Chris Spicer, V.P. Academic Affairs
Interview by Tauna Mayhorn · Edited by Mackenzie Bennett
Question and Answer session with Chris Spicer. Spicer is the Morningside College Vice President Director of Academic Affairs. Here are his thoughts on Diversity within the Morningside community. What follows is an edited transcript of his interview with Tauna Mayhorn
Mayhorn: “How do you implement diversity equality and inclusion on campus?”
Spicer: “One is through the hiring process we use, we have a search committee that I am a panel of. The committee is made up entirely of faculty from that department, they do a lot of work to dwindle down the number of applicants before they send them to me. They then become a smaller group of about 7 or 8 semi-finalists, I've had intense when of the 7 semi-finalists there was only one woman. I then go back to the committee and see why we don't have a more diverse pool of candidates in our semi-finalist. This gives me the chance to make sure we are doing what we can to get more diverse candidates. I get to impact the funnel and that's something that I’ve been really cognitive about.”
Dr. Chris Spicer
Mayhorn: “Are you actively seeking /considering POC for employment at Morningside? What is the process?”
Spicer: “Yes, by advertising job positions in diverse places such as Hispanic outlook which is a higher education magazine directed toward the Hispanic community. That costs money but I am willing to invest in it because that is something that helps us get a more diverse pool of candidates.”
Mayhorn: “Do you think Morningside is a diverse campus?”
Spicer: “Diverse in terms of skin color we are not as diverse as I would like us to be, but in terms of diversity of experience and culture yes. A good example of this is our international students. A lot of them come from Germany, you could just say they look like a white guy, but in reality, they are bringing a diverse set of experiences that you can’t look at and tell. So I think if you go deeper you do find a more diverse group.”
Mayhorn: “What are some things you hope to see implemented at Morningside to further diversity, equality, and inclusion?”
Spicer: “I do want to see more programming and events. In an ideal world, the diversity groups are coming to me to say I need 3,000$ to bring this person to campus to hold a lecture series. In my mind, that's a good thing that's forcing me to find funds to do those types of things. I can’t do them all but I want to be able to support those sorts of things. I want to see these conversations being had across campus, people talking about these things.”
Mayhorn: “Do you think there should be more awareness and support for minority groups on campus ?”
Spicer: “I try not to wade too deep into the affairs of the student-run organizations, that what a student government is for. But in my mind yes, if there are anyways to support any student-run groups, yea how do we support them. That's what a good student government should be doing, that's what a good faculty should be doing.”
Mayhorn: “In your time here have you noticed a change in atmosphere between students and faculty surrounding diversity, equality, and inclusion?”
Spicer: “Yes, there has been a higher level of intentionality, a renewed focus in just the last 18 months to two years … at least from my perspective.”