Though Spartans usually have a lot to be proud of, MSU’s low percentage of tenured minority faculty is not one part of that group. The pioneer land-grant university ranks lowest among Michigan’s three major research universities, according to a figures released this week by the Office of Affirmative Action, Compliance and Monitoring.
Only 15.5 percent of MSU tenured faculty members are minorities. That translates to 306 of its 1,977 tenured faculty members.
The University of Michigan’s tenured minority faculty members constitute 17.9 percent of its total tenured faculty employment. And about 23 percent of Wayne State University’s tenured faculty are minorities.
Despite MSU’s position behind U-M and Wayne State, all is not gloomy for the Spartan faithful - university officials said attracting more minority faculty is a priority. MSU’s numbers have ascended from 14.6 percent to 15.5 percent since 2000.
But there is a lot of work to be done.
As one of Michigan’s top research universities, MSU has no place coming in dead last in any category, especially one so important to the education of its students.
As a land-grant institution, it is MSU’s duty to offer an affordable and quality education to its students. It cannot meet the bar on the latter goal if it does not provide a faculty as diverse as its student population.
Higher education institutions need to offer students perspectives they are not familiar with. That cannot be done effectively without a substantially diverse faculty. Nor can it be done with only 15.5 percent minority presence among tenured faculty.
But not only do low minority faculty numbers negatively impact the university’s ability to offer a diverse perspective in education, they also hinder some students’ abilities to find a faculty member they can identify with.
If the university were able to substantially increase its minority faculty numbers, the benefit would be twofold in the effect that students will have a better chance to find professors they can relate with and have an increased chance to learn about cultures they perhaps didn’t know existed.
While MSU officials are trying to recruit more minority faculty members, they cannot be proud of the university’s current situation. They will not be able to be proud until there isn’t need to try so hard.
Although a near 1 percent increase since 2000 is progress, it is not enough progress to be satisfied. MSU leaders should double their minority recruiting efforts - triple if necessary.
Spartan students, faculty and staff should not be content until MSU is No. 1 in every possible category it can be when it comes to providing the best atmosphere for a higher education experience.
