Complementing the academic diversity session held last spring, the two Envision diversity sessions for classified staff raised a number of new issues. The meetings brought to the surface a wide range of concerns shared by minority staff, as well as problems that affect the wider classified workforce.

It was clear in both sessions that participants take great pride in their association with the University. Asked to enumerate what they see as the University’s strengths, participants cited the quality of the students, the ability to recruit top faculty, high national rankings, the rich history, the research enterprise, the top-100 medical center, the international reach of its programs, and the ability to raise private funds. As workers, they take comfort in the University’s stability, although the current budget situation is clearly seen as a threat.

On the other hand, staff members from a wide range of areas described the University as conservative, bureaucratic, hierarchical, elitist, and antiquated in its systems and thinking. And like African-American faculty and students, minority staff members have a problem with the figure of Jefferson and how he is used as an icon (a "deity," as one participant put it) that represents what the University stands for.

Regard for Jefferson ranged from ambivalence to disdain. While many see the University’s history as one of its core strengths, and while they may even acknowledge the power of Jeffersonian ideals, they find it hard to get past the fact that Jefferson owned slaves and described their race in hurtful and bigoted terms. More important, they connect the University’s harking back to Jefferson with a work environment that needs to be more progressive, more sensitive to minorities and classified staff in general, and less cliquish. As one participant put it, the powers that be at the University "still think like Jefferson."

Minority classified staff are keenly aware of the University’s rate of progress in achieving diversity not only in their own ranks but also among students and faculty. They note with pride the high proportion of African Americans among student leaders and the high African-American graduation rate, and they take notice of programs such as MAAP, which encourages minority students to enter medical careers. They also appreciate the cultural diversity reflected in the curriculum. They worry about whether black students are treated fairly under the Honor System, and they are concerned that black students are not always accorded the same privileges, such as check writing in local stores, as their white counterparts.

Likewise, they are aware of the slippage in the number of black faculty, and they urge the University to do more to recruit and retain African-American professors. Some view hiring at the University as self-replicating — a matter of managers and department chairs appointing people who look and think like themselves. Others believe white males fear change and guard their hold on the upper echelons of the University jealously. They said measures must be taken to place minority members on search committees to ensure that non-white candidates are considered fairly.

Another concern voiced by participants is a class system that divides faculty, students, and staff, with staff at the bottom of the pecking order. Participants recognize that this is a characteristic of higher education generally and not unique to the University. In their view, faculty often treat classified staff as minions rather than colleagues, and students often do not treat staff with the respect they deserve.

Within the classified community, there is a further division between those who work behind a desk and those who work in service and maintenance areas, and only in recent decades have African Americans become a prominent part of the white-collar realm. As one long-time University employee noted, to see a black secretary at the University 15 years ago was rare. Participants urged the University to do more to serve the needs of non-desk workers, ensuring that they have a voice in the community and that they are hooked into the University’s internal communications, which rely heavily on e-mail.

One challenge that nearly all classified staff members encounter is the "sink or swim" nature of starting work at the University and the necessity of building their own networks to get things done. "If you don’t know the system, you become incompetent," one staff member observed. "People who are new don’t know which door to go through. … It might take a year or two to understand how things work," said another. And for new staff who must learn the new Oracle system, the situation can be overwhelming.

For all newcomers, coping with this unofficial system can be difficult. For newcomers of color, the hurdles are even higher. Envision participants say there is still an air of racial tension at the University, and it forms a barrier that they have to break through every day. Some participants talked about going through a period of depression in their first months at the University as they struggled to cope with these issues.

Minority staff also must deal with work environments in which they are the only people of color. Many described how unsettling it can be to walk into a meeting in which "no one else looks like you." Minority staff have to mask their discomfort in such situations, which adds to the stress of their jobs. A number of participants say they must live bifurcated lives. At the University, they embody one persona that adapts to the mainstream culture. At home on their own time, they can let down their guards and be themselves. Again, this need to negotiate two distinct worlds can add to stress in the workplace.

In addition to the disparity in how people are treated, there is the disparity in how people are paid. Classified staff, many of whom deal with fiscal matters for their offices, have a clear sense of the compensation received by top faculty and top physicians. Although they understand that this is what it takes to compete in the academic marketplace, the wide differences in pay levels inevitably cause resentment — a sense that this is a community of haves and have-nots. This situation is made worse by the cost of living in Charlottesville, where housing and other costs continue to rise. Participants talked about having to live in Fluvanna and other surrounding counties to afford to work at the University.

Related to this topic is growing resentment of the University among members of the black community in Charlottesville. One longtime Charlottesvillian pointed out that the Medical Center’s expansion in the 1980s encroached on a historic black neighborhood, and there is fear that the University’s continued growth will displace more black households. Moreover, the local black community does not see the University as a place available to their own children, which contributes to the atmosphere of mistrust. To build better ties with the community, it was suggested that the University offer night classes downtown or local community centers that are accessible to learners of all backgrounds.

For classified staff, improvements that participants would like to see include more opportunities for continuing education and professional development. Some appeared to be aware of current programs and are taking advantage of them, but greater effort is needed to promote such programs and to encourage minority staff members to take part in them. Minority staff also see the need for a more fair and consistent system of bonuses and other rewards. There is a sense that hard work and good performance are not always recognized.

Some participants see the University as tolerating diversity rather than embracing it. They said there must be greater awareness of the benefits of diversity, such as

		A more open-minded atmosphere in which all cultures are appreciated
		Decreased friction and divisiveness
		An improved institutional reputation, locally, nationally, and internationally
		Opportunities to draw from a wider pool of talent.

Participants called for greater sensitivity to minority issues, especially among non-minority supervisors, who should be held accountable for the environment they create for their employees. Many supervisors seem interested only in keeping their superiors satisfied and ignore the needs of their staffs, it was observed. One solution is to make creating a welcoming and supportive atmosphere for diversity a critical part of the mission of each department, and supervisors should be evaluated on their ability to fulfill this mission.

In both discussions, participants offered a wide range of suggestions for fostering diversity and improving conditions for classified employees generally. Among them:

		Ensure that persons of color are well represented in key leadership positions, from the Board of Visitors on down
		Be more honest in our rhetoric about Jefferson and about the role of African Americans in the University’s history
		Make sensitivity camps mandatory for department chairs and supervisors
		Replace managers who are unwilling to provide a welcoming and supportive atmosphere for minorities
		Provide more opportunities for advancement – a fair and clearly defined career ladder
		Increase salaries and benefits so that classified staff can better afford to live in Charlottesville
		Offer sabbaticals for classified employees
		Create an atmosphere of openness and respect in which the Golden Rule prevails
		Reward staff members who develop new skills by placing them in higher or more challenging positions—in other words, hire from within
		Encourage mentoring and sharing of information so that new staff can develop the knowledge and networks they need to perform well
		Establish an office devoted to the recruitment of minority staff and faculty
		Develop new terms for describing diversity that treat people as human beings rather than members of a racial or gender category
		Create a better alignment between responsibilities and authority so that staff members feel ownership of what they do
		Do more to retain minority staff members and help them through their transition if they choose to go elsewhere.
		This will improve the University’s reputation in the larger community.
		Provide better counseling and other outlets that enable minority staff to work through their concerns and frustrations
		Provide financial aid or free tuition to children of staff who attend the University
		Allow staff members to pursue degrees at the University without losing their positions or their salaries
		Offer team-building retreats for classified staff like those available to faculty
		Develop a regular publication in which staff members can express their views
		Place an employee representative on the Board of Visitors
		Ensure that there is a commitment to diversity at the highest levels of the University’s administration — including the Board of Visitors — and that this commitment filters down into all departments and programs

To express their vision for the future, participants were asked to imagine headlines that would appear in the news in 2007. They offered the following:

		Casteen Succeeded by First African-American Female President
		University Has More Minorities in Upper Management Than Any Other Public Institution
		University’s Minority Student Population Mirrors the Nation’s Minority Population
		A Majority of Minority Professionals Graduate From U.Va.
		University Offers All Employees the Opportunity to Graduate From U.Va.
		Greater Interaction Among Minority Groups Decreases Self-Segregation
		Envision Diversity Makes the University the Largest Recruiter of Black Faculty, Staff, and Students

Minority staff in both sessions called for an open forum for airing concerns. "We have to have honest discussions," said one participant. "People have to speak honestly and openly to try understand one another. We can’t keep tap dancing around the issues. If we’re not candid, we won’t move toward the vision."

"A lot of times people don’t want to hear the truth," said another. "Racism still does exist; it’s just not as overt as it used to be. We need to acknowledge that things are not where we want them to be."

But it will take more than talking about such problems to solve them. Participants in both sessions emphasized that, if the University is truly committed to diversity, these and other discussions must lead to effective actions.