S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  3379

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             March 18, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sens.  DIAZ, DILAN, ESPADA, MONSERRATE -- read twice and
  ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
  Higher Education

AN  ACT  to  amend  the  education  law, in relation to establishing the
  office for diversity and educational equity

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
the "Increasing Diversity in Higher Education Act of 2009".
  S 2. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds that  the  state
university  of  New  York has not fully met the growing demand placed on
the university system to train the  next  generation  workforce  of  our
state.   Simultaneously,   the   university  system  is  faced  with  an
unprecedented rate of minority and low-income student  enrollment,  high
rates of student dropouts, larger numbers of students completing college
after  six years or more, and a situation where only 32 out of 100 white
students and only 11 of every 100 Hispanic and African-American students
are graduating from college. The economic impact on our  state  and  the
nation  of  these  dynamics  are  tremendously negative and threaten the
fabric of our civil society and national security.
  Over the past decade, the state university of New York has experienced
a steady rise in the number of traditionally underrepresented  students.
By  the  year 2015, figures from the United States census and other data
indicate that the majority of New York high  school  graduates  will  be
from  groups  that have been historically underrepresented in SUNY. This
demographic shift and a need to train a competitive New  York  workforce
present  public  higher  education policy makers with a challenge. It is
clear that New York must reduce educational inequities faced by minority
and low-income students  from  historically  marginalized  groups  while
simultaneously  maintaining  the  highest of educational standards. This
huge demographic change must be addressed by policy makers as the  state

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD06192-06-9
              

S. 3379                             2

university of New York is not prepared to increase the academic achieve-
ment and educational attainment of historically marginalized groups.
  Data  compiled  on  college  access  and success show that New York is
doing better than most states for those 25 years of age  and  older  but
not  for  younger, low-income and fastest growing populations. According
to 2009 data compiled by the Education Trust, New York's four-year grad-
uation rate for African-Americans is  22  percent  and  17  percent  for
Hispanics.    The  six-year  graduation rate more than doubles, however,
most of these students will have compromised their academic  achievement
and  dramatically  reduced  their opportunities to pursue post-secondary
education based on their low grades.
  The percentage  of  individuals  from  traditionally  underrepresented
groups  who are attending SUNY is lower given their numbers in the state
population. Consequently, any initiatives designed to maximize access to
affordable, quality education should make  special  efforts  to  recruit
students  from  these  underserved sectors of the state's population. In
its official publications SUNY recognizes its responsibility to employ a
workforce and educate a student  body  that  is  representative  of  the
state's  population.  However,  SUNY  has  not  been able to recruit and
retain  senior  administrators,  faculty,  graduate  and   undergraduate
students  in  sufficient numbers to overcome the long-standing under-re-
presentation of people of color.
  For example, the Hispanic population of New York grew by 33.1  percent
between  1990  and  2000,  and made up 15.1 percent of the state's popu-
lation. By 2006, Hispanics made up 16.1 percent  of  the  state's  popu-
lation.  Yet,  Hispanics  accounted for only five percent of the student
population in the state-operated/funded campuses of SUNY.  African-Amer-
icans are also underrepresented in SUNY, although their percentages  are
better  than  those  for  Hispanics.  In  2006, 14,737 African-Americans
attended SUNY state-operated/funded campuses, and  accounted  for  seven
percent  of  the  student  population.  African-Americans comprised 17.4
percent of the state's population in 2006. As is the case  with  Hispan-
ics, Blacks are also seriously underrepresented in the SUNY campuses.
  The  figures  on African-Americans and Hispanic student enrollments in
SUNY  universities  and  colleges  are  consistent  with  the   findings
published  in  an  Education Trust study of public flagship universities
that documents disproportionate under-representation of  low-income  and
minority students. The report observes that flagship public universities
are  failing to make progress "in better serving the vast breadth of our
citizenry." New York state should provide SUNY  with  the  resources  to
implement  effective strategies and best practices, so that it can stand
as an exception to this discouraging national  trend  in  public  higher
education.
  The  problem  is  just  as  acute within African-American and Hispanic
representation in the faculty ranks of the state-operated/funded campus-
es which also fail to reflect the composition of the state's population.
In the doctoral institutions the percentages for  full  time  Black  and
Hispanic  employees  are 14.9 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. For
the research university centers the figures are 6.8 percent  African-Am-
erican  and  2.4 percent Latino. An analysis of Hispanic faculty employ-
ment by a member of the New York State Assembly recently  revealed  that
SUNY  lags substantially behind the state's private universities and the
city university of New York in the number of Hispanics in its full  time
professional ranks.
  It  is  the  finding  of  this legislature that in order for the state
university of New York to address the problems cited above, the  univer-

S. 3379                             3

sity  system must engage in a system-wide effort to increase faculty and
student diversity and improve its student success  rates.  In  order  to
begin such work, SUNY must put in place a Vice Chancellor for the Office
of  Diversity  and  Educational  Equity  who will report directly to the
Chancellor. Just as major public and private university  systems  across
the  United  States  have  hired  and provided substantial resources and
authority to a chief diversity officer, SUNY must  follow  the  lead  of
these  successful  university  and  college  programs in order to remain
competitive and fulfill its mission of training New York's future  work-
force, while also improving the economic outlook for all the communities
it is entrusted to serve.
  S  3.  The  opening  paragraph  of subdivision 1 of section 352 of the
education law is designated paragraph a and a new paragraph b  is  added
to read as follows:
  B.  (1) THERE IS HEREBY ESTABLISHED AN OFFICE FOR DIVERSITY AND EDUCA-
TIONAL EQUITY IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY. SUCH OFFICE
SHALL BE ESTABLISHED BY THE STATE UNIVERSITY TRUSTEES AND  SHALL  ADVISE
THE TRUSTEES AND THE CHANCELLOR ON ISSUES RELATED TO INCREASING FACULTY,
STAFF  AND STUDENT DIVERSITY IN THE STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM AND ENSURING
EDUCATIONAL EQUITY IN THE STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM.    THE  HEAD  OF  THE
OFFICE  FOR  DIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL EQUITY SHALL BE A VICE CHANCELLOR
WHO SHALL REPORT DIRECTLY TO THE CHANCELLOR  OF  THE  STATE  UNIVERSITY.
FURTHERMORE, THERE SHALL BE INCLUDED IN THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
BUDGET  PROPOSAL  TO  THE  GOVERNOR AND TO THE DIVISION OF THE BUDGET AN
APPROPRIATION FOR EACH STATE FISCAL YEAR TO FUND AND SUPPORT THE  OPERA-
TION OF THE OFFICE FOR DIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL EQUITY.
  (2)  THE  VICE  CHANCELLOR OF THE OFFICE FOR DIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
EQUITY SHALL ANNUALLY, ON OR BEFORE JANUARY FIRST, SUBMIT  A  REPORT  TO
THE  GOVERNOR  AND  THE  LEGISLATURE  DETAILING  THE  CURRENT EFFORTS TO
INCREASE DIVERSITY AS THEY RELATE TO THE HIRING AND EMPLOYMENT OF FACUL-
TY AND STUDENT ENROLLMENT AT ALL CAMPUSES OF THE COLLEGES AND  UNIVERSI-
TIES OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK. SUCH REPORT SHALL INCLUDE, BUT
NOT BE LIMITED TO:
  (I) MINORITY ENROLLMENT AT EACH CAMPUS;
  (II) MINORITY WITHDRAWALS AND DISMISSALS AT EACH CAMPUS;
  (III) THE SIZE OF THE MINORITY FRESHMAN CLASS AT EACH CAMPUS;
  (IV)  THE  NUMBERS  OF  MINORITIES WHO GRADUATE AFTER FOUR YEARS, FIVE
YEARS AND SIX YEARS AT EACH CAMPUS;
  (V) THE NUMBER OF FACULTY  POSITIONS  FILLED  BY  MINORITIES  AT  EACH
CAMPUS; AND
  (VI)  THE  NUMBER  OF MINORITY FACULTY HIRED BY EACH CAMPUS, AND THEIR
SALARY RATE AND TITLE.
  ALL INFORMATION SHALL BE FURTHER BROKEN DOWN  BY  CAMPUS,  GENDER  AND
ETHNICITY.
  S 4. This act shall take effect immediately.