ISU officials recognize a loss of minority and ethnic studies faculty poses a problem for the university’s goal of increasing diversity — and Iowa State has responded.

During the past few years, administrators have attempted to address the situation in several ways, including revising promotion and tenure documents, bringing in specialists to find ways to improve the ethnic studies programs and setting up a task force to examine minority retention.

New initiatives

The university’s promotion and tenure document lays out the process by which faculty members will be reviewed in research, teaching and service when being considered for tenure. The last revision was completed in 1999 and allowed for a more flexible way of understanding faculty work, among other changes, said Associate Provost Susan Carlson.

This flexibility can be helpful when judging the work of ethnic studies faculty who may be working in diverse ways or in unique areas.

“What the document says is you will be judged on your performance based on what you’ve been assigned to do,” she said. “That is helpful not just to ethnic studies faculty, but to all faculty, who will see that there are many ways to think about our academic work.”

Lynn Paxson, associate professor of architecture, informally teaches courses in American Indian studies and has served on promotion and tenure committees. She said not everyone has embraced the new policy.

“I think that we may say we’re using it, but I don’t have the sense that all the colleges and all departments buy into it,” she said.

Faculty Senate President Jack Girton recently called for another examination of the university’s promotion and tenure document.

“We’ve been receiving a number of concerns — ethnic studies being one of them — that this isn’t going very well,” Girton said. He said the purpose of the revision is to clear inconsistencies that may exist both within the current document and between the promotion and tenure procedures of departments.

“It’s OK for departments to lay out [promotion and tenure] rules, but you have to lay that out very carefully,” he said. “[You] can’t have a department overruling the university’s ruling.”

The Faculty Senate’s Committee on Women and Minorities is holding a series of forums, which began Thursday, to discuss promotion and tenure issues with newly hired and recently tenured women and minority faculty.

“The Faculty Senate Committee on Women and Minorities is concerned about recruitment and retention issues. It is not enough to recruit women and minority faculty; what’s equally important is to retain them,” said Constance Post, chairwoman of the committee. “Holding these forums is a way to let those recently tenured pass on their wisdom to those coming up through the ranks.”

Michael Whiteford, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said another way the university is responding to tenure confusion is by revising Position Responsibility Statements, which lay out expectations in research, service and teaching for a new hire. The new Position Responsibility Statements are much more detailed than they were in the past.

Director of U.S. Latino/a studies and associate professor of religious studies Hector Avalos said that in fall 2003, the Liberal Arts and Sciences Representative Assembly passed new rules allowing for more input from the ethnic studies programs in joint-appointment hiring and tenure decisions.

Tony Smith, professor and chairman of the department of philosophy and religious studies, said promotion and tenure committees in his department usually consist of three people. In cases involving faculty involved in ethnic studies — as in the recent case of Larry Gross, who has a joint appointment between the department of religious studies and the American Indian studies program — six faculty are included to ensure representation of the faculty’s ethnic studies background.

“The biggest change is the increased equality the program gets versus the departments in terms of representation and input in the hiring and promotion of an ethnic studies joint appointment,” Avalos said.

Avalos said because no one has yet received tenure under the new rules, it is difficult to determine how effective they will be, but he listed new joint-appointment hires in sociology and political science as steps toward increased equality for ethnic studies programs in the process.

Looking for solutions

In 2002, the university hired consultants to examine and give suggestions on ways to strengthen the ethnic studies programs at Iowa State. The group spent a day — “a long day,” joked Caskey Russell, lecturer in English and American Indian studies — recording testimony and observing the operations of the four programs.

Gretchen Bataille, senior vice president for academic affairs for the University of North Carolina system and professor of English at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, was one of the consultants.

“I think it’s impressive that Iowa State University continues to support diversity in the curriculum and that they were trying to find a way to make it work giving the financial restraints all universities have right now,” she said.

Bataille, who was involved in the initial creation of the American Indian studies program at Iowa State in 1976, said the consultants suggested the university consider a model that would serve as an American culture program “that could bring together these areas to incorporate more of a comparative study of ethnicity.”

Bataille and her colleagues presented their findings at a dinner attended by ISU administrators.

Russell was in attendance that night.

He said the consultants analyzed the problem and gave the solution — more resources and power for ethnic studies programs.

Russell said the ethnic studies programs have yet to see the administration take action on the panel’s suggestions.

“I’m sure they were paid a lot, and it doesn’t seem like they did anything,” he said.

Whiteford said the consultants promised to get back in touch with the university, but not all have yet done so. He said university officials have come up with some recommendations, which he said he was not ready to disclose, that were sent to the panel for feedback.

Whiteford said Iowa State is currently considering changes to the administrative structure of the ethnic studies programs. He said one possibility would be combining U.S. diversity and international perspectives courses under one program. “Those are some of the discussions we have had and we will continue to have,” he said.

Whiteford added other issues have recently taken precedence over responding to the panel.

“We’ll get back to that,” he said. “A lot of our energy this year has been devoted to budgetary issues.”

Taking action

In the fall of 2002, Provost Ben Allen put together a task force designed to review the recruitment of both women and minority faculty. According to the task force’s report, Allen’s decision to form the group was based on the fact the Faculty Senate and ISU President Gregory Geoffroy had listed a diversified faculty as a goal for the university that year.

The group was made up of eight faculty members from all areas of the university.

The task force concluded, “We are especially concerned about the loss of newly hired women and minority tenure-track faculty and believe that a great deal of our efforts must be devoted to retaining them.”

Carlson, who served on the task force, said the university responded to the task force’s findings in a variety of ways.

This fall, a graduate student working in the provost’s office created a new faculty hiring handbook specifying strategies to help the university build a more diverse pool of candidates.

She said dean candidates who have come to campus throughout the year, including those for the colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Veterinary Medicine, have been asked to speak on campus diversity.

She said a group of faculty are also working on a National Science Foundation Advance Grant that would help Iowa State increase diversity, especially in the areas of science, engineering, math and technology.

“We’ve put a lot of effort into these various discussions and initiatives, and it’s an issue for a long time we will need to keep dealing with,” she said.

Avalos said another success story of the ethnic studies programs is the ways directors are working together.

“Right now, for example, we have in the works a proposal for a Center for American and Interglobal Cultural studies,” he said. While still in the proposal stage, he said the new center would have its own curriculum, and possibly offer a degree in ethnic studies and in the individual programs. The center could also have space in the newly renovated Carver Hall.

“It’s in the proposal stage. We don’t know what’s going to happen, but it would sort of be like an umbrella department for ethnic studies,” he said.

Expanding ethnic studies

Although none of the ethnic studies programs at Iowa State has more than a handful of faculty, Asian-American studies, the newest program, is still struggling to gain full program status.

Eugenio Matibag, associate professor of foreign languages and literatures, teaches the only course specifically offered in Asian-American studies, Liberal Arts and Sciences 325: Intro to Asian-American Studies.

“The problem at this point is our program hasn’t really gotten off the ground,” said Matibag, who is currently the chairman of the ad hoc steering committee for Asian-American studies.

Zora Zimmerman, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said Asian-American studies is currently more of a faculty and student-interest group than a program. However, the group does consist of an advisory panel that brings films and speakers to campus.

Matibag, who has taught the course since 1999, said he has produced proposals in the past to begin a formal Asian-American studies program at Iowa State.

He said the proposals were not seriously considered, however, because of the state of transition the dean position was in — former Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean Peter Rabideau was preparing to leave, and Whiteford then served as interim dean.

Matibag said now that Whiteford has officially been named LAS dean and expressed interest in supporting ethnic studies, he is hopeful Asian-American studies will be able to gain the facilities, faculty and courses needed to make it a full-fledged program.

He said other universities have Asian-American studies programs, and that there has been a high demand for his course among students.

Zimmerman said any proposals to make Asian-American studies would be considered. “We always thought this was an important course, [and we] want to see more developed,” she said. However, with the tight university budget, she said “everything’s in limbo.”

Discussing diversity

The President’s Forum on Diversity began in January 2003 and was designed to generate conversations on diversity.

According to Daily staff reports, the forum was part of Geoffroy’s commitment to increasing diversity at Iowa State.

Jill Wagner, associate professor of anthropology who teaches several American Indian studies classes, said Geoffroy seems to be taking diversity more seriously than past ISU presidents. She also pointed to Vice President for Student Affairs Thomas Hill’s attendance at an April 4 powwow, part of the annual Symposium on the American Indian, as a positive step.

Some faculty members, however, expressed a sense of urgency and a feeling the needs of ethnic faculty are not being addressed by the dialogues.

“Frankly, I haven’t been to any,” said Jane Davis, associate professor of English, who formerly had a joint appointment with African-American studies. “I’m tired of talk about diversity. I’m tired of talk. People get talk, and they can say they’re interested. Do something! … And not a committee,” she added with a laugh.

Jos‚ Amaya, assistant professor of English who teaches courses in Latino/a studies, is part of the governor’s Iowa Learns Council. He said while he admires the president’s diversity dialogues, members of the council have questioned how the conversations have addressed the needs of minority faculty.

“The president understands. He’s working on clarifying what [diversity] means. In that regard, he and I are on the same wavelength — we want clarification,” which Amaya said takes time. However, on the issue of determining what minority faculty need in terms of support, “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.”

Looking forward

Despite a shared sense of discouragement among some ethnic studies faculty, many also share a loyalty to Iowa State.

Russell, who is leaving Iowa State for the University of Wyoming in August, said he has enjoyed his time.

“I would’ve stayed at Iowa State if I would’ve had a tenure line at Iowa State [through the American Indian studies program],” Russell said. “I like my program that much.”

Sidner Larson, director of the American Indian studies program and associate professor of English, said it is important to remain focused on solutions rather than placing blame.

“[We are] very, very fortunate at this time to have [a Liberal Arts and Sciences] dean who really probably has the best understanding of these things than any dean I’ve worked with,” he said. “I do trust that Iowa State will take a good hard look at [the loss of American Indian studies faculty].”

Avalos pointed out not every ethnic studies professor has the same experience at Iowa State.

“There are those that have made it in ethnic studies … so you have to see why did they make it then, if it’s so bad,” he said. “It’s not a simple story.”