ACCESS IS NOT ENOUGH October 1989 CHAPTER 6 Staff Employment in higher education, nationally, has expanded in the last ten years. According to American Council on Education's Seventh Annual Status report: 1988 Minorities in Higher Education, in 1985 there were nearly 17 percent more full time positions in academic institutions than there were ten years earlier. The majority of this growth has been concentrated in non-faculty positions and minorities have benefitted from this expansion. At the College Park campus, while the number of black staff increased, their percentage of the total workforce decreased. In 1980, 740 Blacks represented 22.8 percent of our non-instructional workforce and in 1988 we had 765 black staff employees making up 21 percent of this workforce. The staff at the College Park campus is a very diverse group in terms of job titles and responsibilities and racial and ethnic background. Employment groups in this non-instructional category include executive/administrative/managerial, professional, secretarial/clerical, technical/paraprofessional, skilled crafts and service maintenance. The service/maintenance category continues to be the area where Blacks have the greatest representation (70 percent) and the technical/paraprofessional category is the area where Blacks are least represented (10.2 percent) Even though black employees are very diverse when considering job titles and responsibilities, they share similar concerns regarding the work environment. This was most evident by the comments shared at the two open forums as well as the written and verbal responses received in response to requests for input from the black community. The findings which follow are summaries of comments as well as verbatim statements from the individual and group sessions. Findings 1. The majority (approximately 75%) of Blacks employed in professional positions at the College Park campus have some equity responsibilities as part of their portfolio. 2. Many staff express a feeling of always being on stage or "acting." They feel as though they cannot really express their true feelings because the risks are too high. Regarding this concern, one black UMCP colleague states: "A dynamic of interracial interaction and a possible obstacle to a speedier resolution of some problems is the issue of trust. Some black faculty and staff members, in order to attain success, have been conditioned to be distrustful of white supervisory personnel (and peers). The conditioning is often a process that has been in place for many years, having roots in one's earliest introduction to integrated settings. A consequence of this distrust is that true feelings on some issues are not shared for one's protection. For many, it is perceived as a survival issue and convincing them to open a window of vulnerability will be pressure that is counter to a conditioned survival reflex. Hence, it is difficult to overcome." 3. "The campus decision makers depress and oppress confidence and demonstrated knowledge, experiences and expertise in Blacks, while at the same time praise, promote, and encourage these behaviors in white professionals." 4. Blacks attending the forum expressed concern that some staff are intimidated or not permitted to attend functions like the forum. This feeling was best expressed in the following way: "Perhaps most troubling, however, is the very real danger implicit in any attempt by Blacks to "speak out" about these dynamics within their departments. One risks being labeled "too sensitive", a "trouble-maker", not collegial enough, etc.. Evaluations of one's performance/productivity almost imperceptibly begin to change over time, and may be reflected in changes in responsibilities, merit decisions, and in tenure reviews for faculty. Blacks on predominantly white campuses have been characterized by some as "being on probation from the day they are hired until the day they are retired." 5. "Black professionals are given major responsibilities relative to ensuring certain behind-the-scenes compliance responsibilities of the university, but their pay is not commensurate with the responsibilities. Blacks are not allowed to negotiate in a fair salary circle because there are so few Blacks in the competitive salary range until one is made to feel, you should be thankful not competitive." 6. "Physical Plant, under the new leadership, is improving, but nepotism continues, ethnic jokes are told, and there is some uneasiness among the employees of different races." 7. Concern was expressed regarding the implementation of the apprenticeship program in Physical Plant. Although the program was initially established to increase minorities in the trades, it appears that it is basically providing opportunities for relatives of current white employees. In addition, they question why it appears Blacks seemed to be relegated to the two most physically demanding trades. 8. "Physical Plant employees provide a valuable service to the community. However, the campus does not appreciate our contributions. The Campus tries to make us feel like second class citizens and some of the employees have accepted this status." 9. Opportunities for salary increases and opportunities for upward mobility for many employees in the classified staff category are limited. It appears that many black employees in this group have salaries that have remained relatively stable and little opportunity for career advancement is available. 10. "Black males are overlooked, regardless of experiences and credentials when it comes to broadbased, visible positions, particularly when they require serving in a representative capacity for the university or when it means supervising a large number of white employees." Staff issues, as you can imagine, are quite diverse. One might expect that when looking at a group this diverse in terms of job responsibilities, educational backgrounds and salaries, the issues would be quite different. There is, however, the one consistent factor,"chilly climate", that affects all these employees regardless of educational background, job responsibilities or salary. The recommendations offered are provided to address this issue as well as the concerns specific to the different employee categories. Recommendations 1. Establish internship programs for staff employees that would provide them an opportunity to broaden their administrative expertise while working in another unit on campus for a semester. The talent and expertise of many black staff members are unrecognized for reasons noted in the findings. An internship program would provide opportunities for recognition of these abilities and expose these employees to other aspects on the campus. 2. Establish sabbatical leave opportunities for staff. Currently, faculty are eligible for sabbatical leave after seven years, this proposal would grant staff similar opportunities for leave for the purpose of pursuing educations goals. For example, staff with seven years of service would be eligible to pursue educational study for one semester at full salary or for one year at half salary. 3. Conduct a study of the salary scales for service maintenance employees to assess whether the current structure is appropriate and fair. It appears that large number of physical plant employees are in a salary structure where the pay is poor and they reach the maximum salary relatively quick. This structure provides little reward for outstanding performance. 4. Review salaries of black associate and administrative staff to determine their comparability with non-black staff in similar positions. Currently no mechanism is available to assess whether the salaries for these black staff members are comparable with their white peers.