Diversity Trends in the Faculty and Staff at Frostburg State

By: Alexandra Davis, Tavari Merriman, Torie Costa, & Elizabeth Ahn

“The diversity in our staff is an overwhelming challenge to get where we want to be. We need to make the university more diverse, and I’m not sure if we are there yet,” as stated by Dr. Thomas, a professor who has been at Frostburg State University (FSU) for 13 years.

Throughout the years at FSU, the racial diversity of the undergraduate student population has been increasing tremendously. This is clearly represented by the data from the fall of 1989 to the fall of 2017. With this increase of racial and ethnic backgrounds of the undergraduate student population, it is interesting to see if this “domino effect” of the undergraduate students could influence the diversity amongst faculty and staff members at FSU. However, a couple of faculty members at the university seem to think otherwise. Through their personal insights and observations, it is clear that racial diversity in the population of staff and faculty members lacks heavily. In other words, the racial and ethnic backgrounds of the faculty and staff members has not been rapidly increasing like the undergraduate student population.

Thomas also shared the importance of understanding diversity within the staff and faculty members at FSU. She goes on to explain how the town of Frostburg is playing an important role regarding the lack of racial diversity amongst staff and faculty members. FSU appears heavily focused on increasing the diversity of the student population. FSU’s website from 2009 reveals a page about cultural diversity and their initiatives to integrate that into the student body population. In contrast to growing the racial diversity of the student population, the university has a great challenge in increasing and promoting the racial diversity of its staff and faculty members.

Graduating senior, Leslie Garcia expressed her thoughts on the diversity in the staff and faculty population at FSU and how that has impacted her as a student. Garcia shares that over the past four years at FSU, she has noticed that the majority of her professors are predominantly White. She mentioned, “You are truly only going to see minority teachers in classes that specifically teach foreign languages.” She continues to point out that the professors that teach at FSU mainly have tenures. She believes that racial diversity in the staff members are very important to a university, but she does not see a change coming to FSU anytime soon.

Students at FSU have tried to tackle the topic of diversity in past years. The Bottom Line article, “FSU Sees Historic Increase In Minority Enrollment, Yet Faculty Diversity Remains Constant” from 2016 emphasizes the high rates of minority enrollment at FSU. The article also focuses on the low minority rates in the staff and faculty population at the university. 

In a message from  Dr. Ronald Nowaczyk, FSU’s President, he states, “Colleges and universities are truly microcosms of the world in which we live. It is therefore our responsibility to create an environment for students, faculty and staff that embraces and values that diversity while also providing an education about the intrinsic value of different genders, sexualities, races, cultural backgrounds, nationalities and religions. At Frostburg State University, the President’s Advisory Council on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion provides direction about how to create a welcoming environment that facilitates a truly diverse community. It is my hope that the information found in this website will provide insight into the efforts of the PACD and our entire University community as we strive to prepare our students to approach our world with an open mind.”