Benjamin Baez

Race-Related Service and Faculty of Color: Conceptualizing Critical Agency in Academe.

Based on a qualitative study of sixteen faculty of color at aprivate research university, this article argues that service,though significantly presenting obstacles to the promotion andretention of faculty of color, actually may set the stage fora critical agency that resists and redefines academic structuresthat hinder faculty success. The construct of `service, therefore,presents the opportunity for theorizing the interplay of humanagency and social structures. The article suggests that facultymay seek to redefine oppressive structures through service, thus,exercising an agency that emerges from the very structures thatconstrain it. Faculty of color, in particular, may engage inservice to promote the success of racial minorities in the academyand elsewhere. Thus, service, especially that which seeks tofurther social justice, contributes to the redefinition of theacademy and society at large.

The Study of Diversity: The “Knowledge of Difference” and the Limits of Science

In situating the study of diversity within the sociology of knowledge, this article questions the uncritical use of social science in the politics of affirmative action. It argues that such use may have the unintended consequences of naturalizing racial differences, legitimating the institutional processes that use them, and ensuring their continued relevance in organizing society.

Agency, Structure, and Power: An Inquiry into Racism and Resistance for Education

This paper argues that the agency/structure dichotomy thatpredominates in racism discourse is problematic because itobscures how racism is produced and resisted at the local sitesof relations between individuals and between individualsand institutions. Racism permeates social relations,ensured by `knowledge and guaranteed through self-regulation. Resistance to racism requires arecognition of racisms `local character. As aresult, educators, particularly in classrooms,play important roles in resistance-practices.

Confidentiality and Peer Review: The Paradox of Secrecy in Academe

Using narrative analysis, this essay critiques confidentiality in the peer review process, which is linked discursively with academic freedom, privacy, and honesty. Such a link disciplines individuals to believe that confidentiality is a personal interest and obscures the institutional and corporate interests at stake. Thus, confidentiality may insulate the academy from accountability and resistance. To exercise a critical agency that questions the interests that constrain them, faculty members may need to know and question how peer review decisions are made.

Collegiality and Service for Tenure and Beyond: Acquiring a Reputation as a Team Player (review)

The editor has included a chapter on legal issues relevant to advising as well as a chapter on the possibilities offered by technology and the pitfalls to avoid. The most interesting chapter, in my view, is written by Susan H. Frost and Karen E. Brown-Wheeler. They emphasize advising as “a vital and organic component of teaching at any university” and trace its cultural and philosophical foundations over time. Their discussion of historical patterns and future challenges for faculty advising is situated in a highly creative analysis of what they call “three parallel and mutually reinforcing achievements”: “the evolution of the city, the evolution of the university, and the evolution of advising” (p. 223). As universities evolve into “global cities,” they call for continued attention to the close alignment of advising with an institution’s teaching mission and faculty culture. Several key themes appear throughout the chapters. One such theme is that excellent faculty advising contributes to student success and institutional effectiveness. A second is that approaches to faculty advising should be consistent with an institution’s culture and mission. A third is that, in addition to the attention given to advising by faculty members, effective faculty advising should be on the agenda for senior leaders, who can articulate the role of advising in the institution’s mission. The book deserves commendation for its thorough coverage of many issues related to faculty advising. I was also pleased to see throughout the book research findings and references to relevant literature to support assertions, suggestions, and conclusions. Another strength of the volume is the array of examples provided of training programs, evaluation strategies, rubrics, and checklists to assist with the design and assessment of faculty advising programs. I also appreciated the editor’s effort to establish at the start a conceptual approach for thinking about advising. The book would be even stronger and more useful if the editor had organized the chapters into subsections with introductory comments to help the reader see how each chapter contributed to an aspect of the conceptual framework. A final chapter that highlighted key themes that appeared across the chapters also would have enhanced the coherence of the volume as a whole. Despite these shortcomings, however, I am sure that provosts and deans, student affairs leaders, and faculty advisors will find much guidance, inspiration, and practical information in this book to enhance institutional faculty advising plans. Franklin Silverman. Collegiality and Service for Tenure and Beyond: Acquiring a Reputation as a Team Player. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004. 151 pp. Cloth:

Higher Education Law: The Faculty

65.95. IBSN: 0-89789-913-X.

Affirmative Action, Diversity, and the Politics of Representation in Higher Education

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