The Daily Bulletin Archive

To create a diverse workforce at Buffalo State, Dolores E. Battle, senior adviser to the president for equity and campus diversity, says effort and leadership are required. Her office leads the charge in implementing the college’s core value of respect for diversity and individual differences. Battle says that diversity means more than numbers.

“Buffalo State makes a strong statement on diversity in its mission and core values,” she said. “Right from the very top administrators, it’s clear that the institution’s commitment to diversity is more than just words.”

The mission of the Equity and Campus Diversity Office is to ensure that the college community understands and complies with both federal and state laws with respect to equal employment opportunity and affirmative action. Battle, who began her Buffalo State career as a speech-language pathologist and remains very involved in her professional discipline, assumed her current role shortly after Muriel Howard became president. She says the office has three primary functions. First, it ensures compliance and fairness in hiring, retention, and advancement of faculty and staff. Second, it focuses on maintaining a campus climate that reflects the college’s commitment to diversity. Third, it handles discrimination complaints.

“There is an academic triangle of teaching, service, and research and scholarship. Successful faculty members incorporate all three areas in their careers,” said Battle. “We want to make sure that those who are members of underrepresented groups—particularly women, persons with disabilities, and people of color—get their works published and advance toward tenure. One way we have helped is by offering a special mentoring program for new faculty from these groups.”

On the issue of hiring, Battle points to Strategic Initiatives 1.2 and 4.2 of the 2003–2008 Strategic Plan as a guide for everyone at Buffalo State: enhance and support recruitment, retention, diversity, and development of full-time faculty and staff; and strengthen excellence in diversity. But in addition to achieving the college’s mission, Battle says, fair hiring also falls under SUNY policy and federal civil rights laws.

To help make the process of conducting searches more efficient, all required procedures and forms are available online. The Equity and Campus Diversity Office also implemented a number of changes this academic year to the 2007–2008 Guide to Effective Administrative, Faculty and Staff Searches, including new options for online advertisements, the elimination of the addendum to the pre-interview report, and revisions to the pre-interview search procedure report and the interview and recommendation report.

Battle says her office is mindful about how difficult it is to get a diverse pool of applicants for positions in Buffalo. “The weather and the city’s declining population are two of many factors that make it difficult to attract people to the area,” she said.

Battle also knows that the usual approaches to hiring will yield the “usual” results. This is a motivating factor behind her office’s new diversity incentive grants, which help recruit candidates. She points out two uses for them: help pay registration costs for faculty who attend conferences with a high percentage of participants from underrepresented groups—for the purpose of recruitment—and help pay for a reception or meal for potential faculty from underrepresented groups who are visiting the campus for interviews.

Despite the challenges, proactive efforts to recruit and retain a diverse faculty and staff appear to be paying off. According to data reported in a recent issue of theChronicle of Higher Education, Buffalo State has one of the highest percentages (14 percent) of faculty from underrepresented groups among the SUNY colleges outside the New York City area. Battle says as far as the college is concerned, one need look no further than theConvocation awards to see that the commitment to diversity is recognized on par with advisement, teaching, and research. “We do well when it comes to diversity,” she said. “People can feel it on campus.”