The ADVANCE project — a highly successful five-year program to increase the recruitment and retention of women faculty in engineering and science at the University — could be eliminated if the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative is passed, according to University officials.
While University President Mary Sue Coleman has endorsed the belief that gender-specific programs and benefits will be hurt by MCRI, the exact impact of MCRI on the University is still unknown. Supporters of the ADVANCE project said they are concerned that if MCRI passes on the 2006 ballot, the program could be in jeopardy.
Because the initiative seeks to, “Prohibit the University of Michigan and other state universities, the state, and all other state entities from discriminating or granting preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin,” it is likely it will affect gender-based programs.
“We cannot tell how the courts will interpret the language if it passes,” University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said. “But any programs that offer assistance to women can be affected, so it could have an impact on programs like ADVANCE and programs that provide outreach and assistance to women.”
Chetly Zarko, Director of Media Relations for MCRI, said he thinks Peterson is exaggerating the potential effects of the initiative.
“When (Peterson) says any program that offers assistance to women can be affected, that’s an exaggeration,” Zarko said. Only programs that apply to public hiring, public education and public contracting and those that give preference, not merely assistance, are affected.”
According to the information presented by ADVANCE at the February University Board of Regents meeting, the program, which has been funded by the National Science Foundation, has been extremely successful since its implementation. When the program began in 2001, six women were hired in science and engineering for that year, which was 13 percent of all openings in those departments. In 2004, that percentage tripled to 39 percent, as 12 women were hired for the science and engineering departments.
Additionally, the number of women department chairs in engineering and science has increased from one in 2001 to eight in 2005.
Martha Pollack, an electrical engineering and computer science professor and a member of STRIDE — a subcommittee of the ADVANCE project — said she thinks the program has been very beneficial to women faculty at the University.
“Personally, I think that STRIDE has made an enormous difference in the climate of the University of Michigan and the lives of women professionals in engineering and science,” Pollack said. “I think there is evidence in both the rates of the hiring of women and the attitudes you see when you speak with other women faculty.”
The University has also expressed concerns about a variety of different programs it fears might be affected by MCRI including the Women in Science and Engineering program and the Center for the Education of Women.
“A lot of times people just think about the admissions impact of MCRI,” Peterson said. “But there could be an impact on other programs, and it could affect women just as much as minorities.”