Key Focus Area 4:
Establish systemic changes in the hiring and recruitment processes, particularly for faculty
Establish Systemic Change
Where we are
Today, all LCC interviews are required to include at least one question specifically addressing diversity. To further ensure equity practices are embedded within the college's hiring process, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion launched the Inclusion Advocate Program. Inclusion advocates have been trained to sit on the hiring committees for select full-time positions and serve as a compass in avoiding bias. Additionally, the chief diversity officer serves as a member of the Vacancy Management Review Team, which is responsible for reviewing all selection processes, including position approvals and position descriptions. This representation helps avoid inadvertently building bias into the college's selection processes. The chief diversity officer also regularly collaborates with Human Resources Employment Professionals to be sure we generate continuous improvement related to DEI in our selection practices.
Data considerations
LCC's employee body does not currently reflect the demographics of our student body. In 2019, our full-time faculty were nearly 79% white and only 6.7% Black. The 2019 numbers among adjunct faculty are even starker: 84.5% are white, 5.8% are Black, and only 2.8% are Hispanic. By contrast, in fall 2019, about 9% of our students were Black and 8.4% were Hispanic.
Our staff – who, on average, have less face-to-face interaction with our students – are actually the closer to representative of our student body. In 2019, 72% of our staff were white, while 11% were Black, 3.1% were Hispanic, and 7% were of two or more races.
We know it is important for students to see themselves represented in the LCC employees providing instruction and services on behalf of our college. Diverse representation is crucial for shaping what students see as possible for themselves. It is our responsibility as an institution to hire, develop and retain a workforce that broadly reflects the Lansing area and, more specifically, our student body.
Where we are going
In an effort to successfully hire and retain a more diverse workforce, the college will:
- Reexamine our job postings process. All position descriptions need to include statements of the college's commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as incorporate inclusive language throughout the posting. Examples of inclusive language in a posting includes avoiding industry-specific jargon when possible and avoiding or at least balancing words that code as masculine or feminine. Clearly living our values in our job postings makes us a more attractive workplace that can draw strong candidates who will enhance our culture.
- Continue to offer salaries reflective of the job being offered versus the candidate's most recent salary.
- Expand the vehicles used to advertise open position by developing more robust, diverse job posting plans.
- Track candidate sourcing by role, and make sure advertising will reach a larger pool of candidates through intentional recruitment efforts in formerly overlooked communities.
- Intentionally choose diverse selection committees, and more thoroughly train our employees who serve on these committees.
- Human Resources employment professionals will host quarterly meetings with ODI for the purpose of continuously improving our selection processes.
- Implement a more robust orientation process for new employees, to include DEI-related content as a mechanism to retain employees and create a sense of belonging.
- Add a mandatory student employee orientation process, which will include DEI training.
- Offer diverse orientations for employees with differing abilities.
- Enhance employee orientation processes to include activities that connect new minority employees to current employees of color through mentoring and/or job shadowing opportunities.
