Ensuring a Diverse Faculty - Faculty Diversity Task Force

Recognizing the value of a broad spectrum of perspectives to the learning environment, the university established this ongoing task force in 2004 to help it meet its goal of a faculty that includes "individuals of diverse genders, colors, ethnicities, sexual orientations, religious beliefs, ages, learning and physical abilities, socioeconomic status, and marital status. Diversity among faculty also extends to the regions and cultures taught, researched, and represented." Initiatives stemming from the recommendations of the task force include:

• University Mission Statement
  The language in the University's mission statement reflects Hofstra's commitment to diversity.
• The Hofstra University Distinguished Speaker Series
  This series has brought to the Hofstra campus a wide range of speakers on issues and topics related to diversity.
  • Susan Mboya is the founder and executive president of the Zawadi Africa Educational Fund (www.zawadiafrica.org) which is a program designed to provide scholarships to academically gifted girls from disadvantaged backgrounds from Africa to pursue higher education in the US. She has helped establish 25 full-time scholarships from universities including Hofstra University. Dr. Mboya is also the general manager franchise for the Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, Ga. In this role she defines strategies and co-ordinates implementation of joint business planning for the Coca-Cola company with its bottlers, deploys plans for new initiatives, creates company and bottler growth and interfaces with customer/commercial partners to deliver product to market. | more |
  • Anne Erni, formerly Lehman Brothers' managing director and chief diversity officer, delivered a lecture to the Hofstra community on March 5, 2008, about strategies for increasing diversity in the workplace. Ms. Erni's responsibilities at Lehman Brothers included strategy for workforce, marketplace and supplier diversity, diversity leadership training and education, employee networks, retention initiatives as well as flexible work arrangements.
  • Dr. Bonnie Thornton Dill, professor and chair of the Women’s Studies Department and the director of the Consortium on Race, Gender, and Ethnicity at the University of Maryland delivered a lecture titled, “The Brown Decision and the University of Maryland: Implications for Today’s University” to the Hofstra community on March 22, 2006
• Faculty Exchange
  Hofstra established an agreement with Claflin University to exchange faculty as part of an ongoing program to establish closer ties with Historically Black Colleges & Universities. | more |
  • Professor Babrara Lekatsas, Department of Comparative Literature and Languages, Hofstra University, Spring 2009. | more |
  • Professor Ronald B. Neal, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Claflin University, Spring 2009. | more |
  • Edythe Boyer Jones, Department of Biology, Claflin University, Spring 2008
  • Shalon Irving, Department of Sociology, Hofstra University, Spring 2008
  • Dr. Daniel T. Sciarra, Department of Counseling, Research, Special Education and Rehabilitation, School of Education Health and Human Services, Hofstra University, Spring 2007. | more |
  • Professor Annette Grevious, Department of Speech and Drama, Claflin University, Spring 2007. | more |
• Diversity Training - A program to provide diversity training for human resources and public safety personnel was put in place.
• Finding external funding opportunities for research and scholarship promoting diversity, through the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.
  • Diversity Opportunities
    As part of the Provost's diversity initiatives at Hofstra University, the Office for Research and Sponsored Programs has compiled a list of potential sponsors and their programs.
  • Faculty Diversity Research and Curriculum Development Grants
    Office of the Provost - In keeping with our goal which is consistent with our diversity mission statement, two grants of $2500 each will be used in support of research or curricular innovation regarding diversity.
    
    2009 Faculty Grant Recipients
    • Professors Jonathan Lightfoot, Marlene Munn-Joseph, and Irene Plonczak, School of Education, Health and Human Services (SOEHHS) Affirmative Action Committee for their research titled, Climate and Culture in Academia and Hiring and Retention of Faculty of Color. The purpose of the study is to address recruitment and retention of faculty of color with the goals of improving policies and practices to reflect concerns raised by faculty in the interviews. In addition, the narrative experiences collected will be used to inform discussions of these issues within the larger Hofstra community. The specific goals of this qualitative study are to document faculty experiences relating to the work environment in the SOEHHS; instances involving discrimination, marginalization, and support for diverse faculty; and recommendations that faculty members have for recruitment and retention of a diverse faculty. | more |
    • Johanna Shih, Assistant Professor of Sociology for her research titled, Racial Segregation and Health Disparities in Hempstead, NY: Exploring Parents Perception of the Relationship BetweenTheir Neighborhoods and Healthy Living. This project proposes to investigate parents’ perceptions of healthy living for themselves and their children, and their perceptions and experiences of its relationship to the social and physical characteristics of their neighborhoods. The underlying premise of this study is that racial (and class) segregation is a fundamental factor in the production of health disparities. The study is also premised on the idea that focusing on parents is important because their experiences and perceptions reflect not only their own realities, but the social transmission of these realities to another generation. | more |
• Faculty Diversity Statement
  A diverse faculty is pivotal to the success of any academic institution's initiative to create a strong learning environment. At Hofstra "diverse faculty" include individuals of diverse genders, colors, ethnicities, sexual orientations, religious beliefs, ages, learning and physical abilities, socioeconomic status, and marital status. Diversity among faculty also extends to the regions and cultures taught, researched, and represented throughout the global community. We recognize that our mission of scholarship is driven by vigorous debate and the exchange of new ideas. As such, we strongly value the broad spectrum of perspectives arising from our diverse society and the world community.
• Faculty Initiatives
  • Marlene S. Munn-Joseph, Assistant Professor, Department of Curriculum and Teaching for her research titled, Black Suburbia: Panacea for Urban Education? Horizon Horizons, Fall 2008
  • Dr. Daniel T. Sciarra, Department of Counseling, Research, Special Education and Rehabilitation for his research Diversity In and Out of the Classroom, Hofstra Horizons, Spring 2008
  • Professors Christopher Matthews and Jenna Coplin of the Department of Anthropology's Center for Public Archaeology for their research titled, The Archaeology of Captivity and Freedom in Early New York, Hofstra Horizons, Fall 2007
  • Professor Gregory Maney, Department of Sociology for his research titled, Conflicting Dreams: Immigrant Workers and Suburban Exclusion, Hofstra Horizons, Spring 2007
  • Russell Burke, Associate Professor, Department of Biology for his research titled, "Italian Immigrants Flourish on Long Island", Hofstra Horizons, Fall 2005