Increasing diversity of university faculty members is a high priority for Rochester Institute of Technology. The Institute, located in Rochester, New York is a model that many universities could follow.
Not only does the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) encourage diversity in its student population, not only has it established a Diversity Framework for an environment that promotes learning, living and working, not only does it have an Office for Diversity and Inclusion, RIT also presents an annual Changing Hearts and Minds Award that recognizes efforts that advance the school’s commitment to enhancing diversity and inclusion among faculty members.
This year’s recipient is Maureen Valentine, associate dean for the College of Applied Science and Technology. Valentine, who has been at the school nearly 20 years, says this about her work: “One of my responsibilities is to serve as the college liaison to RIT’s Office of Faculty Recruitment and Retention, which includes leading all faculty search initiatives within our college.
“Faculty searches are interesting,” she comments, “in that the process is ever-changing. The majority of the work is done by faculty committees within the departments, so my role is to train, guide, steer these committees through the process. It has been my privilege to work with some outstanding faculty and staff here at RIT, changing our approach to the search process from passive (advertise and they will come) to interactive (participate in conferences, build relationships prior to needing, reaching out personally to friends and colleagues who may know someone for the position). We are working hard to improve the ethnic and gender diversity of our candidate pools.”
Valentine speaks of specific steps she has undertaken in relation to such improvement. She has worked to "modify job descriptions to be more inclusive and welcoming; train committee members to recognize personal bias and attempt to eliminate it from our review process; develop a better outreach network; improve the interview process to include sharing of information back and forth between RIT and the candidate. My goal with the award funds," she shares, "is to develop a better on-boarding process for our new international faculty.”
RIT actively recruits faculty beyond national borders. Notes Valentine: “We have faculty from Africa, Mexico, Canada, etc. Our current hiring process is good and the on-boarding provided by the university once the faculty is here is very good.
But there seems to be a gap in the middle, where some of our faculty needs to learn more about what it will take to move to and settle into Rochester, adjust to the community, meet and adjust to the department community etc. This may not improve the number of diverse faculty that joins us, but I hope that it will help us retain those who choose to join us. We want them to see that we value their knowledge and background.
W. H. Auden once observed that “a professor is someone who talks in someone else’s sleep.” There is no doubt that Maureen Valentine has infiltrated the nocturnal thoughts of those who believe in academic diversity.