Objectives of Our College Mapping Five Years into the Future
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) – The College continues to put DEI goals at the forefront of its mission including the College value of “inclusion as a matter of habit.” Combined with equity, this value reflects the efforts both at the College and unit levels to interrogate administrative practices and structures through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Efforts have centered on search practices for faculty recruitment and continued reflection on faculty retention at the College and unit levels. In the area of search practices, search measures implemented in AY 2017-2018 have increased the number of BIPOC tenure-stream faculty from 25% to 27% in the College. We now have a new goal of increasing this representation to 33% over the next five years. To this end, the College is adding a required diversity recruitment plan for all searches (TS and NTT) as well as implicit bias/diverse search pools training now for all non-tenure stream full-time searches in addition to the existing requirement for tenure stream searches. Further, the Inclusive Practices Committee (CIPC) is in the final stages of developing guidelines for the writing and evaluation of diversity statements
In the area of faculty and student retention, in addition to the College’s ongoing Culture of Care initiative, CIPC members have also been helping to organize unit-level DEI committees in multiple Departments that are linked through CIPC representation. Each committee has taken up the specific needs of Departments, whether in areas of inclusive pedagogy and content, curricular programming, research and creative activities, or unit administrative structures and policies (bylaws/guidelines). CIPC also has a subcommittee in the Inclusive Pedagogy Initiative that is organizing a fellows program for AY 2022-23. The College is developing guidance along with colleagues at the University level for both faculty impacted by social media attacks and those administrators who support them. Finally, in the area of development and alumni relations, the College commenced work in summer 2021 with a newly organized DEI Alumni Advisory Board made up of twelve highly engaged members. The board meets quarterly and is developing an informed vision for further engagement and support.
Undergraduate Education – As of SS21, CAL’s undergraduate enrollment in our major and minor programs is 27.4% underrepresented students (self-identified as Black, Latinx, APAI, Asian, or ‘multicultural’). This percentage shows a modest uptick/gain, attributable to our status as a ‘receiving College,’ from the demographic breakdown of our First Time in Any College (FTIAC) and transfer students. Fall 21 admissions data shows CAL holding steady in the diversity of our FTIAC and transfer students: 26% of new FTIACs and 23% of transfer students self-identify with the categories listed above. For FTIACs, that 26% maintains FS20 and FS19 levels, which were themselves sharp increases from 22% in FS18 and 20.5% in FS17. For transfer students, that 23% drops 1 point from the high-water mark of 24% achieved in FS20, which was markedly higher than the 19% in FS19, the 20.4% in FS18, and the 16.9% in FS17. So, while a dip, 23% still represents a comparative increase. With recruitment activities rejuvenated after the pandemic’s greatest challenges, we seek incremental increases in our overall percentages with a goal of over 27% FTIACS and 24% transfer admits for FS22. Review of our recruitment strategies after this cycle will allow us to invest further and build on those increments.