Round 4

Dec 2000

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Office of the Provost

Compact Plan

Part Two: Initiatives

A. Initiatives Supporting University Goals

University Goal: Promoting Diversity and Inclusiveness

1. Report on Diversity in ITD Workforce, 9-2000

Report on current makeup of ITD staff, by ethnicity and gender. TOTAL FT STAFF, 9/2000=79

ITD is not a sufficiently diverse community, as the above statistics clearly show. Over the past year, the number of women on ITD staff has increased by 2; the number of Asian Americans has decreased by one; the number of African, Hispanic, and Native Americans has remained the same. Our statistics have particular significance for the university because ITD is by definition a highly technical division, and the university is striving to increase the representation of women and minorities in the sciences and technology.

While slow progress is being made, ITD remains staffed predominantly (61%) by European American men. The analysis by unit within ITD tells a more complicated story. For example, our Business Services group has four staff and two are women of African American decent; our Operations group, with 14 staff, has 1 woman, 1 Hispanic American, and 4 African Americans; . The Learning Technology Service, with a woman director, has a staff of 6, including 3 women and one African American. Computing Services, with a staff of 30 has 8 women and 1 African American. Our Systems group, with a staff of 12, has 1 Native American on staff and has increased the number of women to 2 systems programmers. ITD Networking group has a new female director; networking staff continues to be all men of European descent. None of our staff at this time have documented disabilities.

In part this apparent stratification of our workforce reflects the difficulty we have in general in hiring and retaining the qualified, highly technical staff we need to run ITD systems. Women and minorities qualified for these positions can usually obtain much higher salaries in industry. There are several things we can do to improve matters, however:

· Offer qualified women and minorities salaries more competitive with industry and adjust the wages of current staff to assure pay equity

· Be even more aggressive in seeking out qualified women and minorities for entry level positions, hoping they will stay with us as their knowledge and skills grow

· Increase flex-time and telecommuting options to accommodate staff with children

· Ensure that all staff in our units are aware of the importance of creating a diverse and inclusive work community by welcoming differences and treating women and minorities with due respect.

Resources needed

Achieving greater diversity is primarily dependent on organizational commitment. Additional funding may be necessary in certain instances to facilitate desired outcomes, but this is not an across-the-board requirement. The need to pay higher salaries is dependent on individual competitive and equity situations. The Office of the Provost should maintain a contingency fund to assist units in overcoming the funding barrier.

Deliverables

· To improve the diversity and climate of tolerance within the organization, support ITD staff participation in the 2000-01 Equal Opportunity Institute, sponsored by the Office of Equal Opportunities. (three ITD staff , Fall 2000 and Spring 2001 semesters)

· Distribute Diversity Awareness Profiles to middle and upper management (by December, 2000)

· Publish article or paper, collaboratively written by ITD staff, outlining ways to make ITD a more hospitable place for women and minorities to work. (by Spring 2001)

· Continue working to hire more women and minorities in technical positions (ongoing)

Table of Contents