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From: The Robesonian
Date: 01 Sep 2004
Time: 12:01:33 -0400
Remote Name: 172.155.173.178
Meadors cites absence of qualified applicants2004- By Mark Locklear -Staff writer PEMBROKE - The student population at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke is hailed as one of the most diverse in the country, but that doesn't extend to the institution's instructors. Chancellor Allen Meadors acknowledges the low number of minority faculty members, but he says it's not the university's fault. During fall 2003 semester, there were 204 full-time instructors. Of those, 174, or 85 percent, were white; nine were black; eight American Indian; seven Asian; and six Hispanic. Reginald Oxendine, an adjunct professor at UNCP, says the university is discriminating against minorities, especially American Indians. Oxendine is a Lumbee. "American Indians don't expect to be an exclusive employee base but we do expect common decency and expect that the full time teaching faculty and administrative positions be proportional to the student enrollment," said Oxendine, who lives in Pembroke. In the maintenance department, American Indians represent the majority, Oxendine said. Of the 77 workers, 65 are Indian and five are white. American Indians make up 22 percent of the student body. Oxendine said that percentage should also reflect the teaching faculty. "We have more than 1,000 Lumbees in Robeson County and adjoining counties with education degrees," Oxendine said. "More than 25 percent of these educators have master's degrees and we probably have at least 25 with doctoral degrees in education within a 40-mile radius of UNCP." Meadors said that may be true, but adds, "They're not applying." Since 1993, as few as 15 American Indian and blacks have applied for teaching positions there, according to Bill Gash, associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs. "Some applied for positions in which they didn't hold a doctorate degree in the area we were looking for," Gash said. "We definitely try to hire American Indians and African Americans when they meet the doctorate degree in the specific discipline. All minority groups are heavily recruited. We attend conferences nationwide to research the best way to attract them to the campus. I attended a recruitment fair in Atlanta in 2002. Collie Coleman (associate vice chancellor for outreach) attended another in Miami in 2003." Lack of role models Oxendine has taught part-time for four years at UNCP. He applied for a full-time position in the Sociology Department, but was turned down. "He didn't meet the requirements the committee was looking for," Meadors said. Oxendine insists that rejection isn't the reason he decided to speak out against the university's hiring practices. "It is very important to our American Indian students that they have positive role models," Oxendine said. "American Indian professors at UNCP could be an excellent motivational tool for our students as role models." Meadors said the university hires the best qualified and most experienced applicant, regardless of race. University officials offered to place Oxendine in another position, but he turned it down, Meadors said. Meadors said three American Indians were added to the faculty this year and its three Indian vice chancellors represent the most in the history of the university. Meadors said the numbers at UNCP reflect the other 15 campuses in the UNC system. Of the 8,319 full-time faculty members system-wide, 6,638 are white; 945 are black; 37 American Indian; 507 Asian; 52 Hispanic; and 40 other. Minorities outnumber whites at three of the universities, Fayetteville State and North Carolina A&T, which are both historically black colleges, and N.C. State University. Gretchen Bataille, senior vice president for academic affairs with the UNC System, said human resource officers at each campus pays close attention to the pool of applicants to assure diversity. Some disciplines just doesn't produce many minorities, like physics or chemistry, Bataille said. "You find more whites in the chemistry field, where as, you'll see more blacks with Phds. in history." "We are committed to diversity and we expect our campuses to be paying attention to, not only hiring minority faculty, but retaining them and providing them with mentoring and support services. Some of our campuses focus on minority graduate students so eventually they can be hired."