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From: E-MAIL CORRESPONDENCE
Date: 10 Sep 2004
Time: 22:01:34 -0400
Remote Name: 172.138.56.246
Email From: Dr. Allen Meadows, Chancellor UNC-P Date: June 16, 2004 The statements in the previous email were pointed at staff and faculty employment and we address those concerns below, but I feel it is essential to point out that in the last five years, we have increased the number of American Indian students enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke by 39.7% [from 686 to 958--OVER TWO HUNDRED MORE THAN AT ANYTIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL]. This University was created to give our citizens an opportunity for a quality education in this region, not to be an employee base for any specific group. Over the last five years, there has been more American Indian involvement in the leadership of the University than anytime in the last fifty years. Three of the Vice-Chancellors are American Indians compared to ONE in 1999. This includes two of the extremely critical ones in identifying, recruiting, and retaining students--The Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. We also appointed the first American Indian Academic Dean during this period (She has since taken a statewide position that we cannot hold against her. However, she continues to be very supportive of this administration, and I invite you to speak to her directly about these issues.) We have the largest number of American Indians employed by the University in the history of the school (well over 200). ] We have Eight (8) American Indian fulltime faculty members (equal to as many as we have had at anytime in the last decade--we do not have clear records much beyond that period). We have had several (as noted later in this feedback) retirements of wonderful American Indian faculty during the past several years and they will be greatly missed. Finding qualified doctoral level faculty (which in academics today is essential for proper accreditation and breadth) is a tremendous challenge for any university but especially for a regional public university which is unable to pay as much as large research public or private universities. The fact that we have hired three (3) new, fulltime American Indian faculty during this time is a true indicator of the extraordinary effort being put forth by our Academic Affairs division. This is more fulltime hires than in any five-year period that anyone knows of. We also now have 17 adjunct (part-time, often non-doctoral individuals but those who have excellent professional experience) American Indians compared to only 11 in 1999. We are aware of two situations - not several - where the individuals applied for positions and were not interviewed. In each case, either the Provost or I, or both of us, have met with the individual American Indian applicants and are moving forward in both cases to explore full-time faculty employment with them. We try to have gender and racial balance on our search committees, however, when you have as many search committees as we have over the past few years (we have had over 70 faculty searches and probably 20-25 managerial searches), it is unlikely that every committee will have all areas covered. ] Certainly we may have adjunct faculty teaching in departments who do not have the breadth and depth that the department is seeking in a fulltime faculty member (who often will need to teach both undergraduate and graduate courses) and thus would not make the final 3-4 selected for interviews (it is common for there to be 60-70+ applicants for a faculty position and only 7-8 who meet the Committee's criteria for the specific position being recruited). This, by no means, implies that the other 50-60+ applicants are not excellent individuals; it just means that their overall qualifications are not what a specific Committee was seeking for that specific position. ] During my five years at the University, there have been "very few" doctoral prepared American Indians applying for faculty positions. If ANYONE knows of qualified doctoral prepared American Indians who have applied for faculty positions at UNCP and not been interviewed, please let me know. When we have known of such an individual, we have, when appropriate, sought to find other positions for them, if they were not selected in the search they entered. I know of no other university that consistently tries to do this. ] This is true, until the last five years, very few new American Indians have been hired in a decade or so; there are very few senior American Indian faculty who qualify for department chairs. Actually, the Dean of the School of Education is now serving as an Associate State Superintendent--I hope we agree that we should support Dr. Locklear's desire to serve in a statewide capacity. Dr. Diane Jones and she has served as the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs since 1999. There are five faculty positions--two who still teach at UNCP and we have hired three (3) new fulltime positions during the last five years. If anyone knows of "qualified" doctoral American Indian candidates who are seeking an open position within the University and feels they did not get a fair review, please let me know and I promise that the situation will be investigated and a response given. It goes without saying throughout academia that we want a racially diverse faculty. There are absolutely no pluses in not seeking diversity. ] It is true that there are 8 American Indian professors out of 204, and we would love to have many, many more qualified American Indian faculty. Please use your network to encourage qualified individuals to apply. There are more African American faculty (9) and we need more qualified African-American fulltime faculty just as we do American Indians (and Latinos). We are located in a community where the 90+% of the semi/ unskilled labor population are American Indians. I hope that whoever listed this isn't suggesting that we not hire our local qualified residents (American Indians) but go outside the area to hire non- American Indian workers to just even out the racial numbers. ] There are so many hardworking individuals at this University (American Indians, African-Americans, whites, Latinos, etc) who seek to insure that every student who attends UNCP receives a quality education regardless of their ethnic, racial, social or religious background. We may not always make the right decisions (who does?) but our guiding light is to honor this university's fine heritage of insuring ALL qualified students have access to a quality education. We are appreciative of the tri-racial nature of our enrollment and our region and will continue to seek to further diversify all areas of the university as the opportunities occur. Email From: Dr. Allen Meadows, Chancellor UNC-P Date: June 16, 2004 The statements in the previous email were pointed at staff and faculty employment and we address those concerns below, but I feel it is essential to point out that in the last five years, we have increased the number of American Indian students enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke by 39.7% [from 686 to 958--OVER TWO HUNDRED MORE THAN AT ANYTIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL]. This University was created to give our citizens an opportunity for a quality education in this region, not to be an employee base for any specific group. Over the last five years, there has been more American Indian involvement in the leadership of the University than anytime in the last fifty years. Three of the Vice-Chancellors are American Indians compared to ONE in 1999. This includes two of the extremely critical ones in identifying, recruiting, and retaining students--The Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. We also appointed the first American Indian Academic Dean during this period (She has since taken a statewide position that we cannot hold against her. However, she continues to be very supportive of this administration, and I invite you to speak to her directly about these issues.) We have the largest number of American Indians employed by the University in the history of the school (well over 200). ] We have Eight (8) American Indian fulltime faculty members (equal to as many as we have had at anytime in the last decade--we do not have clear records much beyond that period). We have had several (as noted later in this feedback) retirements of wonderful American Indian faculty during the past several years and they will be greatly missed. Finding qualified doctoral level faculty (which in academics today is essential for proper accreditation and breadth) is a tremendous challenge for any university but especially for a regional public university which is unable to pay as much as large research public or private universities. The fact that we have hired three (3) new, fulltime American Indian faculty during this time is a true indicator of the extraordinary effort being put forth by our Academic Affairs division. This is more fulltime hires than in any five-year period that anyone knows of. We also now have 17 adjunct (part-time, often non-doctoral individuals but those who have excellent professional experience) American Indians compared to only 11 in 1999. We are aware of two situations - not several - where the individuals applied for positions and were not interviewed. In each case, either the Provost or I, or both of us, have met with the individual American Indian applicants and are moving forward in both cases to explore full-time faculty employment with them. We try to have gender and racial balance on our search committees, however, when you have as many search committees as we have over the past few years (we have had over 70 faculty searches and probably 20-25 managerial searches), it is unlikely that every committee will have all areas covered. ] Certainly we may have adjunct faculty teaching in departments who do not have the breadth and depth that the department is seeking in a fulltime faculty member (who often will need to teach both undergraduate and graduate courses) and thus would not make the final 3-4 selected for interviews (it is common for there to be 60-70+ applicants for a faculty position and only 7-8 who meet the Committee's criteria for the specific position being recruited). This, by no means, implies that the other 50-60+ applicants are not excellent individuals; it just means that their overall qualifications are not what a specific Committee was seeking for that specific position. ] During my five years at the University, there have been "very few" doctoral prepared American Indians applying for faculty positions. If ANYONE knows of qualified doctoral prepared American Indians who have applied for faculty positions at UNCP and not been interviewed, please let me know. When we have known of such an individual, we have, when appropriate, sought to find other positions for them, if they were not selected in the search they entered. I know of no other university that consistently tries to do this. ] This is true, until the last five years, very few new American Indians have been hired in a decade or so; there are very few senior American Indian faculty who qualify for department chairs. Actually, the Dean of the School of Education is now serving as an Associate State Superintendent--I hope we agree that we should support Dr. Locklear's desire to serve in a statewide capacity. Dr. Diane Jones and she has served as the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs since 1999. There are five faculty positions--two who still teach at UNCP and we have hired three (3) new fulltime positions during the last five years. If anyone knows of "qualified" doctoral American Indian candidates who are seeking an open position within the University and feels they did not get a fair review, please let me know and I promise that the situation will be investigated and a response given. It goes without saying throughout academia that we want a racially diverse faculty. There are absolutely no pluses in not seeking diversity. ] It is true that there are 8 American Indian professors out of 204, and we would love to have many, many more qualified American Indian faculty. Please use your network to encourage qualified individuals to apply. There are more African American faculty (9) and we need more qualified African-American fulltime faculty just as we do American Indians (and Latinos). We are located in a community where the 90+% of the semi/ unskilled labor population are American Indians. I hope that whoever listed this isn't suggesting that we not hire our local qualified residents (American Indians) but go outside the area to hire non- American Indian workers to just even out the racial numbers. ] There are so many hardworking individuals at this University (American Indians, African-Americans, whites, Latinos, etc) who seek to insure that every student who attends UNCP receives a quality education regardless of their ethnic, racial, social or religious background. We may not always make the right decisions (who does?) but our guiding light is to honor this university's fine heritage of insuring ALL qualified students have access to a quality education. We are appreciative of the tri-racial nature of our enrollment and our region and will continue to seek to further diversify all areas of the university as the opportunities occur. Email From: Dr. Allen Meadows, Chancellor UNC-P Date: June 16, 2004 The statements in the previous email were pointed at staff and faculty employment and we address those concerns below, but I feel it is essential to point out that in the last five years, we have increased the number of American Indian students enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke by 39.7% [from 686 to 958--OVER TWO HUNDRED MORE THAN AT ANYTIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL]. This University was created to give our citizens an opportunity for a quality education in this region, not to be an employee base for any specific group. Over the last five years, there has been more American Indian involvement in the leadership of the University than anytime in the last fifty years. Three of the Vice-Chancellors are American Indians compared to ONE in 1999. This includes two of the extremely critical ones in identifying, recruiting, and retaining students--The Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. We also appointed the first American Indian Academic Dean during this period (She has since taken a statewide position that we cannot hold against her. However, she continues to be very supportive of this administration, and I invite you to speak to her directly about these issues.) We have the largest number of American Indians employed by the University in the history of the school (well over 200). ] We have Eight (8) American Indian fulltime faculty members (equal to as many as we have had at anytime in the last decade--we do not have clear records much beyond that period). We have had several (as noted later in this feedback) retirements of wonderful American Indian faculty during the past several years and they will be greatly missed. Finding qualified doctoral level faculty (which in academics today is essential for proper accreditation and breadth) is a tremendous challenge for any university but especially for a regional public university which is unable to pay as much as large research public or private universities. The fact that we have hired three (3) new, fulltime American Indian faculty during this time is a true indicator of the extraordinary effort being put forth by our Academic Affairs division. This is more fulltime hires than in any five-year period that anyone knows of. We also now have 17 adjunct (part-time, often non-doctoral individuals but those who have excellent professional experience) American Indians compared to only 11 in 1999. We are aware of two situations - not several - where the individuals applied for positions and were not interviewed. In each case, either the Provost or I, or both of us, have met with the individual American Indian applicants and are moving forward in both cases to explore full-time faculty employment with them. We try to have gender and racial balance on our search committees, however, when you have as many search committees as we have over the past few years (we have had over 70 faculty searches and probably 20-25 managerial searches), it is unlikely that every committee will have all areas covered. ] Certainly we may have adjunct faculty teaching in departments who do not have the breadth and depth that the department is seeking in a fulltime faculty member (who often will need to teach both undergraduate and graduate courses) and thus would not make the final 3-4 selected for interviews (it is common for there to be 60-70+ applicants for a faculty position and only 7-8 who meet the Committee's criteria for the specific position being recruited). This, by no means, implies that the other 50-60+ applicants are not excellent individuals; it just means that their overall qualifications are not what a specific Committee was seeking for that specific position. ] During my five years at the University, there have been "very few" doctoral prepared American Indians applying for faculty positions. If ANYONE knows of qualified doctoral prepared American Indians who have applied for faculty positions at UNCP and not been interviewed, please let me know. When we have known of such an individual, we have, when appropriate, sought to find other positions for them, if they were not selected in the search they entered. I know of no other university that consistently tries to do this. ] This is true, until the last five years, very few new American Indians have been hired in a decade or so; there are very few senior American Indian faculty who qualify for department chairs. Actually, the Dean of the School of Education is now serving as an Associate State Superintendent--I hope we agree that we should support Dr. Locklear's desire to serve in a statewide capacity. Dr. Diane Jones and she has served as the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs since 1999. There are five faculty positions--two who still teach at UNCP and we have hired three (3) new fulltime positions during the last five years. If anyone knows of "qualified" doctoral American Indian candidates who are seeking an open position within the University and feels they did not get a fair review, please let me know and I promise that the situation will be investigated and a response given. It goes without saying throughout academia that we want a racially diverse faculty. There are absolutely no pluses in not seeking diversity. ] It is true that there are 8 American Indian professors out of 204, and we would love to have many, many more qualified American Indian faculty. Please use your network to encourage qualified individuals to apply. There are more African American faculty (9) and we need more qualified African-American fulltime faculty just as we do American Indians (and Latinos). We are located in a community where the 90+% of the semi/ unskilled labor population are American Indians. I hope that whoever listed this isn't suggesting that we not hire our local qualified residents (American Indians) but go outside the area to hire non- American Indian workers to just even out the racial numbers. ] There are so many hardworking individuals at this University (American Indians, African-Americans, whites, Latinos, etc) who seek to insure that every student who attends UNCP receives a quality education regardless of their ethnic, racial, social or religious background. We may not always make the right decisions (who does?) but our guiding light is to honor this university's fine heritage of insuring ALL qualified students have access to a quality education. We are appreciative of the tri-racial nature of our enrollment and our region and will continue to seek to further diversify all areas of the university as the opportunities occur.