University of Texas at Austin
PAE-7: Measuring Campus Diversity Culture

The University of Texas at Austin has addressed diversity and equity on campus to such a broad and deep extent that the question of a single survey or assessment is too narrow. As mentioned in Credit Six, a presidential Task Force on Racial Respect and Fairness was active from 2003-2006, at which point the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement was established as a vice-presidential portfolio. Dr. Gregory Vincent held initial "campus conversations" about diversity in 2007, and currently oversees a number of programs and initiatives that continue to assess the campus's needs, in addition to addressing the needs that inspired the creation of the division itself. The University is a national model for diversity programming, and is one of a very few large public universities that employ a vice president for diversity.

Currently, Dr. Sherri Sanders, Associate Vice President for Diversity and Community, is working closely with Dr. Vincent on developing a strategic plan for the division, which will then foster a diversity plan for the entire institution. See her profile and projects on http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/about/profiles.php. In addition to this work, she chairing a Campus Climate Committee, a multi-stakeholder committee that developed a process for rapid response to racial and cultural conflicts on campus (such as those that occur over political disagreements, in addition to racially insensitive behavior). Recently, the process was approved a campus climate response team permanently established to respond to any bias incidents that fall outside of the range of the Office of Institutional Equity.

Outside of DDCE, UT-Austin's Gender Equity Task Force produced a Gender Equity Report for faculty in 2008 which suggested a number of ways to improve gender equity at The University of Texas at Austin. Response to these suggestions are ongoing and in the 2009-2010 academic year, half of new faculty hires were women. The faculty council recently met to reassess gender equity.

Currently, Dr. Sherri Sanders, Deputy to the Vice President, is working closely with Dr. Vincent on developing a strategic plan for the division, which will then foster a diversity plan for the entire institution. See her profile and projects on http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/about/profiles.php. In addition to this work, she is chairing a new committee, tentatively called the "Campus Climate Committee," which is a multi-stakeholder committee for rapid response to racial and cultural conflicts on campus (such as those that occur over political disagreements, in addition to racially insensitive behavior).

Outside of DDCE, UT-Austin's Gender Equity Task Force produced a Gender Equity Report for faculty in 2008.

See the assessment description in this credit, re: "Campus Climate Committee" as a recent example of a response to campus needs. For an overview of policy, programs, and initiatives, visit the DDCE website, or The Division of Diversity and Cultural Engagement produces a dense annual report on its many initiatives. Two examples of initatives follow.

One of the more significant answers to diversity needs on campus has been "Thematic Faculty Hires," as described in the 2009 Impact Report: "DDCE works with the deans, department chairs, and faculty to determine areas of scholarship lacking within their schools and colleges. The identified scholarly areas are not add-ons but are part of each college’s strategic initiatives. By offering lines of funding and helping to identify potential faculty members, DDCE is able to help facilitate the deans’ efforts to strengthen the intellectual diversity of their schools." (p. 6)

“While the College of Fine Arts has made steady progress over many years toward hiring minority faculty members, the DDCE’s thematic hiring initiative gave sharper focus and more resources to this effort. The thematic hires are meant both to recruit faculty of color and to build our curricula and programs in areas that might prove more attractive to students of color, especially African American and Hispanic students. These hires are collaborative efforts requiring administrative determination and substantial financial resources from the DDCE, the College of Fine Arts, the Graduate Dean’s Office, and often the provost in order to be successful. This collaborative effort has been working, with the College of Fine Arts now having among the most diverse and gender-balanced faculties at The University of Texas.”
—Dean Doug Dempster, College of Fine Arts
(feature quote, p. 7)

See http://www.utexas.edu/provost/research/FinalReportoftheGende.pdf for the Gender Equity report.