Pitzer College
PA-7: Support for Future Faculty Diversity

Pitzer College requested that AASHE Staff correct a mistake in this reporting field for the reason specified below.

Previous Value: AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRAM Pitzer College has achieved a national reputation for its emphasis on cultural diversity and intercultural understanding. In order to maintain this reputation, the College is committed to attracting and retaining a diverse faculty to teach, advise and mentor its diverse student body. We believe that a diverse faculty (i.e., one that includes people of various races, genders, sexual orientations, ages, creeds, physical abilities or disabilities, socioeconomic backgrounds, veteran statuses, and political perspectives) is essential to achieve the intellectual vitality Pitzer seeks to foster. The College is especially cognizant of its role in representing the interests of historically underrepresented U.S. minorities in higher education: African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics (Latin@s/Chican@s), and Native Americans. 1. As a step toward furthering this Affirmative Action policy, Pitzer College has adopted the goal of increasing the overall size and diversity of the faculty. To assure gender and ethnic diversity across age and rank, it is expected that some appointments will be made at the Associate and Full Professor levels. It is understood that these are goals and not quotas, and that this policy is to be implemented in congruence with Pitzer‘s policy of hiring the most qualified candidate for every position. 2. While the principle of affirmative action applies to all faculty positions, special emphasis shall be placed upon regular full-time and/or multiple year positions. 3. While certain routine responsibilities rest with the Dean of Faculty, the Affirmative Action Officer of the College, and the Affirmative Action Facilitator for each search (see below, paragraph 4) to ensure that regular affirmative action procedures are followed and records are kept, it is recognized that the identification and recruitment of women and minority candidates does not occur automatically as a result of following routine procedures but depends upon the initiative and effort of each field group and every individual faculty member. 4. Affirmative Action Facilitators. All members of the APT Committee must undergo training in the Affirmative Action protocols of the College (see below, M.7). Each year the APT will appoint one of its faculty members as the Affirmative Action Facilitator (AAF) to serve in an advisory role to every search committee. The AAF will also serve as liaison between the search committee and APT. Due to his/her role as Affirmative Action Officer of the College (as designated in V.M.3), the Dean of Faculty will not serve as the AAF for any search. Different APT members may serve as the AAF for different searches. The AAF and the Dean of Faculty are charged with ensuring that Pitzer‘s affirmative action policies are followed throughout the process. 5. In furtherance of its commitment to its stated goals of diversity, as stated previously in this policy, Pitzer College is committed to the following strategies for increasing the diversity of its Faculty: a. In cases in which a Field Group has been authorized to fill a position and it has identified an extraordinary individual who meets the Field Group‘s needs and who would also serve to further the College‘s commitment to a diverse faculty, that Field Group will make the case to APT that the person proposed is of high quality and offers an unusual opportunity to the College. If APT concurs, that Field Group may proceed without a national search. The remainder of the College‘s hiring procedures will be used to consider the hiring of such a person. That is, the person will be invited to submit an application, visit the campus, give a professional talk, and meet with members of APT and other community members. The Field Group will then make a recommendation to APT, and APT, in turn, will choose whether or not to make a recommendation to the President. b. Pitzer College will develop a Diversity Fund to allow the College to make occasional tenure-track and/or part-time appointments that meet diversity criteria. The Diversity Fund will be a designation for annual fundraising activities as well as any capital campaign(s). In addition, the Budgetary Implementation Committee will include possibilities for funding a Diversity Fund position in its five-year budget cycle. Whatever the source of funding, it is intended that, in its long-range planning functions, the Academic Planning Committee include consideration of Diversity Fund positions. (See Section IV.F.1.3.g. of the charge to the committee in the Faculty Handbook: ―This Committee will consider and recommend to College Council the allocation and description of multi-year positions within the context of long-term planning.‖) The Committee may, as part of the long-term planning process, recommend for College Council approval a Diversity Fund position and manner of funding in consultation with the Budgetary Implementation Committee. Proposers of candidates for such an approved Diversity Fund position may include, in addition to Field Groups, interested cross-disciplinary coalitions. The proposing body will make the case to APT that the person proposed is of high quality and offers an unusual opportunity to the College and that the proposed appointment would serve to further the College‘s commitment to a diverse faculty. If APT concurs, the candidacy may proceed without a national search. The remainder of the College‘s hiring procedures will be used to consider the hiring of such a person. That is, the person will be invited to submit an application, visit the campus, give a professional talk, and meet with members of APT other community members. The Field Group will then make a recommendation to APT, and APT, in turn, will choose whether or not to make a recommendation to the President. c. Pitzer College is committed to using some portion of sabbatical replacements as a way of diversifying the faculty and establishes two programs toward this end: i. Visiting Junior Scholars Program: The College may use sabbatical replacements to further diversity goals by pooling some sabbatical replacement money to fund one-year appointments for junior scholars who would meet these goals and who show special promise or distinction at an early stage in their career. These scholars will be invited to team-teach a course with a faculty mentor in the first semester. In the second semester, the teaching arrangement will depend on where the scholar is in her/his career (i.e., ABD or beyond). Participants in the Visiting Junior Scholars Program will give at least one public talk during their year at the College. Candidates for this program may be proposed by Field Groups, individual faculty members, cross-disciplinary coalitions, or other members of the Pitzer College community. ii. Visiting Advanced Scholars Program: The College may use sabbatical replacements to Section V. Faculty Personnel Policies and Procedures – rev 8/16/2011 Page 28 of 53 further diversity goals by pooling some sabbatical replacement money and seeking one semester or one-year appointments of established scholars who would meet these goals. Such scholars would be expected to teach at least one course per semester and also to offer at least one public presentation for the community. Appointments to the Visiting Advanced Scholars Program may be initiated by Field Groups, individual faculty members, cross-disciplinary coalitions, or other members of the Pitzer College community. iii. In making appointments under the Visiting Junior Scholars Program and Visiting Advanced Scholars Program, APT will necessarily orchestrate—in conjunction with the Dean of Faculty—particular sabbatical replacement requests with diversity priorities. This orchestration will generally require more lead time in planning for sabbatical replacements. Core curricular areas should be covered each year from within the Field Group. 6. This policy and all affirmative action procedures relating to faculty, including the Affirmative Action Protocols in Section M.7 below, shall be reviewed every five years by a subcommittee appointed by the Faculty Executive Committee, which shall report on progress (or lack thereof) in affirmative action and make appropriate recommendations for change. The Faculty Executive Committee shall, in turn, report to the faculty.

Explanation: Our previous response focused on the College's hiring practices for faculty positions, rather than on how the College's programs help increase the diversity of higher education faculty. The new text addresses this issue.