By Sharron Hannon
shannon@uga.edu

Keith Parker

Keith Parker came to UGA last July to head the Office of Institutional Diversity after 10 years in administrative positions at the University of Nebraska, where he helped develop and manage programs to recruit, teach and support underrepresented students. Here are his reflections on his first year at UGA and on future institutional diversity efforts.

Columns: Are you happy with your decision to come to UGA?

Parker: Extremely happy. I’ve found the university to be an inclusive and welcoming community with talented faculty and very bright students. I’ve been pleased with the reception from the local community, as well. For example, the Thomas Lay Community Center welcomed the university with open arms when we co-sponsored a reception with them last fall. That was to kick off a project where students recruited through our Honors program and Greek life spend several afternoons a week at the center interacting with young people there. It’s been a good program that we hope to repeat.

Columns: What are some of the on-campus activities your office has been involved in this past year?

Parker: We organized fall and spring workshops to bring together administrators, faculty and staff from different campus units to share expertise and build coalitions both on campus and in the larger community. Our eventual goal is to have monthly workshops and to include undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty and staff. I’m also hoping the schools and colleges will take advantage of our office and invite us to conduct workshops at the departmental level. We’re working to develop a cadre of workshop leaders, drawing on UGA faculty and staff with particular expertise.

Columns: The Freedom Breakfast held in January was certainly well attended.

Parker: Yes, that was a great town-gown event that we want to institutionalize. The date for the 2005 breakfast has already been set—January 14—and it will be at the Tate Center.

Columns: The strategic plan for the Office of Institutional Diversity was developed before your arrival and covers the period from 2002-2005. What plans do you have to extend that?

Parker: We want to build on the current strategic plan and make sure we are addressing issues and concerns of various ethnic and gender groups. We want to be sure, for example, that we’re reaching out to the growing Hispanic community in Georgia.

Columns: A lot of media attention is given to how UGA does in recruiting underrepresented students, but there’s also the issue of faculty recruitment. How do you think we’re doing there?

Parker: Among land-grant research universities, we’re doing very well, particularly in terms of African-American faculty. But our numbers have been fairly constant over the last several years.

On the one hand, that’s not bad, since other institutions have been losing ground—but to continue diversifying our faculty we’re going to need some really diligent recruiting.

I hope as part of our efforts to assess the campus climate for diversity, we can institute exit surveys to find out why we lose faculty and staff from underrepresented groups.

Columns: Do you want to comment on the concept document regarding diversity at UGA that was approved by the University Council in March?

Parker: I think it’s beneficial to have a conversation about diversity and to have a broad understanding of diversity. A lot of people seem to think diversity is a proxy for quotas and that is just not true.

Columns: What’s on your plate right now as the academic year winds down?

Parker: Just last week we hosted the quarterly meeting of the Peach State Boys and Girls Club professional association. These are people who work with approximately 200,000 youngsters throughout the state. They had a chance to tour the campus and meet various university officials. Our long-term goal is to form a partnership so we can bring middle school students from their clubs to campus for summer enrichment programs.

We’re also having conversations with private-sector entities to figure out ways to create scholarships and fellowships. And we’re working with 12 other institutions in the state to get involved in the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

In addition, I’m working with a group of graduate students planning a conference in September that will bring students from other parts of the country here to discuss how people are marginalized on the basis of intersecting characteristics, such as race and gender.

And—last but not least—I’ve been asked by a group of undergraduate students to be the sponsor of the UGA Step Team, a new multiracial, multicultural organization that wants to take performances into local schools.

Basically, I think word is getting out that the office exists and that we want to encourage creative efforts to increase diversity and create a welcoming environment for all.