School of Public Health Self-Study Report > 4.0 Faculty, Staff and Students > 4.3 Faculty and Staff Diversity > 4.3.a. - 4.3.c.

4.3.a. - 4.3.c.

4.3.a. Summary demographic data – faculty (Data Source: Human Resource Tracking September 2006)

4.3.c. Policies and procedures regarding the School’s commitment to providing equitable opportunities without regard to age, gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or national origin.

The School views diversity of its faculty, staff and students as essential to achieving excellence and impact. In research, education and service, perspectives from diverse backgrounds and experiences are critical if the School is to have a noteworthy impact on the public health of diverse populations.

The School adheres to all faculty recruiting and hiring policies and procedures defined by the University and the Board of Regents. The University’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action maintains on its Web site a large number of policy documents regarding diversity, equal employment opportunity, affirmative action, and the prohibiting of discrimination due to age, disability and gender. University policies, guidelines and processes provide hiring authorities with as much flexibility as possible in recruiting and hiring faculty and professional and administrative staff. In addition, they provide information in support of sound equal opportunity and affirmative action practice compliance and effective human resource management and practice. (To visit the Office of Equal Opportunity Web site, please go to http://www.eoaffact.umn.edu/).

The School has committed to the goal set by the University Board of Regents to:

Increase the presence and participation of racial/ethnic minorities and women where they are under-represented; and the creation of an inclusive and supportive environment for men and women students, faculty, and staff from varying racial, religious and ethnic backgrounds, of varying sexual orientations and people with disabilities.

The Office of the Dean has directed that “it is the responsibility of the School and each search committee under the leadership of its chair(s) to assure that this goal is met.” The Dean’s directive also requires search committees to initiate some or all of the following actions as appropriate in each national search:

“Searchers will aggressively seek qualified candidates from under-represented populations through a variety of networks and personal contacts. These may include:

• Publication of position notices on World Wide Web sites and in publications likely to be viewed by candidates from under-represented populations;
• Use of networks provided by professional societies and associations of scholars and others from under-represented populations;
• Use of personal networks of search committee members and School faculty and staff to assure the widest dissemination of position notices.

“Search committee composition should reflect diverse constituents.

• Where appropriate, committees should consider keeping candidate pools open until qualified candidates from under-represented groups are found and contacted.”

In an effort to increase diversity and create an environment that supports it, the Academic Health Center (AHC), the administrative home of the School, conducted a baseline assessment (condensed version of the Multicultural Awareness Project for Institutional Transformation or MAP IT) in 2005 to gauge diversity in AHC schools and provide a guide for their transformation to a more diverse, inclusive environment. The assessment found a commitment to diversity and inclusion by all AHC schools and varying levels of progress. Findings also showed:

• That while most of the schools have explicit diversity statements, most currently do not communicate diversity/inclusion through their mission statements;
• The existence of a supportive learning environment that successfully pairs students with mentors and role models and offers experiential opportunities to gain insight into cultural differences;
• That resources to support diversity are generally limited and vary across schools;
• That cultural competencies and perspectives are highlighted most frequently in coursework and in experiential assignments; and
• That faculty take an individual approach in teaching and supporting culturally related topics, since there is no formal faculty development program with this focus.