Virginia Tech to reward faculty for diversity efforts.

Virginia Tech to reward faculty for diversity efforts. BLACKSBURG, Va. The new annual instructor evaluations at Virginia PolytechnicInstitute and State University Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,at Blacksburg; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered and opened 1872 as an agricultural and mechanical college. will include a review of facultymembers' activities to promote diversity on campus. Virginia Tech President Charles Steger outlined a plan Aug. 28 toadd diversity to the criteria used to evaluate university instructors.Under the new guidelines guidelines,n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. , faculty will report any diversity-relatedactivities, such as advising a minority student group or conductingcommunity outreach programs, each spring on their annual activityreport. Academic departments use these reports to provide merit-basedpay increases. In his memo, Steger noted that "creating a diverse andinclusive community is an important and long-standing priority forVirginia Tech." The policy will begin this academic year, withteachers reporting on their 2006-2007 activities next spring. In the past, faculty generally included only teaching, research andoutreach on their annual activity report, says Dr. Mark G. McNamee,university provost. "Virginia Tech is working hard on multiple fronts to increasethe diversity of the campus," he told Diverse. Two years ago, theuniversity developed the Principles of Community, a set of "corevalues" for the campus that included commitments to diversity andnondiscrimination non��dis��crim��i��na��tion?n.1. Absence of discrimination.2. The practice or policy of refraining from discrimination.non . The university also organizes an annual diversitysummit and a commission on equal opportunity and diversity. While faculty will self-report their diversity activities, academicdepartments will review the information under stringent criteria.Mentoring one or two minority students generally won't be enough toearn recommendations for a salary increase, McNamee says. Examples of more acceptable activities may include advising aminority student group, conducting community outreach programs, buildingrelationships with Black colleges or working to increase the recruitmentof minority faculty. "Virginia Tech, like any university, has struggled with theseissues. We are working hard. We have a long way to go, and this is asign that we take this issue seriously," McNamee says. The studentbody is about 30 percent minority, though progress is uneven. Blacksrepresent about 4 percent of enrollment at the university. Dr. Marybeth Gasman gasmanNounpl -men a man employed to read household gas meters and install or repair gas fittings, etc.Noun 1. , a University of Pennsylvania (body, education) University of Pennsylvania - The home of ENIAC and Machiavelli.http://upenn.edu/.Address: Philadelphia, PA, USA. professor andchair of the historically Black institutions and scholars of color not of the white race; - commonly meaning, esp. in the United States, of negro blood, pure or mixed.See also: Color committee at the American Association of University Professors, saysVirginia Tech's move may be a first. She says service to the campus or community often is a factor whenuniversities make tenure and promotion decisions. But the new VirginiaTech policy appears to go beyond the norm. "It seems that theinstitution is making a verbal commitment to diversity efforts--butdoing more than that, actually operationalizing the commitment." The annual faculty reports are critical for salary gains atVirginia Tech, since the university has no automatic cost-of-livingincreases. Academic departments recommend salary increases each summerbased on the instructor reports.