John T. Casteen III

February 10, 2005

By Anne Bromley

Progress reports on the search for a chief officer of diversity and the challenge of trying to increase procurement from minority- and women-owned businesses filled the agenda of the Board of Visitors’ Special Committee on Diversity Feb. 3.

Yoke San Reynolds, vice president for finance, who heads the 12-member search committee for the chief officer of diversity, said there has been “tremendous interest” in the position. The committee is about to review information on almost 75 potential candidates, some of whom U.Va. and the search firm of Greenwood and Associates have identified and some of whom have been nominated.

The search committee plans to start interviewing top applicants near the end of March, with the goal of having the new administrator in place July 1, after U.Va. President John T. Casteen III makes a final selection in May.

Photos by Dan Addison

Warren M. Thompson

Warren M. Thompson, chairman of the board’s diversity committee, urged timeliness in the effort, but agreed with Thomas A. Saunders III, a Darden alumnus who has played a major role in fund raising. Saunders said the University needs to get “the absolutely best person” for the job.

Casteen also briefed the board on progress toward implementing other recommendations from the commission’s final report, many of which are scheduled to begin fall 2005. A sample of projects includes: developing a system for reporting racial incidents; creating small discussion groups with first-year students on diversity and other issues; providing faculty funding to incorporate community involvement in courses; restructuring and enhancing graduate student funding, with an eye toward attracting more minority students; and encouraging students to participate in a pilot program that will award them for community-based research on diversity and equity.

Moving on to new requirements that Gov. Mark Warner issued this summer for improving the state’s purchasing from businesses owned by women and minorities, as well as small businesses, vice president for management and budget Colette Sheehy described what the University has been doing to comply with the requirements and explained what further progress needs to be made.

Thomas A. Saunders III

The governor’s executive order, issued last July, establishes a framework for small businesses and women- and minority-owned businesses (SWAM) to participate in the state’s purchasing programs. It charges each Virginia employee who purchases goods and services with making the objective of supplier diversity a reality, Sheehy said.

The order came after an outside disparity study found the commonwealth to have one of the lowest percentages of purchasing from minority businesses the firm had seen — a little more than 1 percent of spending with women-owned businesses and less than a half of 1 percent with minority-owned firms.

Women and minorities own only 5 percent of companies in Virginia.

U.Va.’s percentages of procurement for the past fiscal year are slightly higher than the state’s portion: almost 2 percent with women-owned businesses and .7 percent with minority-owned firms. The University has had a special division dedicated to minority procurement for about 10 years, and revised its services this fall to comply with the governor’s order. Directed by Donald W. Jones, the Office of Diversity Procurement Programs has developed a range of outreach efforts throughout the years, including holding an annual minority vendor fair, soliciting price quotes from firms and providing educational programs on how to do business with the University.

Rector Gordon Rainey

Sheehy also described new and revised strategies, such as requiring U.Va.’s prime construction contractors to provide a plan for how they intend to use SWAM subcontractors on the job and awarding multiple contracts with SWAM firms for a single product or service from which U.Va. departments can choose.

Board members engaged in a lively discussion on what additional strategies could improve the numbers, and Thompson urged Sheehy and procurement administrators to increase efforts to let vendors know the importance of this effort. Board member Susan “Syd” Dorsey said she is helping to identify what barriers SWAM firms may face in trying to work with U.Va.

Rector Gordon Rainey concluded the meeting, saying, “This board is determined to improve diversity efforts, so be sure to keep the pedal to the metal.”