After more than five decades of racial integration and four decades of affirmative action, most of the nation's colleges and universities have not come close to eliminating the performance gap that separates many black, Hispanic, and Native American students from their white and Asian-American counterparts. Although some colleges say they are…

Books in the Opposing Viewpoints series challenge readers to question their own opinions and assumptions. By reading carefully balanced views, readers confront new ideas on the topic of interest. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited job discrimination based on age, race, religion, gender, or national origin, provided the groundwork for…

This paper examines the use of racial and ethnic preferences in college admissions, focusing on the extent of their use and their impact on the careers of the intended beneficiaries in light of the California Civil Rights Initiative, which is designed to end such preferences. A study by Kane (1995) found that at the most selective four-year…

The policy statement on contract faculty employment presented in this document was adopted by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges as a model conforming to the provisions of Assembly Bill (AB) 1725. The statement includes sections on hiring philosophy, affirmative action, position identification, search procedures, selection…

The purposes of this study were: (1) to examine the affirmative action recruitment and hiring procedures of a selected group of public agencies and to compare them with the Federal Guidelines on Affirmative Action, and (2) using the information gathered from other agencies and the federal guidelines, to develop a model of Affirmative Action…

Since 1995, the University of California has been prohibited from employing affirmative action principles in student admissions. In response to this constraint, the UC has sought to pursue a number of other avenues for promoting the selection and retention of a diverse student body. In this paper we look at how officials and staff within the UC…

Affirmative action addresses disparities in higher education. Recent trends threaten gains, resegregation is underway nationally. California outlawed affirmative action, the quality of K-12 education is declining, and prison construction is soaring. African American and Latino participation in higher education has declined; both groups are…

Using administrative data from the University of California at San Diego, the author explicitly identifies and studies students admitted under affirmative action programs. On average, these students earned grade point averages (GPAs) 0.30 points lower than those of nonaffirmative students. The difference in graduation rates is larger, with 57% of…

Attacks on the legitimacy of affirmative action pose new challenges for public universities committed to creating a diverse student population without considering race or ethnicity as factors in admissions. On the basis of a case study of the controversy surrounding the building of a charter school at the University of California, San Diego, in…

The policy statement on contract faculty employment presented in this document was adopted by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges as a model conforming to the provisions of Assembly Bill (AB) 1725. The document contains sections addressing: (1) the college's philosophy regarding part-time faculty hiring; (2) affirmative action…

This paper examines the extent to which women have attained administrative positions in California community colleges, highlights barriers to women's advancement and methods of overcoming them, and profiles the female college administrator. After citing the low incidence of female community college administrators and the increasing visibility of…

In response to Federal and State laws that prohibit employment discrimination, the California State Personnel Board (SPB) instituted a series of programs and projects designed to overcome underrepresentation and underutilization of minority group members and women in civil service jobs. A subcommittee of the California Advisory Committee to the…

"National CrossTalk" is a publication of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The National Center promotes public policies that enhance opportunities for quality education and training beyond high school. The primary purpose of "National CrossTalk" is to stimulate informed discussion and debate of higher…

Although there is a great deal of disagreement about how to handle the changes that confront postsecondary education, few will suggest that being wedded to the status quo is sufficient. Many contend that the future of higher education is up for grabs; how those of us in the "industry" respond will determine whether American higher…

In July 1995, the University of California's Board of Regents voted to ban consideration of race and ethnicity in admissions and employment--a ban that was extended to all state agencies when the voters of California approved Proposition 209 in November 1996. This paper discusses the national controversy over affirmative action and analyzes the…