Dear campus colleagues:

As we come to the close of another academic year, I want to share with you some of the activities and accomplishments of the Campus Council on Community and Diversity during the past year. The council, which is composed of a broad representation of faculty, staff and students, meets monthly to address matters that affect the well-being of our campus community. This group advises the chancellor and me, and the leadership of the campus, on ways in which we can strengthen and maintain our bonds of community.

Since last fall, the council focused its work on three key areas:

• Faculty recruitment and retention,

• Staff recruitment and workload issues, and

• A strategic plan for the council.

I’d like to provide you with an update on the status of our efforts to date.

The Faculty Recruitment Task Force was appointed last fall in response to our growing concern about the decline in hiring women and persons of color among the faculty ranks. This task force, chaired by Barry Klein, vice provost for academic personnel, was composed of a broad representation from the faculty. In addition, each dean’s unit convened an advisory committee for recruitment that had representation on the central task force. The recommendations of the task force have been made public, and I hope that every member of the faculty will give them very serious consideration. I am hopeful that the implementation of these recommendations will improve our campus’s ability to recruit and retain faculty members who are women and persons of color. This effort depends on the collaboration and commitment of the entire campus, and I urge us all to work toward this goal. We will be hiring about 500 new faculty members in the next five years or so, and it is essential to the success of our academic endeavors that our faculty reflect the rich diversity of our state.

The campus council has also been considering ways to expand the faculty "pipeline" to encourage more UC students, including persons of color and more women, to pursue academic careers. UC produces approximately 8 percent of the Ph.D.s that staff the faculties of American universities but, interestingly, about 25 percent of UC faculty members received Ph.D.s from one of the nine campuses of the university. In the decade ahead there will be intense competition among American universities as they recruit new faculty members. I have taken some of the suggestions that emanated from our Council of Community and Diversity to the systemwide Council of Vice Chancellors, which is considering ways in which UC can be more deliberate in encouraging promising undergraduates to pursue an academic career. Since UC’s undergraduate population is among the most diverse in the nation, any progress we can make in expanding the academic career "pipeline" should also enhance our efforts to recruit a more diverse faculty.

The campus council also examined the campus’ success in recruiting a more diverse staff and asked Dennis Shimek, associate vice chancellor for administration, to launch an effort similar to the Faculty Recruitment Task Force. A comparable report on staff recruitment and retention has also been produced and is available for review and comment. I urge the entire campus community to consider these recommendations most carefully. We face major challenges in the recruitment and retention of a skilled and diverse staff and need to give thoughtful consideration to changes we can make to meet these challenges successfully.

Finally, as a longer-term project, the council is the beginning phase of drafting a strategic plan to guide its future work. This plan will identify the components we need to address in order to ensure that our campus environment supports every member of our community. As we progress in the development of the strategic plan, we will invite your involvement in its design and implementation.

Since its inception, the Campus Council for Community and Diversity has been committed to addressing the critical issues that affect our campus community. I have appreciated the council’s thoughtful attention to the challenges we face. Though we have met many of our goals, several others remain. We will continue to elicit your feedback and welcome your participation in the process of creating an inclusive community.

Respectfully,

Robert Grey

Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor

Chair, Campus Council on Community and Diversity