The faculty at Cal State Long Beach are not diverse enough, according to the final interim report submitted by CSULB to the university’s accreditation commission.
The 2015 report, which looked favorably on all other aspects of the university, pointed out that professors still do not look enough like their students. While people of color make up 70 percent of the student population at CSULB, only 37 percent of faculty represent minority ethnic groups, according to the report to the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
“Students are more likely to feel comfortable and seek these relationships with individuals they identify with,” Michael Uhlenkamp, CSULB executive director of news, said. “A diverse faculty can also provide knowledge about other cultures through their own personal insight, further enriching a student’s educational experience.”
In 2014, Latinos made up 27 percent of the student population, but only 8 percent of tenure or tenure-track professors, according to the interim report and corroborating California State University information.
African-Americans are also among the underrepresented groups, comprising 3.9 percent of the student population and 3.2 percent of tenure and tenure-track faculty. But former advisor of the Black Student Union, Brandon Gamble, became a professor at CSULB because he wanted to offer help to all minorities and give something back to society. When he was an undergraduate student, he had mentors who were involved in the union and inspired him to get involved.
“If I wanted to work with a larger population of black students, I would probably want to go down south where they have historically black colleges,” Gamble, an associate psychology professor, said. “However, I am here through very interesting circumstances. And while I am here, I want to make the most of it and offer my help to all students of diverse backgrounds.”
Uhlenkamp said he thinks it is important to understand how a diverse faculty can help improve learning outcomes among students of color by serving as their mentors too.
During the last hiring season, deans from the different universities throughout the CSU system met with the interim provost to discuss the importance of having a diverse faculty when working with a diverse student population.
The campus is implementing strategies that will help diversify faculty. One of the strategies is to form a hiring panel trained by the Office of Equity and Diversity. The office will then distribute the positions to different professional associations that represent minorities. This is what Uhlenkamp said will create the “faculty of the future.”
“Every staff or faculty member at Cal State Long Beach is dedicated to student achievement,” Uhlenkamp said. “The faculty of the future is those individuals who have been identified through a rigorous process as being the best candidate to fill a given opportunity, are experts in their respective fields and who share that dedication to ensure that students are receiving the best educational experience.”
Gamble thinks that the involvement of students in research on ethnicity is the key to an even alignment between students and faculty in the future, and that it will potentially draw more people to the university.
“That is part of the reason why I switched from being the Black Student Union advisor, because I wanted to focus more on the idea of promoting research,” Gamble said. “People are doing things in research within the community that are exciting and it is ethnic specific. But it may also help to draw more students and get them excited about research, and potentially join the ranks of doctoral levels to become professors.”
Together with other faculty members, Gamble is currently working on a black research summit, and they are hoping to carry out a Latino research summit during the fall.
This story was corrected Feb. 11 to attribute Michael Uhlenkamp to several quotes.
This story was corrected Feb. 12 to show the report was submitted by CSULB to WASC.