Diversity.
It encompasses race, gender, culture and a whole host of other things.
And according to Larry Nielson, provost, executive vice chancellor and white male, the University is increasing the diversity of the faculty over the years to provide students with a better learning experience.
“It is a critical part of the students experience to learn from a set of faculty members that mirrors the world they’ll be a part of,” he said.
Amassa Fauntleroy, a black professor in mathematics, said the benefits of diversity are the same for the faculty as they are for the student body as a whole. However, he said the University still has a way to go.
“There is certainly a lot of room for improvement here, as there is for every campus of this type, a majority institution,” he said.
Camila Alvarado, a Columbian sophomore in communication, said she has found faculty that she may relate to, but more often than not, the faculty lacks diversity.
“I have not been exposed to many [different types of] professors; they’re mostly white male or white female,” she said.
Helga Braunbeck, associate professor in foreign languages and literatures as well as CHASS director of international studies, is German. According to Braunbeck, though the University makes an effort to diversify, minorities typically do not assume levels of administration as a career.
“Minority candidates are very sought after. They’re sometimes very hard to get,” she said. “Professors typically are male, particularly in the technical fields.”
Fauntleroy said faculty provides inspiration for students to achieve and set goals when pursuing professions in academia. Therefore, it is important that minorities have a presence on campus in every department.
“Some of the times, students can get assistance because some of the things that minority students have to overcome, we as faculty have already overcome,” he said. “The biggest thing is to see other people who look like you doing what you might want to do.”
Nielson said there are programs running in graduate schools so that minorities might succeed at a career lecturing to students in school.
“It can stimulate students to perform their best when they see role models — people that look like them, people that came from the places they came from … so that they see people who’ve succeeded and who are role models, and they can look up to them and say, ‘that’s where I want to go. That’s where I want to be,'” Nielson said.
Braunbeck noted additional minorities have been hired recently in her department, and mentioned departments tended to attract certain demographics depending upon the nature of the college.
“You’ll get a lot of different numbers based on your department. It varies which minority you’re talking about in which field,” she said. “If you’re Hispanic, then you’ll [likely] be in the language department. It all depends on the context you’re looking at.”
Alvarado said, being Columbian-born, she occasionally feels like an outsider in her interactions with the faculty on campus.
“I tend to relate more to Hispanic teachers and just minorities,” she said. “It definitely makes me feel happy to know that [the University] cares about how minorities feel on campus.”
Cameron Jones, a white junior in marine and coastal resources, said he appreciates the cultural diversity on campus.
“I have a lot of foreign teachers. I have a Chinese professor, an African guy, Canadian people, American … it’s good to get other perspectives from people from different parts of the world.”
However, Jones said his teachers who come from different backgrounds have occasionally been hard to understand.
According to Nielson, the University administration values diversity and is doing all it can to further it.
“That’s what makes me happy. We’re contributing to the creation of the next generation of teachers and scholars … who will make the world a more diverse place, and when we do that mission well, [the numbers] follow,” Nielson said.
