Mizzou rolls out plan to boost minority faculty numbers

COLUMBIA, Mo. • In an attempt to put the events of last fall to bed for good, leaders from the University of Missouri System and the Columbia campus broke a months-long silence Tuesday and addressed progress on diversity and inclusion issues.

Mizzou was rocked by a series of student-led protests last November that centered largely around matters of race. The campus unrest, among other things, led to the resignation of two top leaders, Mizzou Chancellor Bowen Loftin and UM System President Timothy M. Wolfe.

Don’t think the interim leaders are sitting on their hands, though — that is what they touted at the media event Tuesday.

“Stress of that kind with a different group of people can bring them even closer together and make them more tightly bound and more unified,” interim Mizzou Chancellor Hank Foley said. “I think that’s what you see now with a new group of people. It’s a new day.”

Foley, along with interim president Mike Middleton, Board of Curators chairwoman Pam Henrickson and UM System chief diversity officer Kevin McDonald, who has a dual role at Mizzou, used the day to highlight new campus initiatives.

The group unveiled a lofty goal: to double the number of minority faculty members during the next four years — to 13.4 percent, up from the current 6.7 percent.

Among a list of demands from student protesters last fall was one that stated the university needed to strive for 10 percent by 2018. Leaders said they remain in contact with students who helped create the demands about goals they find feasible.

Mizzou already ranks in the middle of the pack among its peers in the Association of American Universities — an academic organization of which 34 public institutions are members — when it comes to minority faculty. This is an issue every institution, whether AAU or the Southeastern Conference, are concerned about, Foley said.

Mizzou pledged additional money to an incentive fund set to target hiring and retaining of faculty of color. In total, among a series of diversity-related announcements, the campus has devoted about $1.3 million to this cause.

But there’s also a plan to groom future faculty, and it’s a plan that could boost MU’s status among other AAU institutions.

The flagship campus is investing $1 million of its intellectual property revenue to recruit minority postdoctoral fellows with the goal of retaining them in the long term as tenure-track faculty.

The fact that the postdoctoral students are minorities isn’t part of the AAU rankings, “but it matters to all of us,” Foley said.

Aside from new funding, leaders also announced a new student orientation program at Mizzou centered around diversity and inclusion.

The two-hour program brings to light how differences among student populations arise on campus.

A promotional video highlights one student’s commentary, saying the program shows that Mizzou is about exposure, not so-called “safe spaces.”

Metrics to base how successful the Columbia campus is doing is another effort in the works. McDonald said the ongoing diversity audit at the campus as well as an upcoming climate survey will help form those benchmarks.

McDonald said there’s interest from Mizzou to explore partnerships with either of Missouri’s two historically black universities, Lincoln University and Harris-Stowe State University.

“You’re only limited by your own creativity,” McDonald told the Post-Dispatch. “To the extent that there’s a willingness from our (historically black colleges and universities), I know there’s a willingness from Mizzou and the system and the other institutions that comprise it.”

Henrickson briefly addressed the search effort for the new system president, saying she’s impressed with the candidates with whom the curators and search committee have met.

The board gathered last week in St. Louis outside of the airport, likely conducting interviews, though everyone involved stayed mum about the purpose.

Foley also addressed the decline in enrollment this fall and the impact that has on Mizzou’s budget.

He said the campus was able to cover the gap from reserve funds and general budget cuts, including previously discussed layoffs.

Ashley Jost • 314-340-8169

@ajost on Twitter

ajost@post-dispatch.com

———

Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at www.stltoday.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.