Academy evaluates minority recruitment

Air Force Academy leaders Friday debated how to attract more minorities and women, plus cadets from a wider range of backgrounds — such as innercity residents or students who are the first in their families to attend college.

Diversity recruitment is a priority for the academy and other elite universities nationwide. The academy risks falling behind unless it invests in “very sophisticated, data-driven” techniques to identify and recruit qualified students, the Board of Visitors was told Friday at its quarterly meeting.

“Competition for top talent nationally, especially in math and science, is getting fiercer,” said Robert Goodwin, former deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force. Goodwin, a 1994 academy graduate, led a yearlong study of academy recruiting and admissions processes after an audit in 2005 criticized the institution’s efforts, especially its use of the Preparatory School to groom minority candidates for the academic rigors of the academy.

Goodwin, who left the Air Force in March, shortly after completion of the 57-page admissions review, said he disagreed with audit recommendations related to the prep school. He criticized the Air Force for not providing better direction.

“The academy has achieved success to date, but they are not well-postured with proper staffing, sophisticated data tools and data, and involvement of senior Air Force leadership in academy marketing and recruitment,” he said.

At its May meeting, the Board of Visitors was told the academy faces a crisis in recruiting minority cadets. Superintendent Lt. Gen. John Regni said Friday that some progress is being made. For example, of the 1,300 cadets in the class of 2011 in basic training, 268 — 21 percent — are female — a record at the academy. But just 71, or 5.5 percent, are black, and most spent a year at the prep school. The class has 285 minorities, or 22 percent.

Col. William Carpenter, academy admissions director, defended his efforts while acknowledging help is needed.

“The last two classes are the most diverse we’ve ever had,” said Carpenter, who is retiring next month. “But it’s a matter of can we continue? It’s getting so competitive, and my office is maxed out.”

The academy needs more people in admissions and money to gather demographic information, and must do a better job analyzing it to identify nontraditional students who might make good leadership candidates, Goodwin said.

The report suggests screening criteria be changed to recognize that a high school student working at a fast-food restaurant and helping raise his siblings in a single-parent family is showing leadership qualities that should be considered along with the straight-A student who is an Eagle Scout.

“We need to take a systematic approach to evaluating the life experiences of the candidates,” Goodwin said.

Among the key recommendations, Goodwin’s group urged Air Force leadership to get “personally involved in recruiting at a grass-roots level” by reaching out to potential cadets in their communities.

Goodwin said members of Congress must be persuaded to help, as well, by doing more to identify students in their districts and talking up the academy as a college option.

Board chairman Charles Garcia agreed and asked for a report on which members of Congress are failing to consistently nominate candidates for the academy so they can be held “publicly accountable” at the board’s next meeting in October in Washington.

Goodwin’s report also recommends changing the way the Air Force uses 1,700 reserve officers nationwide to recruit and screen potential cadets. He said they need to use younger, more diverse officers who better relate to high school students. He said it’s time for the academy to stop comparing itself to military academies at West Point and Annapolis and strive to mimic the successes at Harvard, Stanford and other elite private and public universities.

“Can you continue to get the cream of the crop here?” Goodwin said.

“The demographics of our society are changing. If we don’t do something soon, I believe we may not have the same level of success in the future.”