More than 150 faculty members and administrators met last week to learn about forms of subtle discrimination and to examine policies and informal practices that may contribute to discrimination on campus.

The Conference on Subtle Discrimination, held Thursday and Friday, addressed everyday discriminatory behaviors that are often expressed inadvertently. Such behaviors include language, rhetoric and stereotyping as well as eye contact differences and frequency of interruptions, said guest speaker Cathy Trower, a senior research analyst at Harvard University.

"All of us ÷ students, faculty, staff and administrators ÷ need to dedicate our efforts in a major way in the coming years to trying to change this climate," said Charles Tatum, Dean of the College of Humanities and chair of the Deans' Diversity Subcommittee.

However, in general, Americans do not acknowledge the presence of discrimination in their everyday lives, said guest speaker Allan Johnson.

"The track record is very bad. This country has a terrible time dealing effectively with these issues," said Johnson, who is a sociologist and professor at Hartford College for Women of the University of Hartford.

The UA has made efforts to ensure diversity is a priority on campus, starting with the Millennium Project in 2000 and the creation of the Diversity Coalition in 2002.

The Millennium Project has investigated discrepancies in male and female faculty salaries, research funds and lab space, teaching and advising workloads, service on committees and roles in departmental, college and university decisions.

The project description stated: "The work of the Millennium Project is prompted by the observation that women are underrepresented in faculty positions at different levels at the University of Arizona, and that even in cases where women are not statistically underrepresented, their voices are not being heard."

The project found that "· Large numbers of female faculty and faculty of color experience a particularly challenging and sometimes hostile climate."

Based on the results of its initial study, the Millennium Report Oversight Committee developed three subcommittees each focusing on a primary goal, including diversity, fairness and hospitality in campus communities.

The Generating Respect for All in a Climate of Academic Excellence Project was designed by the Deans' Committee on Women Faculty to investigate and document disparities between male and female faculty in the College of Medicine.

GRACE found that women faculty at the College of Medicine earned an average of $12,777 less than male faculty in 1999 ÷ 2000, after adjusting for other predictors of salary.

The study also found that a smaller percentage of female faculty members were on track to receive tenure, and more females than males served as assistant professors. Fewer women served in leadership positions; there were no female department heads and only 11 percent of section heads were women. Seventy-three percent of female full-time professors reported sharing research space compared to only 40 percent of male full professors.

The GRACE Project has made a difference in the College of Medicine community, said Kathy Reed, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the College of Medicine.

"We asked for changes in salaries and that may occur in some specific cases. We've asked for continued support in collecting data and that has been forthcoming," said the Millennium Project hospitality subcommittee member and chair of GRACE II, an ongoing project.

"Some of the work has less tangible, measurable outcomes," Reed said. "I absolutely believe that there's more conversation around the topic and I think that is important to change."

In 2002, UA President Pete Likins established the Diversity Action Coalition. The coalition developed a Diversity Action Plan aimed at recruiting and retaining a diverse campus community, establishing equity in all aspects of academic opportunity, incorporating diverse perspectives into campus activities and becoming a model academic community that "celebrates diversity and excellence."

The conference also addressed tenure problems. Women and minorities are less likely to be tenured, Trower said.

"I think we need to drastically change the tenure system. I think it's broken and I think that it differentially affects women and people of color," she said, adding that tenure was designed in the 1940s.

Many faculty, some of whom are women and minorities, do not receive tenure because they have heavier teaching or advising loads and may not do as much research.

"Our definitions of what is valued and rewarded have to be widened. There has to be a greater variety in it, and it has to be more creative and reflective of what the talents of the people we think are contributors are," Reed said. "The criteria for what is considered scholarship are considered narrow by some. It is possible to widen the criteria without lowering the standards."

The department of Decision and Planning Support is currently conducting an equity study, said Director John Wilson.

The study will establish a faculty salary report that takes into account the time since faculty members received their PhDs, the number of degrees that they possess, their disciplines and their ranks along with information about ethnicity and gender. The report will be released in the next two months, he said.

"You can't just do this once a year," Trower said. "Students need to talk about privilege and examine privilege, how it manifests itself in their lives."

"It's going to take students voting with their feet, saying, ÎI want to be in a more diverse place,'" Reed said. "It's going to take faculty voting with their feet, saying, ÎI want to work with a more diverse faculty.'"

The conference was sponsored by the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost, various colleges, the Association for Women Faculty, the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Office and the Millennium Report Oversight Committee.