Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

April 2, 2004

Minority recruitment takes effort

by Karen Bolluyt
Iowa has citizens of many ethnic, religious and cultural back-grounds; but 94 percent of its citizens are white. It is, in many regards, not as diverse as the country and certainly not as diverse as some metropolitan areas where colleges and universities compete with Iowa State for faculty and staff.

Seven years ago, Carla Espinoza joined the relatively small number of ISU's Hispanic faculty and staff (92 at latest count). As an assistant vice president and director of Human Resource Services (HR), equal opportunity (EO) programs are part of her responsibility.

During the last 10 years, the minority workforce at Iowa State has increased by 208 employees, now constituting 11 percent of the total, according to Rita Hardaway, HR specialist. Budget cuts have depressed hiring in general and that shows in more recent minority hiring.

In the last five years, Iowa State's minority workforce has increased by 63. Most of that increase is in the number (55) of faculty and staff who are Asian or Pacific Islander.

"Most Midwest universities that lacked diversity 10 years ago, continue to lack diversity," Espinoza said. "Minnesota is an exception. They use what I call the 'athletic model of recruiting.' They make personal calls and visits. Their pursuit of top minority candidates is aggressive."

Espinoza said Iowa State needs EO programs that work in a culture of decentralized governance.

"Individual units and people make equal opportunity programs work. If we are coercive, if we make recruitment difficult and expensive, we don't get the cooperation we need," she said.

Being serious about equal opportunity requires employing units to move beyond traditional recruiting practices. Espinoza said she recognizes that it is discouraging to spend extra time and money and not get applications from minority candidates.

HR involved early
HR's biggest role is early in the process. "We can advise people about affordable ways to broaden searches. We can help write job descriptions and announcements. We may ask whether any of the qualifications required will eliminate good candidates. If we know there is some diversity in the pool of potential applicants, we ask if it is reasonable to expand the pool by looking at education and experience in more creative ways or making other changes in the job description.

"The more likely it is that qualified minority candidates can be attracted, the more important it is to do so.

"We want to make sure that minority candidates know about jobs and are encouraged to apply. Once that is done, the university can concentrate on hiring the best from that pool of applicants," she said.

Why people leave
Examining the reasons minority faculty and staff leave the university is another of Espinoza's jobs. Iowa State has "lost too many people of color," she said. She hopes a campus climate survey conducted in January and February will provide some new information.

"People may leave for better professional opportunities elsewhere or for personal reasons not related to Iowa State. But if they leave because Iowa State did not provide a challenging job, a competitive salary or a good work environment, we need to know," she said.

New HR support
One recent improvement in recruitment is the establishment of a Web-based HR system. It supports decentralized hiring, which is the reality at Iowa State. "Its electronic applicant-tracking system is an improvement for applicants and search committees," she said.

"It gives applicants prompt assurance that their application has been received, which creates a good impression," she said. "And search committee members have an efficient way to keep updated on applications."

HR staff members are finishing work on a database designed to reduce the time it takes to do a broad search.

Sell our strengths
"Once good candidates are brought to campus, it is important to remember all the factors that matter to them," Espinoza said.

"Iowa State and Ames have a lot to offer to people who are in the minority on our faculty and staff. The quality of university programs is important, of course. That is not what an applicant's family will think of first. We have quality-of-life advantages we need to market. Those also are important. It is a mistake to forget to sell the Ames community and the university," she said.

ISU Hiring, Oct. 1, 2002 -- Sept. 30, 2003

Gender stats 960 people hired 458 women, 502 men hired Net changes in ISU workforce (F=female, M=male) Faculty F +37, M -6 Exec/admin F -3, M +2 P&S F +72, M +37 Merit F +17, M +48 Contract F +7, M +12 Total F +130, M +93	Minority stats 960 people hired 191 minorities hired Net changes in ISU workforce (M=minority, W=white/other) Faculty M +19, W +12 Exec/admin M +4, W -5 P&S M +20, W +89 Merit M +2, W +63 Contract M +3, W +16 Total M +48, W +175
Source: Affirmative Action Progress Report 2002-2003 to Board of Regents, State of Iowa, and the Office of Institutional Research's Fact Book 2003-2004.