At a meeting of black faculty organizations yesterday, members discussed the lack of black faculty at NIU and began generating ideas to develop the best way to increase the number of minority faculty.

Admasu Zike, director of the Center for Black Studies, said, “Black faculty members are overworked. We can only do so much.” He said black faculty cannot effectively attend to all of the students’ demands with only 24 faculty members at NIU.

Of the total faculty population at NIU, blacks represent 1.9 percent, hispanics 1.3 percent and white women 33.7 percent, Zike said.

Provost Kendall Baker said a $100,000 fund has been set aside to pay departments that hire minorities to facilitate in the hiring of faculty members from underrepresented minorities. NIU’s Academic Affairs Division and Affirmative Action Office are responsible for initiating this program.

“Although only two or three people will probably be brought to NIU by this program, as a start, it’s a good idea,” Zike said. “We commend Provost Baker for it, and the black faculty members stand behind him.”

Ada Hetland, office supervisor of the nursing school, said that out of the 45 full-time and part-time faculty members in their college, there are no black or hispanic teachers.

“In the several years I’ve been here, everytime we’ve advertised a position, we have never had a black or hispanic person apply for a job as a faculty member,” Hetland said.

Zike said he believes the departments are not making an effort to hire minorities. He said departments need to go beyond only hiring people who answer ads for an open position.

Of the 24,255 total students that attend NIU, 20,825 are caucasian; 1,182 are black; 527 are hispanic; 717 are Asian; 691 are non-resident Asian; 64 are American Indian; and the race of the remaining 249 is unknown, according to Suman Gupta, statistician for the Office of Institutional Research.