Written and designed by the staff of the Center for Teaching and Learning. Reproduce with permission only.

Appendix D

Who's on Campus

I. The Students

UNC's student population has become increasingly diverse over the years. Since 1989, all minority groups have shown an increase in enrollment at UNC and in degrees awarded them. Only the White student population has remained relatively stable, neither consistently gaining nor losing numbers of students enrolled and degrees earned by them. In the fall of 1996, the student population of 24,141 was 80.2% White; 9.6% African American; 4.8% Asian American; 1.5% Hispanic American; 3.3% International; and 0.6% Native American. (see Table 1)

In the fall of 1996, women made up 60.2% of the UNC undergraduate student population, and the entire student body was 58.5% female.

In 1996-97, 75.6% of all students at Carolina were in-state students, and the rest came from all 49 other states and from overseas. The undergraduates were even more likely to come from North Carolina than from out-of-state: 81.6% of the undergraduates were North Carolinians in 1996-97. (See Figure 1)

Student retention among minorities

Although UNC-CH's mission is to include and benefit all citizens of the state, minority retention rates have not always been ideal. African Americans and Native Americans in particular show lower rates of graduation than do their peers. Four years after enrollment at UNC-CH, White students show a graduation rate of 65.7%, and a transfer rate to other institutions of 3.2%. 21% of the White students at UNC take longer than 4 years to finish their degree. Compare those statistics with the 43.9% graduation rate from UNC?CH of African American students; their transfer rate to other institutions is 3.4%; and the fact that 26.6% do not finish within four years. For Native Americans the statistics are even less satisfactory: 39.1% of enrolled Native Americans graduate at UNC?CH, 4.6% transfer, and 32.2% take longer than four years (see Table 2). 

Table 1

Distribution of Students by Level, Race, and Sex, Fall 1996
From: UNC Office of Institutional Research (1997). UNC fact book 1996-1997.
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

	Undergraduate		Grad.	Prof.	Total-All Levels
Native American	No.	%	No.	No.	No.	%
Male	41	0.3%	5	7	53	0.2%
Female	56	0.4%	16	22	94	0.4%
Sub-Total by Race	97	0.7%	21	29	147	0.6%
Asian American
Male	311	2.0%	97	65	473	2.0%
Female	467	3.0%	141	69	677	2.8%
Subtotal by Race	778	5.0%	238	134	1,150	4.8%
African American
Male	492	3.2%	134	76	702	2.9%
Female	1,159	7.5%	317	132	1,608	6.7%
Subtotal by Race	1,651	10.7%	451	208	2,310	9.6%
Hispanic
Male	66	0.4%	55	16	137	0.6%
Female	115	0.8%	84	15	214	0.9%
Subtotal by Race	181	1.2%	139	31	351	1.5%
White
Male	5,143	33.5%	2,255	795	8,193	33.9%
Female	7,398	48.1%	3,086	699	11,183	46.3%
Subtotal by Race	12,541	81.6%	5,341	1,494	19,376	80.2%
Non-Resident Alien
Male	59	0.4%	406	1	466	1.9%
Female	56	0.4%	278	7	341	1.4%
Subtotal	115	0.8%	684	8	807	3.3%
TOTAL MALE	6,112	39.8%	2,952	960	10,024	41.5%
TOTAL FEMALE	9,251	60.2%	3,922	944	14,117	58.5%
TOTAL	15,363	100%	6,874	1,904	24,141	100%

Figure 1

Distribution of Students by Residency, Fall 1996

From: UNC Office of Institutional Research (1997). UNC fact book 1996—1997.
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Table 2

UNC-CH Graduation and Persistence Rate by Race:
Average for Most Recent Four Classes as of 1994

	Grad. from UNC-CH in 4 years	Still enrolled at UNC-CH	Persistence Rate @ UNC-CH	Grad./enrolled in other UNC System Instit.	Non-persistence @ UNC-CH
White	65.7%	18.5%	84.2%	3.4%	12.6%
African American	43.9%	23.5%	67.3%	3.2%	29.2%
Native American	39.1%	27.6%	66.7%	4.6%	28.7%
Asian  American	62.8%	22.8%	87.2%	1.7%	12.8%
Hispanic	60.9%	26.1%	87.0%	0.0%	13.0%

From: UNC Office of Institutional Research, Fourth annual assessment report,
1993-1994, Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

II. The Faculty

The UNC-CH faculty is undergoing some of the same changes as the student population. UNC has increased the numbers of minority faculty on campus, and they enjoy higher visibility than in the past. Over the last five years there has been a steady increase in the number of both women and non-white faculty members. There are 71 more tenured and tenure-track women on campus and 14 more tenured and tenure-track African American faculty than there were in 1992. There are 26 more tenured or tenure-track Asian American professors, and 4 more Hispanic tenure or tenure-track faculty than in 1992. There has been no change in the Native American faculty population. (See Figures 2-6)

The composition of the faculty in the fall of 1996 was 89% White, 5% Asian, 4% African American, 1.6% Hispanic, and .02% Native American. Women made up 23% of the total UNC faculty. (See Figure 7)

Retention and Tenure for Minority Faculty

Just as statistics show that the university has more trouble keeping minority students until graduation than majority students, minority faculty show significantly lower rates of tenure than do their peers. 63% of the White faculty is tenured, 15% are tenure-track, and 23% have fixed-term positions. Compare this with the 45% of African American faculty who are tenured; 30% who are tenure-track; and 25% who hold fixed term appointments. Though the numbers in the tenure-track positions are encouraging, we have not yet attained a rate of tenure among African Americans that matches that of the rate among White faculty. Asian Americans fare even less well in comparison with 37% tenured, 28% tenure-track and 39% holding fixed term appointments. Of the Hispanic faculty 59% are tenured, 15% are tenure-track and 26% have fixed term positions. Native American faculty are 20% tenured, 60% tenure track and 20% fixed term. Some of the percentages in the Hispanic and Native American categories seem high at first, but are a result of the extremely small numbers of these faculty on campus 39 Hispanic faculty members and only 5 Native American faculty. Compared to the percentage of the total number of faculty however, they do not fare as well as their African American and Asian American peers. (See Figure 8)

Figure 2

Summary of Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty by Gender

Figure 3

Summary of White Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty

From: Equal Opportunity Office (1996). Faculty employment review.
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Figure 4

Summary of African American Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty

From: Equal Opportunity Office (1996). Faculty employment review.
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Figure 5

Summary of Asian Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty

From: Equal Opportunity Office (1996). Faculty employment review.
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Summary of Hispanic Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty

From: Equal Opportunity Office (1996). Faculty employment review.
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Distribution of Faculty by Race, Fall 1996

From: Equal Opportunity Office (1996). Faculty employment review.
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Figure 8

Faculty by Employment Category and Race, Fall 1996

From: Equal Opportunity Office (1996). Faculty employment review.
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Table 3

Faculty by Rank, Race and Gender, Fall 1996

From: Equal Opportunity Office (1996). Faculty employment review.
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

III. Comparison of Student Percentages to Faculty Percentages

While African American students compose 9.6% of the student body, only 4% of the UNC faculty is African American. Asian Americans do better with 4.8% of students Asian American and 5% of our faculty of Asian descent. The percentage of Hispanic students, 1.5% of the student body, nearly matches that of the faculty, 1.6% Hispanic. While Native American students comprise 0.6% of the student body; Native American professors make up only .02% of the faculty. Finally, female students make up 58.5 % of the student body, though women professors make up only 23% of the faculty.

There is no question that there cannot be a strict correlation of percentages of minority professors to minority students. Such is not the goal of the University mission nor of its affirmative action policy. However, the statistically significant differences between the minority presence in the student body and in the faculty do suggest that the graduation rates for minorities may be falling far short of success in part due to lack of successful role models for minority students.

Figure 9

Comparison of Faculty and Student Percentages

From: Equal Opportunity Office (1996). Faculty employment review.
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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