New Fund to Aid Minority Hiring

Having conceded that the University's six-year affirmative action plan fell short of its goals for improving faculty diversity, Harvard officials last week announced the creation of a central fund to aid the appointment of tenured women and minority faculty.

The fund, which will be administered by Provost Jerry R. Green, will pay up to half the salary of newly appointed women and minority faculty across the University who are significantly underrepresented in their departments, according to a press release.

Up to 15 faculty appointments will be partially funded over the next five years. The fund will go into effect next year, the release said. The half-salaries will be paid by the fund for the entire term of the new faculty members.

The distribution of money from the fund will be aimed primarily at departments demonstrating "compelling circumstances" in terms of their financial ability to diversity their faculty, the press release said.

The new initiative, which had been anticipated for several months, was made public just two weeks after a University survey indicated Harvard ranked last of 16 comparable schools in the percentage of women faculty and 10th of 16 in percentage of tenured minority professors.

James S. Hoyte '65, who was recently named assistant to the president and associate vice president for affirmative action, has said the University's performance has been unacceptable.

"It clearly shows that we continue to have a lot of work to do," Hoyte said in an April 23 interview. "It's my view that we need to be at the top of these kinds of studies."

Neither Hoyte nor Green returned a phone call for comment yesterday.

But in the press release, President Neil L. Rudenstine said the creation of the fund is only one step toward improving Harvard's faculty diversity. The fund will help loosen the tightened financial pursestrings that can hinder new faculty appointments, Rudenstine said.

"While this fund alone cannot possibly solve that problem, it can -in combination with all our other efforts--make a real difference," Rudenstine said. "This is the first of several ideas that have been suggested, and are under serious consideration and active study."

The press release did not specify the size of the new initiative, but said attracting financial support for the fund would be a focus of the upcoming $2 billion University-wide capital campaign.

In an interview last month, Rudenstine said building a sizeable core of tenured women and minority faculty at the University--a goal the new initiative is presumably designed to accomplish--is important to improve the University's overall diversity.

"The larger the core you build the more effective the total recruting effort becomes and the more base you have to build on," Rudenstine said

"While this fund alone cannot possibly solve that problem, it can -in combination with all our other efforts--make a real difference," Rudenstine said. "This is the first of several ideas that have been suggested, and are under serious consideration and active study."

The press release did not specify the size of the new initiative, but said attracting financial support for the fund would be a focus of the upcoming $2 billion University-wide capital campaign.

In an interview last month, Rudenstine said building a sizeable core of tenured women and minority faculty at the University--a goal the new initiative is presumably designed to accomplish--is important to improve the University's overall diversity.

"The larger the core you build the more effective the total recruting effort becomes and the more base you have to build on," Rudenstine said