Penn State continues to progress on all issues that are part of the 2001 A Plan To Enhance Diversity at Penn State. One illustration of success is the 72 percent increase in Penn State's minority student enrollment at all locations, from 5,711 undergraduate and graduate students in fall 1992 to 9,827 minority students in fall 2004, or 12 percent of the total enrollment. Go to:
http://www.budget.psu.edu/factbook/StudentDynamic/MinorityEnrolbyEthnicity.asp?TableCount=3&ReportCode=H&YearCode=2004Enr
1. A Framework to Foster Diversity at Penn State: 2004-2009 was developed and implemented in December 2003 for achieving Penn State's diversity goals by all University academic and non-academic departments. The current Framework builds upon the work of the first Framework, 1998-2003. The new Framework retains the seven challenges as a concrete roadmap for achieving Penn State's diversity goals, positioning them within the context of four dimensions of diversity that current scholarship suggests must be addressed in higher education.
Campus Climate and Intergroup Relations
--Developing a Shared and Inclusive Understanding of Diversity
--Creating a Welcoming Campus Climate
Representation (Access and Success)
--Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse Student Body
--Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse Workforce
Education and Scholarship
--Developing a Curriculum That Fosters Intercultural and International Competencies
Institutional Viability and Vitality
--Diversifying University Leadership and Management
--Coordinating Organizational Change to Support Our Diversity Goals
The final 2004-09 diversity strategic plans and Review Team feedback reports with responses from strategic planning units available at the Educational Equity Web site: http://www.equity.psu.edu/framework/updates/
2. The Vice Provost for Educational Equity continues to be an active member of both the President's Council and the Academic Leadership Council. He gives input on annual budgets for the colleges for each academic year. The Vice Provost also reports on a large number of topics and decisions related to diversity issues. His office is at: http://www.equity.psu.edu/
3. In the midst of his third year at Penn State, Kenneth Lehrman III, Ph.D, J.D., Director of Affirmative Action and Diversity Support, has revised procedures for faculty and administrative searches and developed a video of the AAO presentation for use at all Penn State campuses, receiving positive feedback. The office's educational mission has been enhanced with the addition of two professional training and development officers who have developed and implemented a wide variety of new diversity related programs that are available to individual employees and units at no cost. The web site is: http://www.psu.edu/dept/aaoffice/
4. The new Diversity Advocate at Penn State is Denise Hinds-Zaami, whose responsibilities include coordinating the Report Hate Web site and the Zero Tolerance for Hate Support Network, key programs supported by the Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity. She also serves as a counselor with the Multicultural Resource Center, which serves students on the University Park campus. Her appointment story is at: http://live.psu.edu/story/8330
The web page for reporting hate crimes and other bias-motivated incidents is available at http://www.equity.psu.edu/reporthate/ Each semester's reports are available publicly at the site. The latest report, combined for Summer and Fall 2004, provides details on 37 incidents at all 24 campuses.
5. In the past two years, the Africana Research Center has increased its visibility by initiating several new projects. An interdisciplinary brown bag lecture series has occurred for the past three semesters with a variety of topics including faculty research on the Africana Diaspora and the higher education experiences of Black faculty, staff, and graduate students.
Other projects:
--New Barbara Jordan Lecture Series, with noted civil rights activist Lani Guinier sponsored this fall and former South African president Nelson Mandela in the planning stages for this spring in conjunction with the Department of African and African American Studies.
--"In Pursuit of Social Justice: Recognizing Pennsylvania Black Artists" collaboration with the Institute for Arts and Humanities. Recent honorees are renowned musician and Philadelphian McCoy Tyner and native Philadelphian Bebe Moore Campbell, a New York Times bestseller fiction writer. Planned this spring are an exhibit of Dane Tilghman's work and the August Wilson Play Festival.
The Center continues to support the scholarship and research of faculty and graduate students studying the African Diaspora, with approximately $120,000 awarded in the past 18 months to about 20 faculty and graduate students. Going into its fourth year, the Undergraduate Research Symposium recognizes the scholarly work of undergraduates. Twelve students presented last year and were well received for their efforts. Other student initiatives include the support of the Charles Drew Blood Drive and African School. Future student initiatives include formalizing an undergraduate internship program at the ARC.
6. The African and African-American Studies Department in the College of the Liberal Arts currently has ten tenure-track faculty members, mostly on joint appointments. The department is interviewing candidates for a new head and another faculty position. The web site is at: http://aaas.la.psu.edu/
7. Since 2001, the University has awarded scholarships to 16 Penn State students who had registered initially as African and African American Studies majors and or dual majors. The scholarships will be continued and currently there are about 26-28 AAAS majors.
8. During the spring 2004 semester, the University Faculty Senate passed legislation replacing the current three-credit Intercultural and International Competence Requirement (GI) with a requirement that students complete a three-credit course in United States Cultures (US) and a three-credit course in International Cultures (IL). This new requirement will become effective for students enrolling in or after summer session 2005. At the end of spring 2005 semester, the GI designation will cease to exist. Students enrolled prior to the summer 2005 session may fulfill the exiting GI requirement by taking any course carrying the new US or IL designation. A complete list of permanent courses carrying the US and/or IL designations is available through the Undergraduate Degree Programs Bulletin online at http://www.psu.edu/bulletins/bluebook/gened/gi.html
9. At the request of Provost and Executive Vice President Rodney Erickson, the Sept. 28, 2004 Academic Leadership Forum for department and division heads, deans and senior academic administrators focused on mentoring faculty across all 24 campuses. A special emphasis was placed on mentoring women and ethnic minorities. The ALF planning committee organized the session to showcase Penn State best practices and successes and invited University administrators and faculty as presenters.
Mentor-mentee pairs were chosen so the mentoring process from assistant professor through professor could be addressed. One of the pairs included Edwin Herr, distinguished professor emeritus of education, and Edgar Farmer, professor and head of the Department of Learning and Performance Systems, who shared their experiences as Dr. Farmer attempted to move from associate to full professor. Also, Senior Faculty Mentor James Stewart shared some of his excellent observations about mentoring and his future plans. Vice Provost Blannie Bowen created two case studies for discussion. Case 1 focused on issues that emerged when a department hires its first African American faculty member. Case 2 involved three women faculty who faced the glass ceiling when they attempted to move from associate to full professor.
Dr. Stewart met with the Council of Campus Administrators on Oct. 18, 2004, to explain the mentoring network that he is creating. Dr. Bowen convenes this group that includes the dean or campus executive officer for non-University Park locations. Each of these administrators was asked to nominate 2-3 faculty members who could become members of the network. The goal is to allow each non-University Park faculty member access to well-established, respected faculty members who can serve as their mentors. Participation in the network will be voluntary for both mentors and mentees.
10. The Provost and the Vice Provost for Educational Equity continue their frequent discussions on strategic diversity planning and implementation with other senior administrators overseeing equity at universities that are members of the Committee for Institutional Cooperation, the academic consortium of 12 major public teaching and research universities plus the University of Chicago. Key issues have been minority student and faculty recruitment and retention.
11. Student membership on Penn State's Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity is at its highest with 10 full members and 11 affiliate and volunteer members. The student issues team has been very active, working a wide variety of issues. These include developing a mentoring guide for students of color, working to establish partnerships with student leaders of key umbrella organizations, collaborating with Commonwealth Campus Student Government for a second summit, and discussing funding processes for student organizational events. Playing an active role in reviewing and advising on diversity programs at the University, CORED is celebrating its 15th year. The web site is: http://www.equity.psu.edu/cored/index.html
12: Some key administrative appointments since late 2003 include: Dr. Blannie E. Bowen, the C. Lee Rumberger and Family Chair of agriculture and head of the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education at Penn State, who became vice provost for academic affairs, and Dr. J. Marcos Fernandez, associate dean for student services in the College of Agriculture at Louisiana State University, who will be associate dean for undergraduate education in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. Cynthia A. Baldwin, judge in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and the first African American woman to preside over the University's Board of Trustees, was re-elected for a second term as board chair. Toby Jenkins, formerly of University of Maryland, is the new director of the Paul Robeson Cultural Center with information on http://www.sa.psu.edu/insights/oct04/prcc.shtml