Texas State University has installed diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility into its qualifications for hiring staff and faculty.
The university, based in San Marcos and formerly known as Southwest Texas State, has 38,000 undergraduate and graduate students and more than 200 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. It is the second-largest college in the greater Austin area and the fifth-largest higher education institution in Texas.
On DEI&A, the university states, “[With] diversity we value maintaining diverse identities on our campus, through our students, faculty, staff and partnerships and at our workplace. Equity [means] we value providing everyone with a variety of opportunities and unique experiences. [With] inclusion we value hearing each community member’s voice, and with accessibility we ensure that students, faculty and staff of differing backgrounds and abilities have equal access to all university programs and activities.”
Jayme Blaschke of the Texas State University Office of Media Relations in University Communications and Public Relations discussed the new goals with with Austin Journal.
Its goal is to “be as inclusive as possible in serving our diverse student body population that closely reflects the demographics of Texas,” according to the official response.
According to the university’s diversity and inclusion policy statement, “Texas State believes that freedom of thought, innovation and creativity are fundamental characteristics of a community of scholars.”
“To promote such a learning environment, the university has a special responsibility to seek diversity, to promote inclusion, to instill a global perspective in its students and to nurture sensitivity, dialogue and mutual respect,” Blaschke said. “Discrimination against or harassment of individuals on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, veterans’ status, gender identity or expression are inconsistent with the purposes of the university.”
The goal is to maintain a healthy learning environment that includes everyone as well as “nurtures sensitivity” and respect for others.
The Center for Diversity and Gender Studies at Texas State’s College of the Liberal Arts has three goals.
These include, "a diversity of people and ideas, a spirit of inclusiveness, a global and international perspective, and a sense of community as essential conditions for campus life, the cultivation of character and the modeling of honesty, integrity, compassion, fairness, respect, and ethical behavior, both in the classroom and beyond and, finally, engaged teaching and learning based in dialogue, student involvement, and the free exchange of ideas,” the university said.
On June 25, 2020, then-Texas State President Denise Trauth approved the new roles of associate vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion and chief diversity officer (CDO) positions. The president outlined the purpose of the creation of these roles is to prioritize DEI programs among the student body, hiring diverse faculty and staff, and to provide “cultural competency training” to faculty and staff.
Trauth retired from the Texas State presidency on June 30, 2022, and was named president emeritus. She was succeeded by Kelly Damphousse, who had been president of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro starting in 2017.
The cost to the Texas taxpayer resulting from the Texas State Diversity Strategic Plan comes from the plan to hire the new positions. The salaries that total $618,000 over five years. The upcoming programs require total funds of $103,400 annually, and Diversity Awards funds require $8,000 annually.
In January the university implemented DEI&A as one of the five institutional goals for the strategic planning process. The university contracted with EVERFi to train faculty and staff in DEI&A policies and requirements.
The Texas State Diversity Strategic Plan (2012-2017) outlines three specific ways the university hopes to achieve its goals. The first requires diversity principles in all major decision-making processes, the second requires all university departments to adhere to their diversity standards, and the third is accountability in maintaining these standards.
The university describes itself as an employer that develops and retains a diverse workforce in a climate of inclusiveness. The university says it is committed to hiring employees from a diverse pool of applicants, specifically of different backgrounds, perspectives, and skills.
Texas State does not require personal DEI statements from all faculty and administrative candidates, according to a response from the university. Nor does it have a rubric to determine if candidates fit the requirements.
“Texas State does not have a standardized rubric for search committees to use for assessing candidates,” the university said. “Search committees use hiring matrices for assessing applicants on required and preferred qualifications developed by search committees and advertised in job postings.”
The university notes that a larger goal is to emphasize Black/African Americans, Hispanic/Latinos, Asian/Pacific islanders, and American Indian/Alaskan native representation. The Diversity Strategic Plan seeks an overall growth of diverse faculty and staff hires as well as the retention rate versus general faculty and staff hires. This includes administrative positions and academic chairs.
The university will review the affirmative action/recruitment plan on employment opportunity. Diversity assessment and affirmative action/recruitment planning mark the top two priorities of the university's five main goals.
According to an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) study, those in favor of implementing DEI in the process for hiring university faculty and staff are excited for the inclusiveness and open opportunities it provides especially for minority communities.
Those who oppose requiring DEI in the hiring process and workplace view the tactic as adhering to what is politically correct. Critics argue there has been a flip in hiring from quality and scholarship to now purely based on a candidate’s knowledge and experience with DEI. Critics argue DEI is becoming much more important than basic qualifications at most universities. This leads to ideological conformity where candidates are removed from the pool of applicants purely for displaying poor DEI statements or not having the correct DEI experience.
In a data collection study done by AEI, it was questioned whether the strategic diversity plans put in place by universities actually attain their goals. Seeing no evidence on the betterment of campus climate or research productivity, they conclude requiring DEI in the hiring process has instead a fundamentally political end.
Texas State University stated that it views this effort at inclusion as a positive step.
“Higher education is a major contributor to social mobility, economic development, cultural enrichment, and other facets of healthy communities, states, and nations,” it told Austin Journal. “These contributions require a commitment to the success of all students, who have become increasingly diverse.
"Faculty and staff who understand and appreciate students’ backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives design more effective learning environments, curricula, support services, and programs that create opportunities for students to enhance their knowledge, soft skills, and success — in the classroom and beyond," it added.