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Show lessons, Spring/Summer 2002 page 9 assistants and the like, but there are some vice presidents who are staff." The whole thing is pretty confusing, but for simplicity's sake, let's consider faculty and staff members those who hold responsibilities to mold the minds of the future. Now you'd think the term "student"-the mind to be molded-would be easier to keep straight, but there are varying levels here too. There is the general mass of tuition-paying undergraduates who focus their efforts on finding out what degree path is right for them and then completing the required courses. There are the focused graduate and doctoral students who, along with countless hours of study and research, teach classes of their own as well. In the U's Guidelines for Faculty Searches and Appointments booklet, revised October 2001, it says, "Realistically, the only way we can reasonably increase the diversity among the faculty at the University is through the active recruitment of qualified individuals from underrepresented groups to strengthen the quality of the hiring pool." The first step in hiring new educators is to get a Faculty Appointment Request and Recruitment Plan form approved. This is a process in and of itself, but when approval is finally given, a national and international search begins. Positions are advertised in professional journals, specific newspapers, magazines and Web sites. The goal is to throw out a wide net to recruit a diverse and qualified pool of applicants. The search committee evaluates candidates on the advertised criteria and recommends those who are qualified for final consideration and an on-campus interview. During the interview process, the law forbids questions concerning ethic background, age, religious affiliation and family. Questions about disabilities and health conditions are also excluded. This is why the wide net is so important. Candidates can only be asked if there is anything that would prevent them from performing the job. During the selection process, the federal government requires the U to make an effort to gather information from applicants about gender, Vietnam-era veteran status, disabled veteran status, disability, race and ethnicity. Answers are used to study applicant statistics and advertising effectiveness. Information is gathered by a Jesse Soriano, Director of the Health Sciences Ethnic Minority Affairs, recognizes the importance of implementing diversity training in medical curriculum planning. "[Diversity] exposes all students to diverse ways of knowing, thinking and being." |