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Welcome to The EDU Ledger! We’ve moved from Diverse: Issues In Higher Education.

Section: Faculty & Staff

Winning to lose – academy losses of Black faculty to industry

When thirty-year-old Dr. Damian Rouson completed his Ph.D. last April, the Stanford University graduate took a job at Failure Analysis Associates, a prestigious Silicon Valley engineering firm.

July 12, 2007

Making mentorship count: surviving Ph.D. programs requires someone who is willing to show the way

By his own admission, Dr. Damian Rouson’s initial adjustment from Howard University to the graduate engineering program at Stanford University was difficult.

July 12, 2007

Gems of wisdom: avoiding derailment on the doctorate track

Dr. Howard Adams has been engaged in the struggle to attract more African American students into graduate education in science and engineering for more than twenty years. In that time, he has witnessed measurable improvement in the academic caliber, motivation, and preparedness of African American undergraduates.

July 12, 2007

Faculty & Staff

It’s not rocket science – finding African American undergraduates for graduate study in science – includes related articles

Earlier in his career, Dr. Luther S. Williams spent nearly ten years as the only faculty member of color out of seventy in his department at Purdue University. The African American microbiologist is now assistant director of education and human resources at the National Science Foundation (NSF).

July 12, 2007

Leading from Behind

Two historically Black colleges aspire to become more than just feeder schools

July 12, 2007

Hurdle #1: Getting in the Door

Research institutions are the primary producers of the nation’s scientific brain trust. Yet, the record of these institutions for producing African Americans in these disciplines is spotty. In this feature, Black Issues examines the experiences of three of the leading science and engineering institutions, citing examples of strategies that are yielding favorable results and those that leave senior scholars scratching their heads over why they’re not working.

July 12, 2007

Faculty & Staff

Charting a Black research agenda – interview with H. Patrick Swygert, president of Howard University – Cover Story – Interview

President H. Patrick Swygert, 54, assumed the helm of the nation’s only historically Black Research I institution in 1995. Since his arrival at Howard University, he has been crafting a strategy to carry the institution into the twenty-first century on a more stable financial footing, from which it will be poised to lead the nation in shaping and implementing the academic and research agenda for African Americans in the next millennium.

July 11, 2007

Retaining master jugglers – junior faculty must learn to prioritize their schedules

Last week I got an e-mail from a young sister who is in her first year of university teaching. Curiously, the e-mail was time-stamped 2 a.m. Poignantly, it was a shout for help and advice.

July 11, 2007

The ill-prepared and the ill-informed – remedial education feud in New York

NEW YORK City Council members presented three community college students here with a special proclamation this month, congratulating them on winning a national chess championship.

July 11, 2007

Faculty & Staff

Summer camp for profs! – Faculty Resource Network, New York University

When Morris Brown College wanted faculty members to participate in a highly regarded faculty development program during the summer of 1997, school administrators turned to Dr. Kathie Stromile Golden, a newly hired political science professor in the school’s social science department, to make a pitch to her peers.

July 11, 2007

Faculty & Staff

Recruiting professorial diversity – University of South Carolina

In a state where lawmakers currently are debating a bill that would scale back state-sanctioned affirmative action policies, a University of South Carolina (USC) faculty member is trying to lure under-represented minorities into the collegiate teaching ranks.

July 11, 2007

The numbers may look good, but… – University of New Mexico, decrease in Hispanic faculty

Data collected by the federal government on the diversity and distribution of the nation’s academic labor force show that the University of New Mexico (UNM) ranks near the top at recruiting and retaining Latino/Hispanic faculty. In fact, when only tenured and tenure-track faculty are considered (see table on page 31). UNM ranks number one among Research I and II institutions (the ranking omits all University of california schools, as well as four other institutions for whom data were not available).

July 11, 2007

Faculty & Staff

A scant presence – Black and Latino faculty at research institutions – includes related article

For many faculty, particularly those who favor research over teaching, securing a faculty position at a major research institution is a dream come true. These universities, of which there are 120 nationwide, offer some of the most ideal conditions available for the pursuit of scholarly and scientific research.

July 11, 2007

Faculty & Staff

The word from Moses – educator Yolanda T. Moses – Interview – Cover Story

“WHAT PEOPLE BELIEVE ABOUT AN INSTITUTION BECOMES THEIR REALITY UNLESS THAT IS TURNED ON ITS HEAD.”

July 11, 2007

Faculty & Staff

Schools of cool: jazz performance education providing a different kind of gig – Cover Story

Janelle Gill is confident that she has a future in jazz. The eighteen-year-old freshman pianist began jazz performance studies last semester at Howard University. Since then, she has played in the school’s big band and the small-group jazz ensembles.

July 11, 2007

Faculty & Staff

The evolving HBCU niche – historically Black colleges and universities

In recent years, much has been written about the challenges confronting American higher education. There is a growing interest in applying standards of accountability, and many states have reduced financial support, as colleges and universities find themselves competing with prisons and health care for the public treasury. On a variety of fronts, the nation’s colleges and universities are re-examining themselves and their value to society.

July 11, 2007

Faculty & Staff

Seeing no evil – Dr Shelby Steele’s speech on race-conscious affirmative action policies at the National Assn of Scholars conference in New Orleans – Cover Story

NEW ORLEANS Although academics who criticize multiculturalism often gripe about research or activism they contend represents nothing more than ideology masquerading as serious scholarly activity, a group of conservative scholars found several things to cheer about when the National Association of Scholars (NAS) honored the authors of California’s Proposition 209 and heard Dr. Shelby Steele deliver a withering critique of affirmative action.

July 11, 2007

Derrick Bell: keeper of the flame – author of ‘Confronting Authority’ and Afro-American law professor at New York University

Editor’s note: No discussion of a commitment to diversity in higher education would be complete without talking to Derrick Bell. Unfortunately, as Black Issues was preparing the following article, Professor Bell fell ill and was unavailable for an interview. Black Issues is happy to report that at press time he was reported as doing better.

July 11, 2007