Program Aims To Boost Faculty Diversity At NY State Colleges

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The Cuomo administration is launching a program aimed at increasing the diversity of the faculty in the State University of New York system.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that the goal of the program called Promoting Recruitment, Opportunity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Growth is the hiring of 1,000 early to mid-career professors from minority groups by 2030. The Democrat says the program is being implemented at all 64 SUNY campuses.

State officials say the program's goal is to have SUNY faculty better reflect the diversity of the 425,000 students in the system, where minorities make up more than a quarter of the student population.

Currently, minorities make up only about 8 percent of SUNY faculty members. Officials say the program aims to double those ranks by the end of the next decade.