Faculty and curriculum evolve

Changes guided by demands of sudents, goals of College

Driven by the leadership of the newly appointed Dean of the college of Arts and Science Clayton Koppes, as well as the urging of students, the leadership of President Nancy Dye and the discussion of diversity within the long-range planning goals, the college has placed increased focus on making the goal of faculty and curricular diversity a reality during the year.

Results are beginning to appear; this year the college hired eight women and four people of color among ten tenure-track hires. The Educational Plans and Policies Committee (EPPC) gave a sociology position request specializing is Asian-American issues, as well as an additional faculty in Environmental Studies the highest ranking for additions to staff. The EPPC also approved a International Studies concentration.

When Koppes became dean he named the goals of faculty and curricular diversity a major priority. After this year, the material effects of the college's growing dedication to these goals are beginning to appear. However, these strides are not enough for some; students continue to press for faster and more dramatic changes in faculty and curricular diversity.

Many of the conflicts between the administration and students come from varying ideas about the speed that change should come. Students want to see changes in their time as students, but many faculty and administrators note that change happens slowly and only through very dedicated work.

"Changes are inevitable slow," Koppes said. "Over a period of time we will see significant results."

Women's Studies

Students' frustration about issues of diversity in the college have emerged in different ways throughout the semester.

For example, in December, while the Women's Studies Program was in the midst of the final stage of a tenure-track search, anonymous fliers were posted around campus accusing the Women's Studies Committee of "not interviewing a qualified woman of color [for their senior faculty position] " and "setting up a tokenized woman of color in the current interview process."

The flier also accused the committee of "having a search when a current faculty member is a shoo-in already."

Correne Spero, a junior and member of the Women's Studies Committee, said at the time, "I think the poster did definitely have some truth behind it, but I also think it made vast assumptions."

At the time of the fliers went up several of the final candidates were candidates were on campus. Koppes was concerned that the fliers would hurt the Program's efforts to hire one of the candidates. "These tactics backfire. They make it more difficult to attract a diverse faculty and they can be extremely hurtful to the candidates," he said.

According to Spero, who said she had talked to many students, the concerns about the Women's Studies Program came from the program's inability to retain women of color in the past. Former Professor of Women's Studies Brinda Rao resigned unexpectedly from the department in September.

Women's Studies ended the semester with two permanent faculty, a large improvement from the Fall when the Program started with no faculty and no courses. Wendy Kozol, now a visiting assistant professor of history, and Ana Aganthangelou, now a visiting assistant professor or Women's Studies, were both hired for permanent positions.

Koppes said that he sees this as an important accomplishment . He credits the Women's Studies Committee with a lot of hard work to stabilize the Program.

Faculty Diversity

The colleges tenure-track hires improve the college's somewhat dismal representation of women and people of color in the faculty. Koppes said next year will offer a similar number of faculty openings, leaving more space for the college to achieve its goal of more faculty diversity.

The hirings were the product of a clear understanding among departments and administrators that diversity was a goal, as well as hard work in the individual hiring departments.

Koppes said, "Individual departments are crucial. They've really worked hard to create these kinds of results."

The work departments must do includes fine-tuning their search process and drawing potential faculty to Oberlin.

President Nancy Dye described the challenge of attracting a diverse candidate pool in a faculty search: "One little ad in one professional journal may not be enough," she said. "It is not an easy job; you really have to work."

Ruth Spencer, director of human resources, thinks the job is hard, but doable. "We believe that if we go the extra mile we can get minority candidates," she said.

Getting applicants is one of the first steps of any search, and many departments are learning how to fine-tune this process in ways that encourage a diverse pool.

Triechel described some of the techniques the Biology department used to bring in a broad applicant pool in their search last year.

Triechel said the department wrote personal letters to contacts, asking for recommendations of potential candidates, particularly minorities. She said they also used guidance provided by the Department of Human Resources about professional journals to advertise in that might have more diverse readerships.

Triechel said the department really "went out and beat the bushes for candidates. If they were out there then they certainly were aware the job was there," she said.

Writing the actual job description is another place when departments can think about diversity according to Dye. She said advertising for a job that appeals to minorities and women is one way to ensure a diverse pool.

Other departments used other flexible approaches to attract applicant pools as well. David Walker, professor and chair of English, said they accepted applications from candidates who had not yet finished their dissertation, thus widening the pool.

The College must also focus on selling itself as a place that a diverse population of faculty would want to work. Many feel that the town of Oberlin may leave somethings to be desired for candidates.

Professor of History Steve Volk and Spencer said the College should try to present Oberlin as part of the Cleveland market; they said many of the faculty Oberlin would try to attract in the future will want to be near a major city. "In most urban centers you are going to find a much more diverse population," Spencer said.

Another obstacle, particularly to attracting women, is the historically low retention rate of women. Oberlin ranks at the bottom among its peer schools in the retention of women faculty, a fact that many cite as a barrier to bringing women here at all.

Volk said it become an issue of stopping the cycle of women not coming to Oberlin because of that statistic. "How do you cross that first hurdle?" he asked.

She said the social environment of Oberlin could be a turn-off to some women faculty. The size could offer few options for single women, and also make it difficult for a spouse to find a job -Êmaking it a hard place for married couples.

Several faculty also named Oberlin students as an important attraction for Oberlin. "I have felt that ever since 1978 when I came here for my interview that Oberlin students are one of the best selling point of Oberlin," Koppes said.

Volk agreed, saying he thinks allowing candidates a lot of contact with students is one of the best approaches to encouraging them to come to Oberlin.

Faculty in the natural sciences sometimes argue that diversifying faculty is more difficult in their disciplines. For example, Colley said there is simply very few minority math Ph.D.'s. "It is a number so small that recruiting is not likely to reveal very many candidates," she said.

Spencer also talked about this obstacle, saying there is a shrinking pool of minority Ph.D.'s.

Koppes recognizes that having a diverse faculty could be easier in some discipline than others. However, he does not see that as a reason to lower the college's expectations. "Across the college as a whole there is every reason to expect good representation of minorities and women," he said.

Curricular Diversity

Another major are of diversity that has been demanded is curricular diversity. Earlier this spring Koppes said things might not appear to have changed recently within disciplines, but that in fact the type and content of classes has changed. Many faculty point to the nature of change in the curriculum slow; many credit it as coming from various sources, both within and outside the college.

Kruks said curriculum changes are often student-driven, but that certain core classes need to be taught regardless of whether or not a certain class is popular with students.

Professor of Sociology Bill Norris said the "gender position" in the Sociology Department was added in 1990 after many students requested a class on the subject. Gender and sexuality were topics he had specialized in, so he taught the class.

Other departments have broadened their course offerings over the years. Steve Volk, chair of the history department, thinks the history department offers more diverse classes than it did in the 80s, where classes were organized around European and American history and East Asian history.

Professor of English Dewey Ganzel said he has seen "radical" changes in the English Curriculum since he came to Oberlin. He said the way English has been taught in the past had been through a more formal, historical approach, where now there's a tendency toward the theoretical, based on "extra literary concerns" in the field.

Students often have a different perspective than this. With continued and growing pressure for ethnic studies like Asian American Studies and Latino Studies, some students have expressed sharp criticism for the college's ideas about curricular change.

In an anonymous packet compiled and distributed to perspective students in Aril one student wrote that change does not happen in the curriculum because change has to happen on the administration's terms. It used the example of the environmental Studies Program.

"To my dismay, the ENVS Program as a whole has been fairly resistant to concepts that connect social justice with environmental justice...This fucking over doesn't just take place in the ENVS Program. The History Department, the Women's Studies Department, the demands for different 'ethnic' studies programs...This is what happens when we fight on their terms," it read.

Sophomore Devon Powers, an English major, said that the requirements for English majors revolve around the canon of European literature, while a focus on ethnicity is not emphasized.

Administrators and faculty emphasize that curricular change must follow the current thinking on the outside about changes in academic thought. Keeping track of what's happening in a certain field is essential for keeping classes relevant, said Koppes. Departments have to "stay abreast" of changes in their discipline by looking outside the college to the academic field they represent.

Major curriculum changes also come from filling openings in the faculty, Koppes said, though he said there is no room at Oberlin for additions to the faculty. He emphasizes, however, that the opportunities to replace faculty are also opportunities to diversify the curriculum.

Even with the new additions to departments, students feel more could be done to cement the diversity of faculty. Assistant Professor of Sociology Linda Vo held a one-year position this year. Although the EPPC ranked a position identical to hers a "highest priority permanent" this year, the department must wait to fill it until the position is actually created. Koppes said he thinks this will happen in the next several years. Again, this time lag is what often frustrates students.

"My main concern is giving classes permanence," senior Jenny Lin, member of the Asian-American Student Committee, said in April. "I do see diversification in terms of curriculum, but I haven't seen a long-term commitment to keep those professors at Oberlin."

"We need a curriculum that's constantly evolving and that anticipates changing times," Koppes said.