S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7228
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 4, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- 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 2018".
   §  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 2016, 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
 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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
              

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD07187-02-8

 S. 7228                             2
 
 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-
 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

 S. 7228                             3
 
 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.
   §  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.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.