Retaining African Americans in Higher Education: Challenging Paradigms for Retaining Black Students, Faculty and Administrators

by Jones, Lee

• ISBN13: 9781579220426
• ISBN10: 1579220428
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-05-01
• Publisher: Stylus Pub Llc

Summary

Retention of African Americans on campus is a burning issue for the black community, and a moral and financial one for predominantly white institutions of higher education. This book offers fresh insights and new strategies developed by fifteen scholars concerned by the new climate in which affirmative action is being challenged and eliminated. This is the first book devoted specifically to retention of African Americans in higher education, and is unique in addressing the distinct but inter-related concerns of all three affected constituencies: students, faculty and administrators. Each is considered in a separate section. The student section shifts attention from, to paraphrase McNairy, "fixing the student" to focussing on higher education's need to examine and, where appropriate, revise policies, curriculum, support services and campus climate. Responding to the new agenda shaped by the opponents of affirmative action, but rejecting the defensive "x percent solutions" espoused by its proponents, this book puts forward new solutions that will provoke debate. Section II begins with a survey of the literature on African American administrators, and presents a Delphi study of twelve administrators to provide an understanding of pathways and barriers to success. The contributors then consider the importance of developing community support and creating alliances, the role of mentoring, and the setting of clear expectations between the individual and the institution. Starting with the recognition that African Americans represent less than five percent of full-time faculty, the chapters in the final section examine the effects of the dismantling of affirmative action, the consequences of faculty salaries trailing more lucrative non-academic employment, the declining enrollment of students of color, the politics of promotion and tenure, and issues of identity and culture. The book concludes by stressing the roles that parents, faculty and administrators must play to empower African American students to take responsibility for their own academic performance. This is a compelling, controversial and constructive contribution to an issue of national importance.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
PART ONE: RETAINING AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS
Creating an Affirming Culture to Retain African-American Students During the Postaffirmative Action Era in Higher Education	3	(18)
Lee Jones
Reexamining the Educational Pipeline for African-American Students	21	(24)
Jason DeSousa
The Policies and Politics of Retention and Access of African-American Students in Public White Institutions	45	(14)
Paul E. Green
Alternatives to Race-Based Admissions in Higher Education: Examining X-Percent Plans in California, Texas, and Florida	59	(18)
Eugene L. Anderson
Developing Academic Warriors: Things That Parents, Administrators, and Faculty Should Know	77	(16)
James L. Moore III
PART TWO: RETAINING AFRICAN-AMERICAN ADMINISTRATORS
A New Test for Diversity: Retaining African-American Administators at Predominantly White Institutions	93	(18)
Jerlando F. L. Jackson
Strategies for Overcoming the Barriers of Being an African-American Administrator on a Predominantly White University Campus	111	(14)
Raphael M. Guillory
Retaining African-American Administrators: A Subconscious Deluge of Neglect or a Conscious Subterfuge to Reject?	125	(50)
J. W. Wiley
REFLECTIONS
Developing an African Center in the Academy	149	(14)
Kipchoge N. Kirkland
When Services are Needed But Not Respected	163	(12)
Eddie Moore, Jr.
PART THREE: RETAINING AFRICAN-AMERICAN FACULTY
How to Retain African-American Faculty During Times of Challenge for Higher Education	175	(18)
Andre J. Branch
Redefining and Refining Scholarship for the Academy: Standing on the Shoulders of our Elders and Giving Credence to African-American Voice and Agency	193	(14)
Derrick P. Alridge
Identity, Purpose, and Impact: Bebop Innovators as Intellectuals and Models for African-American Academic Success	207	(18)
Shuaib Meacham
Rethinking W. E. B. Dubois' ``Double Consciousness'': Implications for Retention and Self-Preservation in the Academy	225	(10)
Leon D. Caldwell
James B. Stewart
The Politics of Tenure and Promotion of African-American Faculty	235	(14)
Lemuel W. Watson
CONCLUSION
Organizing the Structure of the University to Achieve Success in Recruiting and Retaining African Americans in Higher Education	249	(20)
Lee Jones
Index	269	(12)
About the Contributors	281