Council Committee Seek to Boost Diversity of CUNY Faculty

By PAUL FRANGIPANE

A high-ranking CUNY official took heat on Thursday from City Council members for what they portrayed as a “lack of diversity” among faculty despite statistics showing a much higher percentage of minority professors at CUNY than the national average.

“As you talk about comparing yourself to the nation, the nation doesn’t look like New York,” said Councilwoman Inez Baron of the Education Committee to CUNY Vice-Chancellor Gloriana Waters testifying on the university’s 2012 to 2016 master plan. “So we need to compare ourselves to other urban areas with a similar ethnic composition. So that we can get a more accurate comparison.”

Waters had reported that the national average minority faculty in universities in 2013 was 19.9 percent compared to CUNY’s 32.9 percent. In fall 2015, CUNY’s numbers rose to 33.9 percent, Waters added. Specifically, Asian-American full time faculty increased from 784 to 955 between 2011 and 2015, while Hispanic faculty increased by 53, and black faculty by 39.

“Our representation of underrepresented groups in the faculty compares quite well with national data,” she said.

About $500,000 in funds are budgeted for such events as the faculty diversity conferences scheduled for next year , where faculty can share research and hear speakers talk about diversity, Waters said.

Both Waters and Baron expressed the need for more effective recruiting.

“I’m disappointed to know that it [recruitment] has not gotten better results,” Baron said.

Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Vita Rabinowitz shook her head and admitted, “We showed a very modest, very modest increase.”

“CUNY should reflect the diversity of our city,” Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez echoed, pounding the table and raising his voice to say that nearly 25,000 students in the university were of Dominican background but the university had no Dominican president.

Photo of Gloriana Waters