At any university, the connection between students and faculty is vital for young adults’ developmental skills and career plans. Faculty often serve as mentors, guides, and a person with experience to talk to. College students need that person to speak with when they’re unsure of where to go after college, and professors within their majors often have advice for them. 

Finding a professor to connect with can be tough, and sometimes for students of color, it can be harder to receive the support they need in a predominantly white institution (PWI). Rowan University is considered a PWI. According to their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) report of faculty and staff by ethnicity, white faculty is the largest staff population at Rowan. 

This report demonstrates the current demographics of the faculty and staff based on all colleges, departments, indicators, positions, and DEI. In 2024,  71.57% of faculty and staff were white, 11.52% were black, 6.94% were Hispanic, and 5.54% were Asian. 

For the Rowan DEI department, it is important to foster those connections with students to create a supportive environment within the campus, and black faculty are doing their part in finding students to connect with. 

On Oct. 18 in the Business Hall, Black@Rowan held their Black Faculty & Staff Meet and Greet, which commenced at 12:30 p.m. The group is an employee resource community for black faculty and staff, and they hosted the event so students could get the opportunity to meet new professors. This was also a chance for faculty members to learn more about the students and what their needs are. 

The event was organized by Dr. Kristen Barrett, who presented a little more about the employee resource community to faculty members who had little knowledge about the group. 

Dr. Barrett is a senior lecturer at Rowan University, as well as the main organizer of this event and the creator of Black@Rowan. 

“The number of black faculty and staff on campus are lower, so because of that we do not have as much visibility,” said Dr. Barrett. “The idea was to allow students to come and meet us, so if they’re looking for faculty and staff with the same identity, they know where to find us.” 

The senior lecturer said that there are other employee resource communities for different identities of faculty and staff like Asian, veteran, and so forth. 

“One of our main goals at the meeting, even though we do not have large numbers, those of us who are here how can we be more visible to students,” said Dr. Barrett. “One of the ideas that came about was that if we could have a table at events that students already hold.” 

She discussed the idea of having faculty members at student organizations, however many club events fall in the afternoons, which can be difficult for faculty members with families or other duties. 

For students, this event was important so their voices could be heard. Dr. Barrett wanted STEM students of color to attend this event so that they could find professors who identify like them. There is a larger population of white male professors teaching STEM courses. 

Avari Oliver is a senior molecular cellular biology major at Rowan who attended the event. She is the community service and fundraising chair for the Rowan Chapter of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE). 

“We are talking about how black Rowan needs to be more connected in a sense,” said Oliver. “We’re just expressing our concerns about what needs as part of NOBCChE, and what we want to do is build a community for black people in this field of STEM, but we find it very hard to grow ourselves and build those connections with other black organizations. We spoke about what we need from the faculty advisors to help us bridge that gap.” 

At her club’s meetings, she finds students who come and ask where they can go to ask for help, or how they can get in contact with someone who shares the same identity. She wants to address these questions with quick answers, so attending this event was important to learn more about black faculty and staff at Rowan. 

Black@Rowan affinity group aligns with the goals of Rowan’s Division of DEI, continuing to support, advocate, train, and care for Black faculty, staff, and educators. 

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