AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF THE "ADAMS CASE" AFFIRMATIVE ACTION MANDATE ON DEANS IN FOUR-YEAR PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA

One of the principal legal cases that became a part of the desegregation struggle in higher education was the case of Kenneth Adams, et al., v. Elliott L. Richardson. Adams was a comprehensive class action suit that charged the Department of Health, Education and Welfare with defaulting in its legal responsibility to enforce Title VI of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964, and permitting ten states to receive Federal funds while continuing to operate racially dual systems of higher education. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of the Adams mandate on deans in four-year public institutions of higher education in two of the original ten Adams states. These two states were Maryland and Virginia. The study focused specifically on hiring practices as they relate to the position of the dean. Five categories were surveyed: selection committee make-up; methods of job advertisement; processes utilized in the selection of the dean; a comparison of average age and salary of black and white deans; and job responsibility of the dean. The respondent sample included 82 deans (27 black, 55 white) who represented twenty-one four-year public institutions of higher education. Six of the institutions were traditionally black and fifteen were traditionally white. The research instrument was a two-part questionnaire which had a primary focus centering on hiring practices. The secondary issues attempted to survey questions relative to general affirmative action policies. The following conclusions were reached from this study. (1) The proportion of black deans employed in institutions of higher education was not significantly different than before 1973. (2) Traditionally black institutions of higher education continue to provide most of the opportunities for professional upward mobility for a majority of black deans. (3) Affirmative action policies serve as the impetus for hiring blacks as opposed to the Adams case. (4) Although there was no significant difference in the statistical mean of salary between black and white deans, there was a difference in the numerical salary range. (5) The Federal government continues to play a major role in the development and implementation of affirmative action policies. (6) The Adams case had a significant impact on those institutions which did not have previously developed affirmative action plans. (7) Off-campus interest groups, such as the NAACP, have had lobbying impact on institutions regarding affirmative action. (8) The majority of deans employed by the surveyed institutions continue to be white males. (9) Decision makers at the institutions listed in this study, according to the respondents, continue to place more emphasis on the desegregation of the student body than on the desegregation of administrative staffs.