Provost Kimo Ah Yun repeatedly chose not to reveal the exact number of non-tenure track faculty contracts that will not be renewed after several requests, and referred to it as a “minimal percentage” of staff/faculty who will not be returning next year. The exact number is still not known.
Ah Yun gave this information during the university academic senate meeting March 22 held over teams.
Ah Yun also gave his report on the university and provided an update on enrollment.
“Right now, in comparison to last year, we are down 6.8% in deposits,” Ah Yun said.
Applications to Marquette have been down for the 2021-22 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The (admissions) team continues to work very hard, they are confident that the strategies they are putting into place are working,” Ah Yun said.
Ah Yun also said he is hopeful in reaching the target for admitted transfer students. While at the same time the incoming class is one of the most diverse there have been in recent years.
“When we look at our admit pool, it’s a diverse pool,” Ah Yun said. “We have admitted students from all 50 states and all the U.S territories.”
Graduate school applications and enrollment are also up by almost 25% compared to last year.
“The closer we get to May 1, the better idea we’ll have,” Ah Yun said.
May 1 is typically the last day high school seniors
During the meeting, the university climate report was released to the Marquette community. Vice President for Inclusive Excellence William Welburn gave a presentation on the recent study. The climate survey
The new survey went over progress since 2015, when the most recent survey was given, and key takeaways from the 2020 survey.
“In our last study a number of key action steps were identified,” Welburn said.
Education and action training to teach students and faculty about racism, improving strategies to improve diversity among students and faculty, promoting groups and networks who specialize in diversity.
The second climate study was done to get a better sense of the new climate on campus since the previous one was done five years ago. New questions and new models for conversations were included in the study.
The climate study did not change much from the previous study. However, only 60% of students of color said they were comfortable in the campus climate. Overall, 74% of all people on campus were comfortable with Marquette.
“If we dig into classroom climate for undergraduates … we see that the differences continue to persist,” Welburn said. “White students and students of color, you see a dramatic difference in climate.”
Large percentages of students, faculty and staff have “seriously” considered leaving, according to the survey.
Although most students who considered leaving were first-years, most felt like they didn’t belong or that the climate was not welcome according to the survey.
“Students are generally positive about the academic quality of Marquette and about their academic success and intent to persist,” Welburn said.
Overall, the survey showed a “higher than expected” number of respondents who said they had contemplated leaving the campus at one point in time.
Results of the campus climate study will be available through a dashboard that will be available for the campus community will be able to use.
The next university Academic Senate meeting will be held April 19.
This story was written by Benjamin Wells. He can be reached at [email protected]
