The Chancellor聮s Committee on Women at the University of Colorado at Boulder has just released its second annual report.
That 16-member committee, a representative group of faculty, staff and students, prepared a report that provides baseline data and recommendations concerning the current status of women on campus.
The report formally documents the status of women at CU-Boulder, analyzes quantitative and qualitative data by gender and ethnicity, and notes trends regarding equity and diversity over the past 10 years.
The committee highlights three major initiatives which achieved "significant success" during the last academic year 聳 the sexual harassment policy, the campus diversity plan and feminine hygiene issues.
Chancellor Richard L. Byyny says many of the report聮s recommendations parallel activities and recommendations stemming from the diversity report.
"It is my hope that awareness of the issues and concerns raised in these two documents will contribute to gender and cultural improvements on our campus," he said.
Other on-campus developments during the year included:
o Faculty mentoring programs targeting junior women faculty
o Selected funding for leadership programs for women faculty and staff
o Commitment to addressing salary equity for women
o Improved security measures to provide increased protection for women
Other key points noted in the report:
o Over the past decade the percentage of female professional exempt staff has increased by 6 percentage points to 49 percent
o During the same period the percentage of women on tenure-track and tenured faculty has climbed 9 percentage points to 26 percent
o The number of new hires for instructors in the next two academic years are predominantly female
o While the number of minorities in all positions remains "very low," the number of African American professional exempt staff has increased from zero to 34 in the last 10 years
o The number of Hispanic/Latinas (os)/Chicanas (os) professional exempt staff has risen from 12 to 19 over the same period
o The number of Native American professional exempt staff has dropped from seven to five since 1988-89 but the number of Asian-American professional exempt has jumped from three to 14
The report makes a number of recommendations including that the university:
o Develop a tracking system to quantify recruitment and retention of women and minority personnel
o Create additional opportunities for staff development, service and professional growth
o Create a job skills bank to facilitate more internal promotions before recruiting people from outside the university
o Develop a process for identifying women faculty and staff who are interested in serving on campus committees
o Continue to ensure and monitor salary equity procedures for all faculty and staff