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A MESSAGE ON DIVERSITY FROM CHANCELLOR YANG Welcome to the UCSB Diversity Web Site! The University of California, Santa Barbara is committed to creating a community of students, faculty, and staff that encompasses the rich cultural, racial, geographic, economic, and social diversity of our great state. We are continually striving to maintain a diverse academic community through the recruitment and academic preparation of academically qualified students, and through the recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty and staff. We are working diligently together to increase both the quality and the diversity of UC Santa Barbara’s academic programs and student body. One example of the impact of our efforts is the steady annual rise in the number of Chicano, Latino, African American, and American Indian students on our campus as a percentage of total enrollment, from 14% in 1994 to 21% in 2007. During this same time period, the average high school GPA of our entering freshmen has risen from 3.45 to 3.76. And we have more good news as we look forward to the incoming freshman class of Fall 2008. Among those who have returned Statements of Intent to Register, the average GPA is 3.84 (up from 3.81 last year), the average SATR is 1782 (up from 1774 last year) and the percentage of underrepresented minorities is 29.5% (up from 25.5% last year). We continue to move toward greater diversity in the recruitment, retention, and promotion of minority and women faculty and staff. We make it a priority to have ethnic and gender balance in the membership of various task forces and campus committees, as well as in all search committees for senior administrators such as vice chancellors, deans, and directors. Each department is committed to the development and implementation of a detailed recruitment plan to enhance diversity. As part of our administrative commitment to diversity and equal opportunity, we created two important leadership positions. Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Academic Policy María Herrera-Sobek, holder of the Luis Leal Endowed Chair in Chicano Studies, has primary responsibility for promoting and increasing faculty diversity on campus and for policies related to issues of equity and fairness for minorities and women. Director of Equal Opportunity Ricardo Alcaíno has primary responsibility for ensuring that our campus complies with federal, state, and university policies and regulations related to equal opportunity. Our Diversity website and Diversity Forum newsletter help keep all of us informed of ongoing diversity programming, new policies and legislation, and the academic achievements and contributions of campus women and minorities. Our commitment to diversity extends to academic programs as well. Our campus has highly regarded research centers, including the Chicano Studies Institute and the Center for Black Studies Research, and academic programs and departments, such as Women’s Studies, Black Studies, and Asian American Studies, that focus on women and minorities. We established the nation's first M.A./Ph.D. program in Chicana and Chicano Studies in July 2003 and enrolled our first cohort of graduate students in Fall 2005, advancing UC Santa Barbara's leadership in this very important field. Also in 2005, our Department of Religious Studies began offering a minor in American Indian and Indigenous Studies. This spring, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of Women’s Studies at UC Santa Barbara and the establishment of a new master’s and Ph.D. program. We look forward to yet another milestone in the near future with the proposed departmentalization and renaming of Women’s Studies to “Department of Feminist Studies.” I firmly believe that our efforts to maintain and increase the diversity of our students, faculty, and staff are essential to our pre-eminence as one of the top universities in the world. I invite the support and participation of each member of our academic community in helping us achieve our shared vision for excellence and diversity at UC Santa Barbara. Sincerely, Henry T. Yang Chancellor |
