Colleague, Peace and Progress! We are conducting interviews of multicultural faculty from February 19 to March 2nd. We have composed a letter for you that gives general information about the interviews and we have provided you with the list of questions being asked.

General Information

What is the purpose and goal of the interview/inquiry?

The Purpose- Faculty who are of color is one of sixteen PASSHE performance indicators, which is a measurement for how a Pennsylvania state university is meeting its strategic planning targets and objectives. At WCU, “Employee Diversity” is the second highest funded PASSHE performance indicator, generating $808,981 for 2006-2007 performance funding. Faculty of Color comprises approximately 13% of faculty at WCU.

This survey, created by the MFC, will help identify conditions experienced by faculty of color at WCU. We are interested in finding out both positive and negative experiences that may contribute to recruitment, job satisfaction, professional productivity (on campus and career fields) and retention at WCU.

The Goal -We've asked you to meet with us to provide a clearer view of work conditions so that we may use the information to develop strategies to reduce barriers and improve opportunity as outlined in WCU's Plan of Excellence . From the confidential surveys, we will write a summary of the results and themes. This summary will be available to you.

Three of the six charges of the MFC are to produce tangible and measurable results help to that eradicate barriers that support structural inequalities based on race or ethnicity ; to establish a quantitative plan of action, replete with goals and outcomes for each academic year; and to scrutinize and detail concerns and issues that hinder the teacher-scholar model, development of a global perspective, strengthening the critical analytical skills among students, and furthering the Plan of Excellence . This interview will help us perform these three charges.

Who will be at the interview? Present: 2 Interviewers (consisting of two fact finders from the Office of Social Equity; one of the fact finders may be a member of the MFC) interviewing a multicultural faculty member.

How long is the interview? 30 minutes.

Where is the interview? University 13/15 Conference Room (the building the Office of Social Equity is located). If an interview is booked at a particular day, another interview site will be held in Lawrence Hall. You will receive email confirmation of the time/date/location.

Must you interview? Your participation is entirely voluntary. You may withdraw your consent at any time. We strongly ask that you participate so we can enhance any themes that emerge. There are no risks or discomforts associated with this interview. Participation in the interviews is voluntary. All responses are confidential. Only aggregate statistics would be reported. Since name or other personal identifying information such as WCU ID or Social Security number or office address would not be collected or reported, no adverse effects on the respondents are anticipated.

Survey Context

All data will be reported in aggregate form and no individuals will be identified. If data provide are obviously specific to you and/or your department, they will not be used or reported if there is a chance that using or reporting the information will identify you. All individual responses will remain completely anonymous.

Please answer each question as straight-forwardly as you can and provide additional information as you find appropriate for the purposes of this study.

•  Have you been able to grow and develop as a professional in the ways that you had hoped?

•  Have you been solicited to participate in various activities—what kinds?

•  Have you been offered committee assignments?

•  Have you been offered leadership roles in your dept., college and university—what kinds?

•  Do you feel your opinions are valued in meetings? Explain.

•  Do you have a voice in curriculum changes/needs in your dept. and college?

•  Do you receive support for your research and teaching interests/agenda?

•  Is the travel fund distribution in your dept. and college fair and accessible?

•  Do you feel that you are integrated in the life and culture of the campus community? How? Give examples.

--at the department level

--at the university level

-- at the college

•  Have you encountered a stifling of your progress? If so, what has been the source of barriers you have confronted?

--at the departmental level

--at the school/college level

--at the university level

•  What experiences during your hiring process had a positive or negative affect on your accepting your position?

--In what ways did you feel welcomed and not welcomed at WCU?

--Could conditions be improved?

--What impressed you about WCU then?

--Is there anything that you're not impressed with now at WCU?

•  Is there anything that we haven't asked you that you'd like to add to help us understand the climate at WCU for faculty of color?