University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
PA-7: Support for Future Faculty Diversity

Visiting Scholar/Artist of Color Program: As part of UW-L's vision that diversity is central to providing and retaining a quality learning environment and sense of world community, UW-L endeavors to bring four or more scholars/artists of color to campus a year. The purpose of a larger number of shorter visits (rather than semester-long programs) serves to increase the program's visibility on campus and increase the potential representation of individuals across the university. Members of the academic staff may nominate individuals to visit campus during the academic year. The primary goal is significant interaction with students, faculty and staff by the visiting scholar/artist, however the grant was designed to bring visiting scholars to campus that might want to stay or the visit might lead them to employment at UW-L. McNair Program: Through a grant competition, funds are awarded to institutions of higher education to prepare eligible participants for doctoral studies through involvement in research and other scholarly activities. Participants are from disadvantaged backgrounds and have demonstrated strong academic potential. Institutions work closely with participants as they complete their undergraduate requirements. Institutions encourage participants to enroll in graduate programs and then track their progress through to the successful completion of advanced degrees. The goal is to increase the attainment of Ph.D. degrees by students from underrepresented segments of society. Growth, Quality, and Access/Faculty Recruitment: UW-L, with the support of our students, was permitted to raise tuition in order to fund positions for additional faculty; the immediate goal was to reduce our student-faculty ratio in order to be more in line with System norms. Reducing our student to faculty ratio is key to building the academic mentoring relationships that engage, inspire, and motivate student learning. GQ&A also offered the opportunity to diversify our faculty further. Joint Minority Affairs Committee (JMAC): The Committee, in response to the recommendations of Chancellor Gow and Provost Macpherson, created reports, including: “Best Practices for Diversifying Faculty;” a review of the Equity Scorecard data on gateway courses (from Institutional Research) and promotion, tenure, and sabbatical data on faculty/staff of color (from HR); and integrated this year’s Campus Climate Survey data into the final 2013-2014 JMAC report, which details research on the experiences of faculty of color at predominantly white institutions.

website URL where more information about the faculty diversity program(s) is available: http://www.uwlax.edu/Grants/Visiting-Scholar-/-Artist-of-Color-Program/ http://www.uwlax.edu/mcnair-scholars/