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Show page 10 lessons, Spring/Summer 2002 postcard questionnaire. Applicants are not required to return the cards. Returned cards are not made available to those involved in the job selection process. The biggest obstacle in recruiting a diverse faculty, staff and even student body is getting over the hurdle of people's misconceptions about Utah. Many people don't think there is a sizable diverse population. There has also been negative media coverage of the state, and the influence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is sometimes seen as too strong. Also, financial aid isn't as readily available for ethnic students. The list goes on and on. The challenge is to show people who have never been to Utah, yet think they know everything about it, that it really is a nice place to live and work. When Dace flew from Chicago to Utah as a job candidate for a teaching position, she wasn't really interested in working here at all. As an African-American woman, she felt she would be alone. She thought there wouldn't be a familiar church, that she wouldn't be able to purchase make-up or pantyhose in the right colors, or be able to find a salon that knew how to style black hair. After her sit-down interview, however, the U took her on a tour of the town. Dace learned there was a community in Utah she could relate to and feel comfortable with. The people she met where friendly and genuinely concerned with her success-and the mountains took her breath away. After all the hoop-jumping is done and new faculty members are hired, they go through a variety of training to familiarize them with the campus, University policies and general new job information. They also receive diversity training in differences in expectations, health standards and gender roles. Faculty and staff, especially instructors, are also encouraged to become familiar with other languages. The U is committed to increase the diversity of faculty and staff. Positive effects of diversity are needed in all areas of study. "It exposes all students to diverse ways of knowing, thinking and being," Dace said. "It exposes us to differences in culture, background and experience." Diversity is healthy to have throughout the U, especially in the Health Sciences Department. Students here are learning to become doctors, nurses, and other critical medical professionals. Health care providers deal with people on an intimate level-where else do you disrobe for a stranger? If medical providers are trained to be more empathetic, it stands to reason that their patients will feel more at ease. And if they understand where their patients are coming from, it's more likely that they'll diagnose problems properly. "Without a diverse faculty and staff, it is difficult to do well with issues surrounding diversity," said Jesse Soriano, Director of the Health Sciences Ethnic Minority Affairs. Over the past six years, Soriano has seen diversity become the topic of daily conversation. It is now at the forefront of course curriculum planning efforts. "People in the medical field are ethically bound to treat all people with equal skill," Soriano said. But research suggests that health care providers treat different populations of people differently. In March 1995, a Commonwealth Fund study presented a Karen Dace, Associate Vice President of Diversity, shares her experience of coming to Utah with prospective faculty to help ease their minds about Utah stereotypes. |
