University strives to diversify administration

The University has undergone many changes in recent years -- from structure to contracts to focus. But one of its most important changes can be found in the people.

University President Graham Spanier said the University is making forward strides in increasing the number of minorities and women in the administration.

"I think we send a message to our students and faculty if we don't have that (diversity) reflected in our leadership," he said. "We want the University administration to have the same relationship that we see in society around us."

As with all positions, some of the increased numbers are due to advancement within the University.

"A lot of people who are moving into administrative positions are promoted from within," he said.

However, many administrative positions are filled as a result of national searches conducted by search committees.

Although the search committees may not have been as aggressive as they were in the past, Stewart said diversity and the ability to integrate diversity into all areas of the University regardless of one's job description is something the committees are looking for.

It is important to teach all employees, including minorities and women, the ability to work with different populations, said Beverly Lindsay, dean of the Office of International Programs.

The way the committees interpret and convey other qualities of the applicants is equally important, particularly the differences between male and female applicants, said Lindsay, who has done much research on women in higher education -- especially minority women. When a man might be considered confident, Lindsay said a women might be perceived as aggressive.

"Terms that appear neutral are not," she said. "People don't always realize that they're doing it but they are."

However, the University has made strides to increase the number of women in administrative and faculty positions.

Improvements in affordable, on-campus childcare have helped the situation, although some female administrators still find themselves in unique situations.

"I'm often the only female in the room here and (outside the University)," said Carol Herrmann, senior vice president for administration.

The administrative fellows program, which allows faculty members to work with University administrators for a year, also has helped women move into administrative positions, Stewart said.

Herrmann and her colleagues said they are seeing changes. "I think the numbers are increasing. Part of that is that a lot of women . . . came into the workforce later," Eaton said. "My observation is that women have been making bigger strides."

At the University of Georgia, Lindsay was the first African-American woman to be named professor and at Penn State; she believes she was the first African-American woman to be appointed to a dean position, she said.

It is a novelty for Nancy Eaton to not be the first woman in her administrative position.

She was the first female director of libraries at the University of Vermont and the first female dean of library services at Iowa State University before becoming the second female dean of libraries at Penn State.

"Anybody who had that (technological) background in the '70s tended to move up quickly," she said.

In addition, Eaton was willing to move to accept new positions.

- Graham Spanier, University President

"It's often more difficult to move women than to move men . . . . Men don't seem to have a problem moving," Herrmann said. "If you want to move up, you have to move around."

Herrmann, who has been in the State College area for more than 30 years and was promoted from within the University, said she never expected to be the only female senior vice president and would not have moved to achieve this position.

"I was not willing to move and am not willing to have a commuter marriage," she said.

The entrance of women into the workforce has also created problems when husbands and wives both need to move to advance in their careers.

"I think all institutions are having a problem with dual-career couples," Eaton said.

Even if applicants decide to move, the environment they are moving into may be a concern, particularly for younger applicants.

"Geography is sometimes a factor for them," Spanier said.

While the isolation that some minorities and single recruits might encounter in State College was not a concern for Stewart, he said search committees are doing a better job introducing applicants to the entire community.

"There's this perception that this person will be doing this for 24 hours a day," Stewart said. "You've got to recruit the whole person."

Emphasizing the community's benefits in schools, churches and other opportunities help make the transition easier, he said.