A Faculty of Arts and Sciences diversity report released last month reveals that the University has fallen behind in its faculty diversity efforts over the last 10 years and offers recommendations to revive current initiatives.
The report, which contains much of the same content as a draft report released to the News in April, includes newly compiled statistics from the Office of Institutional Research, a survey of current FAS professors and an analysis of previous diversity initiatives at Yale dating back to the 1960s.
In addition, the finalized report includes 19 recommendations to improve current efforts to diversify the faculty. Among other recommendations, the subcommittee calls for greater attention toward the retention of diverse faculty, a clear and defined vision for faculty diversity from the University leadership and a dedicated budget for the new FAS Deputy Dean for Diversity and Development. The position, announced in November, was created to address the issue of faculty diversity within the FAS. Religious Studies Department Chair Kathryn Lofton currently holds the position.
The report also calls for the administration to clarify how it will allocate the $25 million pledged in November as part of a faculty diversity initiative, criticizing the current process as a “piecemeal approach.” The report claims that while faculty have been instructed to apply to the Deputy Provost for Diversity, there are no explicit guidelines for applications or criteria for disbursing these funds.
The initiative has been criticized by faculty members for its lack of transparency since its announcement.
“As a committee of the FAS Senate, we are concerned that there has been no clear statement of the portion of funds in the Provost’s Faculty Development Fund ($25 million) that have been allocated to FAS,” the subcommittee wrote. “ At the moment the process for applying and allocating funds is inscrutable.”
The report also recommends that the criteria used in selecting the FAS leadership and department chairs include a track-record of fostering diversity and a more inclusive climate within their department.