climates.

This document briefly reviews the state of diversity at Lehigh today,

summarizes major steps taken to achieve and support greater diversity during

recent years, and identifies specific initiatives that will be taken during AY03

and individuals responsible for leading or coordinating each initiative.

Specific Actions Planned or Underway for AY 02-03

Admissions

In the past several years, minority student recruiting in the Office of

Admissions has been considerably less successful than it should have been. This

area of student recruitment is even more competitive than it is for the general

population. Bruce Gardiner, interim dean of admissions and financial aid, has

made or plans the following changes for AY03 to increase our effectiveness.

Bruce has overall responsibility and accountability for progress in this effort.

Minority Recruiting Esther Gonzalez has been hired as director of the minority

recruitment program and Roobhenn Smith ¡¯02 as the assistant director.

Admissions Officers Training All of the admissions staff have been charged with

the responsibility of achieving greater diversity among the entering class of

students. Admissions officers have been informed that they will be evaluated on

their success in increasing the diversity of their applicants/matriculants.

Naturally, some are responsible for regions that have fewer potential candidates

than others, but the goal will be to increase the numbers within the context of

the area regardless of the volume. The entire admissions staff will have a

formal program of diversity training before they begin their fall travel.

Admissions Lobby The lobby area of admissions is being remodeled to include

pictures that will more accurately reflect Lehigh¡¯s vibrancy and commitment to

diversity.

Literature Admissions literature and Web site have been redesigned to provide

more comprehensive imagery and messages about diversity at Lehigh. The applicant

view book, in particular, has undergone a rather dramatic redesign. A specific

Web page dealing with multicultural admissions issues is currently being

created.

Coordination Bruce Gardiner and Esther Gonzalez will work with the Office of

Multicultural Affairs to develop more effective strategies to recruit students

from diverse backgrounds.

Best Practices Bruce Gardiner and Esther Gonzalez are reviewing best practices

at other institutions regarding diversity in admissions and also review

Lehigh¡¯s current financial aid policies as they relate to effectiveness in

achieving diversity.

West Coast Recruiting John Leiner ¡¯01 has been hired as Lehigh¡¯s first

full-time west coast student admissions representative. He is based in San

Francisco and will cover the western states. California, in particular, has a

large and growing population of prospective students of Latino and

Asian-American backgrounds.

International Recruiting Eric Weinhold was hired in AY01 as Lehigh¡¯s first

full-time international student recruiter. He will continue his efforts this

year with principal focus on student recruiting in the Far East, Middle East,

and Europe, with growing attention to Latin and South America.

Faculty Recruiting

Lehigh¡¯s record of hiring and promoting women faculty in the humanities,

social sciences, and education is comparable to that of other institutions. In

contrast, our effectiveness in attracting and retaining women faculty in

engineering, science, and business needs to be improved. Too often hiring pools

for faculty positions in these areas do not include women and minorities, and

too often talented and successful women and minority faculty are wooed away by

other institutions.

Fortunately, the coming 5-10 years present a great opportunity for

addressing these problems. A large fraction of current Lehigh science and

engineering faculty members are likely to retire during that time, so many new

faculty will be hired. In addition, the numbers of new women and minority Ph.D.

recipients should increase during this period. The combination of our clear

commitment, the available positions, and the growing pool of minority and female

candidates should make for real progress over the next 5-10 years.

There are already signs of progress, preliminary to be sure, but

encouraging. As mentioned earlier, among the 11 new faculty hired in RCEAS

during AY02, five are women. Certain areas of engineering are known to produce

greater numbers of women as graduates. Included are computer science and

engineering, systems engineering, and bioengineering. We have chosen to invest

in new faculty in all three areas, a move that involved creating Lehigh¡¯s first

program in bioengineering in AY03.

However, attracting new women and minority faculty is only part of the

challenge. They must be effectively mentored and guided toward success, and

welcomed and integrated into the life of the institution. Alas, those who are

successful in launching academic careers will always attract offers from other

institutions, so we must work hard to make Lehigh so attractive that any faculty

member who is wooed by another institution will be reluctant to leave. To do so,

we must ensure that Lehigh is a vibrant intellectual community with the highest

standards, support new faculty effectively, and integrate new faculty into the

leadership of Lehigh at all levels, starting with departmental leadership.

To achieve our goal of increasing the hiring, success and retention of women

and minority faculty with particular focus on engineering, science, and

business, we will take the following steps. Overall responsibility and

accountability for progress in this area lies with Provost Yoshida with the

active commitment of the four college deans. Specific steps that are already

underway or will be taken in this academic year include the following.

Hiring Pools Faculty search committees will be required to demonstrate that they

have actively sought and considered appropriately diverse pools of candidates.

Searches that fail to do so will be closed. Responsibility for certifying that

searches are comprehensive lies with Provost Yoshida.

University-wide Faculty Mentoring An important perspective on the status of

women faculty at Lehigh, particularly those who have left for other positions,

has been provided by a group of Lehigh faculty who are preparing a proposal to

the NSF regarding the status of women faculty in science and engineering

("ADVANCE" project). The group includes Gail Cooper, associate professor of

history; Diane Hyland, professor of psychology; Patricia Ingham, associate

professor of English and director, women¡¯s studies; and Hannah Stewart-Gambino,

professor of political science and associate dean of the College of Arts and

Sciences. Drawing on the insight gained from the ADVANCE proposal, Provost

Yoshida will work with faculty and others to design a university-wide program

for the mentoring of faculty in their early years at Lehigh.

Nonexempt Staff Hiring

The human resources (HR) office has responsibility for the hiring of

nonexempt staff with the close participation of the hiring department. In order

to maintain a continuous pool of qualified candidates for a variety of positions

on campus, the university participates in two annual job fairs in the region,

one is sponsored by the Council on Spanish Speaking Organizations of the Lehigh

Valley in Bethlehem and the other is the PA Career Link Job Fair held in

Allentown. In addition to the job fairs, other initiatives undertaken in AY02 to

encourage minority job applicants include sending open job notices to the

Council on Spanish Speaking Organizations of the Lehigh Valley, the Hispanic

American Organization of Allentown, the NAACP, the Governor¡¯s Veteran Outreach

and Assistance Center and the Good Shepherd Vocational Services; using the

Pacareerlinks, Jobquest, and Pennsylvaniajobs.com websites; and pursuing

personal contacts with council candidates, NAACP officers, and C!

hamber of Commerce representatives. HR will continue to pursue these strategies

to recruit a diverse pool of applicants to support the needs of the hiring

departments.

Exempt Staff Hiring

The hiring of exempt staff is more decentralized and more directly

controlled by individual departments. Specific steps taken in AY02 to encourage

applicants from under-represented groups included sending all job postings to

the Hispanic American Organization and the Council on Spanish Speaking

Organizations of the Lehigh Valley; and providing an advertising directory to

hiring supervisors which includes listings for "Black Issues in Higher Ed,"

"Outlook," Indobase.com and the Hispanic website, Saludos.

Actions Planned: In the coming year, the HR office will strengthen its efforts

to encourage the hiring of under-represented groups, in particular by beginning

each search with a discussion with the hiring supervisor about the diversity and

composition of his/her department, prior recruiting efforts, results, the

university¡¯s commitment to emphasizing diversity in all job searches,

appropriate advertising strategies for each position, and, when appropriate, an

orientation program for search committees that includes important elements of

the hiring process that support diversity efforts.

In addition, the office will be preparing proposals regarding additional

advertising strategies. Efforts to recruit diverse pools of applicants are most

effective when they occur early in the hiring process. This is where HR can

continue to be of assistance to the hiring supervisor.

Campus Climate

Following, in brief, is a summary of initiatives that will be undertaken

this year by the Office of Student Affairs to continue to improve the campus

climate for diversity. The individuals responsible for each initiative are

listed as well.

Hiring Pools Continue to actively recruit, hire and retain diverse professional

staff (John Smeaton).

Student Engagement Increase engagement of diverse students in campus life

(Sharon Basso, Kristin Handler, Karen Huang).

Student Programs Increase number and awareness of culturally diverse programs

offered ¨C social, educational, service learning, etc. (Tom Dubreuil, Maureen

Sheridan, Kristin Handler); create cross-cultural programming partnerships among

student clubs and organizations (Maureen Sheridan).

Environment Create more culturally sensitive and welcoming physical environments

in student facilities ¨C University Center, Ulrich Student Center, Lamberton

(Maureen Sheridan, ***** Samuels).

Excel Program Evaluate and enhance Excel Program (Cecilia Stanton).

Safe Space Revitalize Safe Space Program (Cecilia Stanton).

Student Support Increase level of demonstrable support for students of color,

women, GLBT students and other culturally diverse students (Sharon Basso,

Kristin Handler, Karen Huang, ***** Samuels, Tom Dubreuil).

Diversity Training Expand diversity training for student leaders and

professional staff in student affairs (John Smeaton, Sharon Basso, Tom Dubreuil,

***** Samuels).

Special Interest Housing Enhance residential options in support of culturally

diverse themes (Tom Dubreuil).

Mentoring Develop and implement mentoring program for incoming first-year

students of color (Cecilia Stanton).

Academic Support Enhance and expand academic support services for students from

diverse backgrounds (Susan Lantz).

Diversity Awareness Incorporate diversity-related programs in Orientation and

the First Year Student Program (Lori Bolden).

Admissions Working with admissions office, improve effectiveness of

multicultural recruitment (***** Samuels, Cecilia Stanton).

Alumni of Color Launch revitalized Alumni of Color outreach initiative (Cecilia

Stanton).

Compensation Link merit increases to staff contribution to diversity goals (John

Smeaton).

Board/Volunteer Leadership

The principles of diversity outlined in this document also extend beyond

students, faculty and staff to one of the university¡¯s most important

resources, its volunteer leadership. Lehigh has been fortunate to attract

outstanding leaders willing to give generously of their time, talents and

resources as trustees of the university. Membership on the Board of Trustees is

considered for those individuals who demonstrate a deep commitment to Lehigh.

Accordingly, the Nominating Committee, the standing trustee committee

responsible for the identification of potential members, has developed a process

to identify, evaluate and encourage participation by a broad pool of candidates

whose experience and expertise bring diverse perspectives and viewpoints to

board leadership roles; and continually monitors its progress towards such

goals. Likewise, the Lehigh University Alumni Association, college advisory

boards, and other volunteer leadership groups on campus will continue to striv!

e to live up to Lehigh¡¯s commitment to diversity and pluralism.

Structural/Organizational Changes in the University

Ombudsperson We will appoint Lehigh¡¯s first ombudsperson in the 2002-03

academic year. An ombudsperson works independently, objectively, and

confidentially to assist in mediating and resolving misunderstandings and

disagreements relating to the official activities of the university.

Equal Opportunity/Harassment Policy Officer In accordance with the new

harassment policy drafted by the EOHP Task Force, which has been endorsed by the

faculty as well as by student and staff representatives, we will appoint a

formal equal opportunity/harassment policy officer who will be responsible for

investigating any formal harassment complaint against any faculty member,

working in concert with a faculty member selected from a three-member committee

appointed for this purpose. The investigator will also work with the manager of

employee relations in investigating any formal complaints against a staff

member, and will serve as one of many "input points" for informal complaints.

Harassment Policy Implementation A multi-tiered communication and training

program is underway to implement the new harassment policy campus wide. The

planning will include: e-mail communication to all students, faculty and staff

providing a brief description of the new policy and a link to the web posting;

inclusion of the harassment policy in the new student (first year and transfer)

orientation for all undergraduates at the start of the fall semester; inclusion

of the harassment policy in the RA/TA/GA training provided at the start of the

fall semester to all graduate students who will be serving in any of those

roles; a presentation during the fall semester by an outside legal expert (and

open to all faculty) on the policy and its underlying legal requirements;

training for the individuals identified as informal entry points in the policy

(roughly 80-90 faculty and staff on campus); training for informal problem

solvers, a much smaller set taken from the 80-90 entry poin!

ts, in mediation skills, communication skills, etc; and training for formal

investigators (11 faculty and staff) on the specifics of performing and

documenting an appropriate formal investigation.

Overall Coordination Responsibility for overall assessment of progress in

matters related to diversity will be assumed by the Office of the President and

Office of the Provost under the staff leadership of Vice President Mark Erickson

and Assistant to the Provost Stacy Stainbrook.

Campus Report We will present a full summary of progress on the various

initiatives outlined in this report to the campus at the end of this academic

year.

Accountability to Board of Trustees Diversity at Lehigh will become a regular

agenda item for the report of the provost to the Academic Affairs Committee, the

report of the vice provost for student affairs to the Student Affairs Committee,

and the report of the president and provost to the Executive Committee of the

Board of Trustees. This report was presented to the Executive Committee of the

Board of Trustees at their meeting on September 17th, 2002, and will be

presented to the full Board on October 11th, 2002.

Sample essay

You just graduated from high school. After taking a 20-hour flight across the

Pacific

Ocean, you arrive at your college. You now have a new identity there. Everyone

calls you

“international student,” something different from “local.” A sea of eyes focuses

on you the

moment you step in the classroom. You take a seat and remain silent throughout

the lecture. As

your eyes wander around, a pattern unfolds in front of you. Patches of white

skin paint the entire

classroom. Welcome to Lehigh University.

With a student body of 81 percent white students (Gostomski), Lehigh University

is far

from a diverse community. In efforts to bring in more students with different

cultural

perspectives and socio-economic backgrounds and reduce the homogeneity of the

student

population, a proposal aiming for more diversity was drafted by President

***** Farrington,

implementing changes on school policies in this regard. In particular, the

student admissions

scheme is one of the most elaborate policy changes. Nevertheless, such a

proposal is bound to be

superficial as it overlooks the intricacy of diversity and fails to pinpoint the

cause of diversity

inadequacy. The admissions policy of Lehigh University’s plan will therefore be

ineffective in

increasing diversity on campus.

In Lehigh University’s proposal, Farrington writes, “…the admissions director

and

associate director have been charged with developing strategies to recruit more

students from

diverse backgrounds…” (Gostomski). The diversity blueprint also assigns two

admissions

recruiters to admit students from different regions (Gostomski). Largely

focusing on accepting

more students from different parts of the world, the proposal affirms that

boosting the number of

non-white students will automatically elevate the level of diversity on campus.

Substantial

attention is put on attracting students based only on their demographic

backgrounds. By this,

Lehigh’s proposal has mistakenly emphasized the wrong aspect of diversity.

Diversity is not purely reflected by the representation of different races and

ethnicities,

but also the hybridization of those diversified ideas, values and beliefs. The

fusion between

different perspectives is the most crucial part of diversity. For instance, a

student body can have

members from 80 different countries, but diversity still does not exist because

students do not

socialize. Speaking from experience, I was once a student in an international

boarding school,

which comprised members from more than 60 different countries and less than 40

percent of

the community was composed of local students. However, segregation persisted

severely and

diversity remained a distant goal. The cafeteria was divided into “continents.”

There were

African tables, European tables, American tables and even Hong Kong tables.

Arthur Levine,

president of Columbia University Teacher’s College, also notices voluntary

segregation on

campus from his research: “Either students do not socialize when in close

proximity or they are

so used to segregation they do not perceive cross-socialization when it occurs.”

Similar scenarios are commonplace at Lehigh. In fall 2003, I attended the

International

Dinner, an event that brought together all the students to cook and feast upon

ethnic cuisines of

the respective cultures at Lehigh. Unfortunately, the majority of participants

are international

students with a few white locals. Cross-socialization is rare even though an

event like this is

designed specially for such purpose. The key to diversity is to have students

stepping outside of

their cultural circles of comfort and interact with each other.

In addition to diverse background, students who show eagerness in interacting

with other

cultures should be admitted and this

judgment should be based on the evaluation of the candidates’ characters. This

is in agreement

with the former executive director of the U.S. Commission of Civil Rights Linda

Chavez’s

comment that “all person should be judged by the content of their character, not

the color of their

skin” (8). Nonetheless, the admissions policy lacks detailed methodologies on

assessing the

characters of the candidates. I agree that increasing the number of students

with diverse

backgrounds contributes to the diversity. However, this only means half the

battle is won since

the key to victory lies in the students’ initiative to interact.

Another weakness in President Farrington’s proposed admissions policy is its

incapability

to address the problem of raising diversity without lowering admission

standards. The

admissions board at Lehigh essentially faces a dilemma between academic quality

and diversity

when it comes to recruiting students. Students look for schools that maintain

good academic

reputation in order to receive good education, like what a recent letter written

by a sophomore in

response to President Farrington’s proposal expresses, “I came to Lehigh to get

the best

education I can” (qtd. in Gostomski). The academic standard of Lehigh is thus an

attractive

quality to students with both diverse backgrounds and academic ability. On the

other hand,

admitting more minority students has the potential to lower the academic

ranking. I am not

saying that minorities are incompetent of achieving at Lehigh, but statistics

prove that black

students still score below whites, Hispanics and Asians in NAEP, SAT and high

school

graduation rate, according to Harvard professor Nathan Glazer (16). If admission

is based

entirely on scholastic aptitude without lowering the bar for certain minorities,

the black students

may become underrepresented in the community, which defeats the purpose of the

diversity

proposal. To recruit comparable numbers of different minorities, distinct

standards of admission

seem to be inevitable. An immediate consequence of the descent of admission

standards is the

decline of overall performance of the students at Lehigh, which, paradoxically,

does not favor

the policy of attracting qualified non-whites.

Diversity is certainly beneficial to students at Lehigh and it is encouraging

to see a

proposal endeavoring to build up a diverse environment. But without effective

means and detailed strategic planning regarding admissions, achieving diversity

will be like

catching a fish with hands: It takes a long time. Better alternatives are not

impossible if the

diversity issue is reviewed more deeply. We, the Lehigh community, will be

accelerating

towards diversity if forceful complementing admission policies are carried out.

Why use hands

when we have nets?

Works Cited

Chavez, Linda. “Demystifying Multiculturalism.” Mercury Reader. Eds. Janice

Neuleib et. al.

Boston: Pearson, 2002. 6-14.

Glazer, Nathan. “In Defense of Multiculturalism.” Mercury Reader. Eds. Janice

Neuleib et. al.

Boston: Pearson, 2002. 15-23.

Gostomski, Christina. “Lehigh Plan Aims For More Diversity.” Morning Call

[Bethlehem]. 17

October 2002: A1. Blackboard. Lehigh U. Lib. 10 Feb. 2004.

Levine, Arthur. “The Campus Divided, and Divided Again.” New York Time. 11 June

2000

sec.4 : 17 Blackboard. Lehigh U. Lib. 10 Feb. 2004.

Sources are better to be cited from the actual policy and the www.bw.lehigh.edu/