University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Chancellor's Committee on the Status of Women

Meeting Minutes

3:00-5:00 p.m., 300 Swanlund Administration Building

I. Announcements

A. Welcome to all members and our guests Interim Chancellor Richard Herman,
    Carol Livingstone, and Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessey.

B. Please mark your calendars for the next meeting date: Tuesday, January 25, 2005,
    3:00-5:00 p.m. in Room 500 Swanlund Administration Building.

II. Old Business

A. Approval of minutes of the October 26, 2004 meeting.

B. Strength of Women Faculty and Staff: Carol Livingstone apprised the committee on the
    "Campus Profile" document which contains the headcount of the University staff. The following
    were some of the key findings:

1. Data is available for any level of organization on campus.

2. The number of women has increased while the number of men has decreased.
    Carol Livingstone suggested that this difference could be attributed to the new
    Banner system which is being followed by the University.

3. Academic professionals form the fastest growing group of employees. As the
    percentage of academics is increasing, the percentage of civil servants is decreasing.
    In all of these categories, there is a greater percentage of women than men.

4. Kal Alston raised her concerns about the classification of academic professionals,
    as they incorporate different kinds of work. She cited examples about the
    classification system of academic professionals followed by CCSW some years
    back.

5. Carol Livingstone clarified that under the new Banner system, each academic
    professional forms an exceptional category. As a part of a complex coding system,
    under the general category of students, faculty, staff, services, etc., there are about
    twenty specific classes.

6. Ginger Winckler highlighted the possibility of various studies that can now be
    conducted using the extensive information available.

7. Carol Livingstone informed the committee that her office aims to get a better
    grip on such extensive categories and later conduct a few equity studies. She
    informed that it would take at least a couple of years for Human Resources to get
    the right coding structure and use it as a valuable tool.

8. Carol Livingstone also brought to the committee's notice that this year a new
    faculty equity study has been completed and should be available in the next two
    weeks time. Also, assuming the same population size, a peer study can also be
    conducted so that comparison can be drawn between salaries of UIUC staff and
    other universities.

9. Ginger Winckler questioned if equity studies are confined to only faculty members
    and whether we have adequate coding to compare other groups.

10. Carol Livingstone informed the committee about a study conducted about five
      years ago where salaries of administrative heads and gender equity were
      compared.

11. Kathleen Pecknold apprised the committee about another useful study by Equal
      Opportunity Committee titled "Faculty Status Report" which attempts to look at
      the entire pool. She told the committee that our University has a very generous
      spousal hiring program and problems usually arise at the level of the hiring
      department.

12. Ginger Winckler highlighted that spousal issues play an important role when
      females are hired.

C. Reports from the Retention and Recruiting Committee: Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessey gave
     the committee a background of the Report of the Provost's Committee on Retention. She
     informed that the committee was in their third cycle of exit interviews for individuals leaving
     UIUC.

1. Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessey informed the committee that while conducting this
    study, Pennsylvania State University's model was reviewed and customized to
    suit our needs.

2. Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessey emphasized that there are some people who find it
    difficult to settle and fit into this university but a vast majority succeeds in staying
    here. They conduct face-to-face interviews of faculty members who are leaving
    and also of those members who get recommended by unit heads.

3. The Retention Committee usually contacts department heads for faculty members
    who are leaving and collects data from the payroll office in fall each year. Later
    the department heads receive a survey indicating the magnitude of the loss incurred.

4. Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessey also informed the committee that the Human
    Resources Department contacts people who were denied tenure.

5. Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessey highlighted that 264 faculty members have left the
    university since this program started. The Retention Committee has completed
    about 101 interviews. The main issues that surfaced are:

a. Salary issues (decreasing emphasis across the Nation)

b. Scholarly opportunities like laboratory space, library issues, etc.

c. Departmental leadership issues and lack of community feeling

d. Lack of cultural and social opportunities

e. Gender bias

f. Mentoring

6. Kathleen Pecknold informed the committee that according to the current policy
    the department heads have to review untenured faculty after three years and make
    a report to their Dean. She also suggested the need for a separate seminar for
    non-tenured faculty in order to know about their expectations and get feedback.

7. Ginger Winckler suggested that there should be another seminar for faculty
    expected to mentor.

8. Kal Alston raised her concern about personality issues and faculty members who
    are not so proactive and hesitate in communicating with other people.

9. Interim Chancellor Herman emphasized that the current competition is tougher
    and the university cannot afford to lose faculty they have spent years hiring.

10. Kal Alston questioned if gender was an issue in the hiring process.

11. Interim Chancellor Herman informed the committee that during the last
      three years, about 30-35 percent newly hired faculty have been women. The
      University is moving towards being more representative.

12. Stephanie Foote inquired if these figures were inclusive of both the senior and
      junior faculty members.

13. Interim Chancellor Herman responded that the Faculty Excellence Program
      has been very good and the University strives to hire a larger number of young
      people.

14. Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessey raised her concerns about some departments that
      do not prefer to hire women in some particular positions. She reiterated the fact
      that leadership issues at the department level need attention especially in matters
      of spousal hiring and related issues.

15. Ginger Winckler brought to the Committee's notice that sometimes people leave
      due to other reasons. She inquired whether the Retention Committee has any
      statistical information on such issues. She suggested that the faculty needs
      recognition and will definitely choose universities that offer it over those who do
      not.

16. Kal Alston brought to light that some universities also pursue faculty members.

17. Victoria Gonzalez questioned if the gender of the department heads has any
      influence on the faculty leaving the university.

D. Open Discussion with Interim Chancellor Herman: the following were the main issues
    discussed.

1. Increased female faculty hiring in College of Engineering, School of
   Chemical Sciences, College of Business, and other areas of female under-
   representation

a. Interim Chancellor Herman informed the that in his opinion, the
    University has the top engineering college and these departments wish
    to hire more women in senior positions. There can be a problem with
    the Faculty Excellence Program if it perpetuates existing gender
    imbalances.

2. Possibility of a targeted Faculty Excellence Program

a. Interim Chancellor Herman indicated that it took a long time to get the
    Faculty Excellence Program running and eventually 60 people were
    hired. The program stopped about two and one-half years ago, but this
    year it is functional again. One of the most important goals of the
    program is to hire more women.

b. Ginger Winckler inquired whether the University of Illinois at Chicago
    follows the same criteria, since they are located in a metropolitan
    region.

c. Interim Chancellor Herman reiterated that the goal of the program was
    to hire the best in the field; creating a congenial environment was a
    concern while hiring.

3. Campus incentives for mentoring success

a. Kal Alston apprised the committee of the target areas for the mentoring
    program. She reiterated the fact that implementation strategies and
    incentives need to be discussed.

b. Kal Alston also highlighted the issue raised by Stephanie Foote in the
    last meeting that women are service burdened and this goes
    unrecognized and unrewarded on campus.

c. Ginger Winckler questioned whether mentoring was viewed as more
    positive than being able to stand out on your own.

d. Interim Chancellor Herman told the committee that the department
    heads are not trained to be heads, but through experience they learn
    how to guide their team members.

e. Kathleen Pecknold informed that she knew some people who have
    gone through the Allerton Program and have requested more similar
    programs.

4. Campus safety

a. Kathleen Pecknold suggested that women who work at night should
    be able to register themselves with the Parking Department, so that
    they are able to park adjacent to their buildings.

b. Ginger Winckler questioned whether the Campus Lighting Department
    has identified areas which need more lighting to ensure safety. She also
    mentioned that there is a difference between where people feel safe and
    what is possible within the administrative framework.

c. Interim Chancellor Herman suggested that the Committee should
    consult John G. Dempsey to know more about the lighting issues and
    programs.

d. Kathleen Pecknold informed that the darkest areas on campus were
    near Altgeld Hall and the Illini Union. She volunteered to get in touch
    with Mr. Dempsey.

5. Possibility of enhancing structures for improving the status of women on
    campus

a. Kal Alston suggested that we need to study the recommendations of
    the Ohio State University's plan and then develop them further to suit
    our own needs.

b. Ginger Winckler reiterated the importance of institutionalizing
    recommendations that are discussed.

c. Interim Chancellor Herman also mentioned the importance of family
    related issues like children, etc. He emphasized the need to make the
    campus a better place and reduce the achievement gap.

d. Stephanie Foote suggested the annual leadership seminars should be
    conducted on campus to encourage women into positions of leadership.
    She was also concerned because women generally do not think about
    themselves as leaders.

e. Interim Chancellor Herman emphasized that the representation of
    women in committees like the Promotion and Tenure and the CBOC is
    very important and should be given more thought.

f. Joyce Wright cited the example of a Library Leadership Conference
   which she had attended. She mentioned that some participants were
   extremely happy to be a part of such a conference because their
   respective campuses never hosted such events.

g. Interim Chancellor Herman suggested that we need to discuss such
    issues with some deans, department heads, etc. who are sensitive to
    such issues in order to devise something concrete.

h. Stephanie Foote mentioned that it might be useful to have the Allerton
    Program extended to a second year. It might be useful to draw the
    attention of the department heads to issues of unremunerated service
    labor. She raised her concerns that it is mostly women who volunteer
    to put in their labor for similar issues.

i. Stephanie Foote also mentioned that remuneration could not necessarily
   be in terms of money but in some form of protection or future security.

j. Interim Chancellor Herman suggested that a system of some form of
   credit can be devised which could be remunerated as cash later. Also,
   case studies can be conducted to highlight and study related issues.

k. Ginger Winckler mentioned that faculty colleagues are also responsible
    for creating a congenial atmosphere and department heads should not
    always be blamed.

l. Kal Alston told the committee that even in larger departments, there
   needs to be someone responsible for creating such an environment
   and keeping everything together.

6. Oral report on Sloan Foundation for Flexible Faculty Appointments

a. Kal Alston offered to apprise the committee in the next meeting due
    to lack of time.

III. Other Items