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From: Correspondence to NC Commission of Indian Affairs
Date: 10 Sep 2004
Time: 21:01:54 -0400
Remote Name: 172.138.56.246
Gregory A. Richardson, Executive Director NC Commission of Indian Affairs Raleigh, North Carolina Dear Mr. Richardson: Thank you for your May 20, 2004 letter regarding the recruitment and employment of American Indians at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Your letter suggests that we have a low number of American Indians employed at the University, specifically at the administrative, managerial, and faculty levels. Recruiting and hiring qualified American Indians to fill these positions remains important to this institution. I hope that after reviewing the information provided here, you will appreciate the success we have achieved despite the challenges we face in this area. As you know, according to the 2000 Census, American Indians comprise 1.2 percent of the total population in North Carolina. This certainly restricts the number of qualified professional American Indians available for senior positions at any institution. Also, as you are aware, public universities are not among the highest paying organizations for professionally educated individuals. Many of the more educated American Indian citizens select the higher paying private sector positions over public positions at a lower salary. With that being said, The University of North Carolina at Pembroke has more high-level American Indian administrators now than at anytime in its history. We currently have three American Indian Vice-Chancellors out of six. These include the vice chancellors for Student Affairs, Enrollment Management, and University and Community Relations, key positions in the life of any university. We also have several key directorship positions filled by American Indians. In the fall (2004), we will have either eleven or twelve full-time American Indian faculty. This is the most since, and nearly 50 percent more than, when I arrived in l999. I believe this is a truly significant accomplishment given that no more than 0.4 percent of the Doctoral degrees conferred in any year between l976 and 2001 were awarded to American Indians or Alaska Natives according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That is in that entire 25-year period, the NCES reports that only 2,384 persons identified as American Indian or Alaska Native received a Doctoral degree in the United States. Similarly, the NCES reports that in l999, (the most recent year for which statistics were provided); only 6.1 percent of all faculty members in the nation's colleges and universities were American Indian or Alaska Native. We face stiff competition for highly qualified professional American Indian employees. We selected an American Indian as Dean of our School of Education in 2000; she left in 2003 for a better paying position. We do not fee we should hold that against her. It is true that one of our American Indian department chairs retired two years ago and his replacement was not American Indian. We do not and cannot select our academic administrators based on race, but based on a determination of who is the most qualified candidate. Yes, a large percentage of our unskilled and semi-skilled workforce is American Indian. All organizations normally fill these positions from the local workforce. Our local unskilled and semi-skilled workforce is 85-90 percent American Indian. We could go out of the immediate area to recruit these positions and this would seem unfair in my opinion to residents of our local community. I am very proud of the efforts of our University to recruit American Indians into positions of leadership (high administrative and faculty positions). When you consider how few such professionally qualified American Indians are seeking employment in higher education, we have done an exceptional job. We would certainly welcome your assistance in identifying qualified professional American Indians for future faculty and administrative positions. We are always seeking highly suited individuals who will make our university stronger. I hope this adequately answers your concerns and we look forward to your assistance. Sincerely, s/s Allen C. Meadors, Ph.D., FACHE