Disabilities not considered to be part of diversity hiring at SU

By: Amanda Waddell

Posted: 9/23/03

Diversity may be a core value of Syracuse University, but when it comes to hiring new employees, diversity is very strictly defined.

SU does not plan on paying extra attention to the hiring of people with disabilities in its efforts to increase faculty diversity - a greater emphasis is instead being placed on increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of the incoming faculty, said Michael Flusche, associate vice chancellor of academic affairs.

"There is a greater need, in terms of the population of the campus, to have a stronger presence of racial and ethnic diversity, as well as gender diversity," Flusche said. "The need to hire folks with various disabilities is not nearly as pressing. Although it's a good thing to do, it doesn't have the same educational importance to the university. In terms of sheer numbers, our students, to a great extent, are not mentally or physically disabled."

Steve Simon, director of the Office of Disability Services, said more than 700 SU students - approximately 5 percent of the total student population - have a documented disability. The number is likely even higher, but not all students have their disabilities registered with the university, Simon said.

"If we look at national statistics, about 10 to 12 percent of first-year, first-time college students declare a disability," Simon said. At SU, the number of requests for accommodation plans is increasing, as well as the number of students with disabilities, he said.

The percentage of faculty members with disabilities, however, is not known because many times people don't disclose information concerning their disability to the university, said Kim Salanger, recruitment and diversity specialist at the Office of Human Resources.

"While it's very educational and very valuable for all students to see folks with various levels of disabilities in important positions, [people with disabilities] are not actively recruited - although we would certainly welcome them," Flusche said.

SU's lack of attention to disability is raising concern among some members of the campus community, especially as many academic departments begin their searches for new faculty for the 2004-2005 school year.

"Diversity in terms of just color is not my definition of what diversity is," said Liat Ben-Moshe, president of the Beyond Compliance Coordinating Committee, a student organization that is working to promote the hiring of faculty with disabilities.

The organization, which began two years ago and consists of six members, is concerned with broadening SU's conception of diversity to include disability.

"What we have is a standpoint," Ben-Moshe said. "First, we are saying that diversity is important, and second, we are saying that disability is diversity."

For the past year, the committee has been in contact with Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Deborah Freund about ways to increase disability awareness.

"We are currently attempting to put together a proposal [to promote the hiring of people with disabilities], but in a very behind-the-scenes kind of way," Ben-Moshe said. "We are starting at the disability studies departmental level - we think it will be more prudent for now."

To increase the number of minority applicants, SU does a considerable amount of community outreach to gain access to underrepresented populations and to inform them about employment opportunities, Salanger said. She also noted that SU is a federal contractor and thereby required to provide and track its employment activity through affirmative action measures.

The school is warming up to the issue of hiring faculty members with disabilities, Simon said.

"The university is becoming much more sensitized to disability issues," Simon said. "And once that occurs, disability may finally be seen as an aspect of diversity."

Kim Jaffee, a professor in the College of Human Services and Health Professions, is currently heading a search committee that is seeking to fill two positions within the School of Social Work. Her committee, like many others, strives to promote diversity mainly in terms of race and gender, Jaffee said.

"The university has moved forward in the last five years to embrace diversity in terms of both faculty and student recruitment, but a hierarchy still exists," Jaffee said. "Racial and ethnic diversity are considered of more importance than class and disability."

Despite that, Jaffee thinks it would help to increase diversity on campus if there was more of a presence of people with disabilities.

The presence of a teacher with a disability can offer students an opportunity to work and learn from individuals who are different from themselves, which is a valuable life lesson, Simon said.

Such has been the case in Professor Leon Hanouille's classes.

Hanouille, who teaches in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, has a hearing impairment that requires him to use computerized hearing aids. He makes his students aware of his disability so that they don't feel self-conscious about it, he said.

"My presence helps to give students a different perspective on disability and increases their awareness," Hanouille said. "I myself am very accepting of other people and their differences, and so I expect the same from my students."

Liz Dwyer, a junior accounting major and a former student of Hanouille's, said her experience in his class helped her to be more understanding of people with disabilities.

"After getting to know Professor Hanouille, I realized that people with disabilities may be different from me, but they're just as capable," Dwyer said.