4b. Experiences working with diverse faculty
4b1. What educational interactions do candidates (including candidates at off-campus sites and/or in distance learning programs) have with higher education and school-based faculty from diverse groups?
Students work with diverse faculty and administrators throughout their tenure on the UW-Whitewater campus. In addition to diverse faculty within the professional education program they are exposed to diverse faculty in the content and general education courses they take prior to being admitted as a student in the program. They are also exposed to diverse faculty and administrators in the field, particularly during their inner-city placements as part of the Foundations Block and field study/student teaching. This contact varies depending upon the program students are enrolled in.
4b2. What knowledge and experiences do unit and clinical faculty have related to preparing candidates to work with students from diverse groups?
All faculty, clinical supervisors and cooperating teachers are required to be knowledgeable about and adhere to the unit’s conceptual framework in general and the Wisconsin Standards for Teacher Development and Licensure in particular. They form the base for all assessment modules in all programs. Diversity is the fifth of six key elements in the conceptual framework and is grounded in current literature that infuses all areas of the curriculum. Additionally, diversity is infused throughout the ten WTS. Faculty are well prepared in the area of teaching diverse learners. Most faculty have a minimum of three years of public school teaching experience. Several have taught internationally and hold doctorates in urban education. Most faculty have conducted research and service activities with diverse subjects and clients.
4b3. What efforts does the unit make to recruit and retain diverse faculty?
The unit promotes all faculty vacancies through the university website, The Chronicle of Higher Education and through other vehicles recommended by the Office of Human Resources and Diversity in order to attract minority applicants to hiring pools. Search and screen committees within the College of Education are encouraged to add members external to the department to their search and screen committees. National searches are conducted for all tenure-track positions under the conditions outlined by the Office of Human Resources and Diversity. Several diverse tenure faculty hires were completed during the writing of this report in Special Education, Health, Physical Education Recreation and Coaching, and Curriculum and Instruction.
4b4. Please complete the following table (Table 8) to identify the gender, ethnic, and racial diversity of professional education faculty members using the U.S. Census categories.
Table 8
Faculty Demographics
2007-2008
Prof. Ed. Faculty in Initial Teacher Preparation Programs |
Prof. Ed. Faculty in Advanced Programs* |
All Faculty in the Institution |
School-based faculty |
|
N (%) |
N (%) |
N (%) |
N (%) |
|
American Indian or Alaskan Native |
1 (.99%) |
- |
3 (.60%) |
- |
Asian |
2 (1.98%) |
1 (1.96%) |
50 (9.90%) |
- |
Black or African American |
3 (2.97%) |
2 (3.92%) |
17 (3.40%) |
- |
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Hispanic or Latino |
- |
- |
11 (2.20%) |
- |
White |
94 (93.07%) |
48 (94.12%) |
422 (83.60%) |
- |
Two or more races |
- |
- |
1 (.20%) |
- |
Race/ethnicity unknown |
1 (.99%) |
- |
1 (.20%) |
- |
Total |
101 |
51 |
505 |
- |
Female |
63 (62.38%) |
39 (76.47%) |
229 (45.34%) |
- |
Male |
38 (37.62%) |
12 (23.53%) |
276 (54.65%) |
- |
Total |
101 |
51 |
505 |
- |
*Faculty may be counted in both initial teacher preparation and advanced programs if they teach at both levels.
4b5. What do the data in Table 8 tell the unit about its faculty? Diversity characteristics beyond those in Table 8 should be discussed.
Among about 127 full and part time professional education faculty in the Unit, there are approximately 8 faculty of color. Professional education faculty are somewhat less diverse than the university at large (6 % in the Unit, 16% in the institution). The female to male ratio among the professional education faculty in 2007-2008 was 69% female to 31% male. This compares to the institution’s more balanced ratio of 45% female to 54% male. This finding is typical of most education schools in the United States. Please refer to the Equity Scorecard Data on faculty diversity for additional information on faculty demographics. Additionally, UWW has just created a “Diversity Learning Wiki” that contains information about diversity on campus.
