Santa Fe College addresses equity goals

In the wake of declining overall enrollments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Santa Fe College lowered some of its equity targets for demographic distribution.

According to the college’s 2020-2021 Educational Equity Act Report, a report on its efforts to promote non-discrimination and equal access to education and employment, Santa Fe has updated some of its equity or demographic diversity goals.

The only group that met their overall student enrollment target for 2019-2020 are “Other Minorities” – a category that includes people who are Asian, Native American, Hawaiian, or other Pacific islanders, native to Alaska, multiracial and are multiracial, Santa Fe equity officer and Title IX coordinator Lara Zwilling said. The other seven demographics include people who are black, Hispanic, white, female, or male, have limited English proficiency (LEP), or are students with disabilities.

Zwilling said the college’s goals are based not on last year’s goals, but rather on current enrollment and employment expectations. Due to the pandemic and changing trends, the goals have changed, Zwilling said.

According to the report, black, white, male and LEP students are among the groups with lower overall enrollment goals for the 2020-2021 academic year. Meanwhile, overall enrollment goals for Hispanics, other minorities, women, and students with disabilities rose.

Compared to fall 2020, new student enrollment for fall 2021 as of June 28 is up 24%, Zwilling said. However, she said that growth is being overshadowed by the year-over-year decline in total enrollments.

Zwilling said the college aims to increase diversity through virtual events for incoming students, reintegration efforts with former students, affinity groups, and partnership programs.

One program that promotes student equality is My Brother’s Keeper, a black male recruitment and retention program that, according to the college’s website, supports student academic and personal growth.

“We just want to make sure we are facing students, we are here and we are here to serve the students,” said Zwilling. “Our goal is a diverse campus. And that is what we are constantly striving for. “

Jamaal Baptiste, a 24-year-old computer science student and MBK ambassador, said MBK offers financial opportunity and a sense of belonging in a mostly white room.

“I think it serves more as a pipeline for more disadvantaged groups, mostly black men, who go to college with no orientation,” said Baptiste.

Beyond the student body, the decline in equity goals extends to the college staff.

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The target for full-time Hispanic male managerial, administrative and managerial staff decreased from a stated target of 3% in Fall 2020 to a target of 2% in Fall 2021, while targets for all other groups were raised or maintained, according to the report. The EAM target for white male employees remained at 30% of EAM positions for fall 2021.

To increase diversity among employees, Zwilling is currently developing an affinity group for the Association of Hispanic Faculty & Staff, according to Zwilling, and has purchased promotional packages to help find niche publications for hiring.

Due to the decline in enrollments, said Lela Frye, HR director, an increase in recruitment opportunities is not expected. She noted that Santa Fe is partnering with UF on a faculty development project that aims to increase the diversity of faculties in Santa Fe and provide teaching experience to under-represented UF graduate students.

The partnership is an opportunity for potential minority faculty candidates, and the project’s students will be viewed as a Santa Fe ancillary faculty in teaching, she said.

Santa Fe also aims to increase opportunity and awareness of equal opportunities by offering free workshops to college students and staff, Zwilling said.

Working with the Racial Equity Institute, Santa Fe offered two interactive online workshops in June and plans to offer another later this year, according to the college’s website. The training courses focus on raising awareness of institutional racism and its impact on society and institutions, and teaching how to use the information provided and track institutional change.

“The more people understand and have this knowledge and education, the better we can evolve as a just society,” said Cheryl Calhoun, Santa Fe Dean of Access and Inclusion.

Contact Antonia LaRocca at alarocca@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @antoniarlarocca.

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Antonia LaRocca

Antonia LaRocca is a writer for The Alligator.

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