[House Hearing, 111 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
A CONTINUING EXAMINATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS SERVICES AND
DIVERSITY IN THE COAST GUARD
=======================================================================
(111-43)
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
COAST GUARD AND MARITIME TRANSPORTATION
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
June 19, 2009
__________
Printed for the use of the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
__________
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50-563 PDF WASHINGTON: 2009
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20402-0001
COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
JAMES L. OBERSTAR, Minnesota, Chairman
NICK J. RAHALL, II, West Virginia, JOHN L. MICA, Florida
Vice Chair DON YOUNG, Alaska
PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon THOMAS E. PETRI, Wisconsin
JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of JOHN J. DUNCAN, Jr., Tennessee
Columbia VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan
JERROLD NADLER, New York FRANK A. LoBIONDO, New Jersey
CORRINE BROWN, Florida JERRY MORAN, Kansas
BOB FILNER, California GARY G. MILLER, California
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas HENRY E. BROWN, Jr., South
GENE TAYLOR, Mississippi Carolina
ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON, Illinois
ELLEN O. TAUSCHER, California TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania
LEONARD L. BOSWELL, Iowa SAM GRAVES, Missouri
TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania BILL SHUSTER, Pennsylvania
BRIAN BAIRD, Washington JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
RICK LARSEN, Washington SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West
MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts Virginia
TIMOTHY H. BISHOP, New York JIM GERLACH, Pennsylvania
MICHAEL H. MICHAUD, Maine MARIO DIAZ-BALART, Florida
RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri CHARLES W. DENT, Pennsylvania
GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California CONNIE MACK, Florida
DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois LYNN A WESTMORELAND, Georgia
MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio
JASON ALTMIRE, Pennsylvania CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan
TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota MARY FALLIN, Oklahoma
HEATH SHULER, North Carolina VERN BUCHANAN, Florida
MICHAEL A. ARCURI, New York ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio
HARRY E. MITCHELL, Arizona BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky
CHRISTOPHER P. CARNEY, Pennsylvania ANH ``JOSEPH'' CAO, Louisiana
JOHN J. HALL, New York AARON SCHOCK, Illinois
STEVE KAGEN, Wisconsin PETE OLSON, Texas
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
LAURA A. RICHARDSON, California
ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland
SOLOMON P. ORTIZ, Texas
PHIL HARE, Illinois
JOHN A. BOCCIERI, Ohio
MARK H. SCHAUER, Michigan
BETSY MARKEY, Colorado
PARKER GRIFFITH, Alabama
MICHAEL E. McMAHON, New York
THOMAS S. P. PERRIELLO, Virginia
DINA TITUS, Nevada
HARRY TEAGUE, New Mexico
(ii)
SUBCOMMITTEE ON COAST GUARD AND MARITIME TRANSPORTATION
ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland, Chairman
CORRINE BROWN, Florida FRANK A. LoBIONDO, New Jersey
RICK LARSEN, Washington DON YOUNG, Alaska
GENE TAYLOR, Mississippi HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina
BRIAN BAIRD, Washington VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan
TIMOTHY H. BISHOP, New York TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania
STEVE KAGEN, Wisconsin PETE OLSON, Texas
MICHAEL E. McMAHON, New York
LAURA A. RICHARDSON, California
JAMES L. OBERSTAR, Minnesota
(Ex Officio)
(iii)
CONTENTS
Page
Summary of Subject Matter........................................ vi
TESTIMONY
Dickerson, Terri A., Director, Office of Civil Rights, United
States Coast Guard; and Vice Admiral Clifford I. Pearson, Chief
of Staff, United States Coast Guard............................ 5
Latta, Stephen B., Captain, USN Retired, Dean of Admissions,
United States Naval Academy.................................... 27
Pearson, Vice Admiral Clifford I., Chief of Staff, United States
Coast Guard.................................................... 5
PREPARED STATEMENT BY MEMBER OF CONGRESS
Thompson, Hon. Bennie G., of Mississippi......................... 34
PREPARED STATEMENTS SUBMITTED BY WITNESSES
Dickerson, Terri A............................................... 37
Latta, Stephen B................................................. 44
Pearson, Vice Admiral Clifford I................................. 57
SUBMISSION FOR THE RECORD
Dickerson, Terri A., Director, Office of Civil Rights, United
States Coast Guard, response to request for information........ 12
Pearson, Vice Admiral Clifford I., Chief of Staff, United States
Coast Guard:
Response to request for information............................ 19
Response to request for information............................ 23
Strategic Plan................................................. 66
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
HEARING ON A CONTINUING EXAMINATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS SERVICES AND
DIVERSITY IN THE COAST GUARD
----------
Thursday, June 18, 2009,
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime
Transportation,
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:37 a.m., in
Room 2167, Rayburn House Office Building, the Honorable Elijah
E. Cummings [Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Mr. Cummings. The Subcommittee will come to order. Let me
first of all say we were trying to make sure we did not run
into super schedule problems by starting the hearing and then
having a big pause. As it has turned out, the best plans don't
always work. It appears that we are going to have a vote in
about 20 minutes, maybe 30, but we should be able to move this
hearing along with perhaps one break.
The Subcommittee convenes today to continue its examination
of civil rights services in the Coast Guard and of the Coast
Guard's diversity initiatives. I note this hearing is being
conducted as one of several hearings that meet the oversight
requirements under clauses 2(n), (o), and (p) of Rule XI of the
Rules of the House of Representatives.
In April, I convened the Subcommittee to consider the Coast
Guard's provision of civil rights services to its military and
civilian workforce and to applicants for employment following
the release of a report on the service's equal employment
opportunity programs written by Booz Allen Hamilton.
The Booz Allen Hamilton report was simply scathing. Among
other criticisms, the Booz Allen Hamilton team found that: one,
the Coast Guard's civil rights program did not fully protect
confidential personal information; two, the service did not
conduct thorough analyses of barriers to equal opportunity in
employment or develop specific plans to break these barriers
down; three, the service had a number of inadequately trained
service providers who could not ensure the complaints
management process was in full compliance with regulatory
requirements.
We also learned, after subsequent examination, that
virtually none of these findings was new. Almost all of these
criticisms had been identified--sometimes repeatedly--in
previous third-party assessments of the Coast Guard Civil
Rights Program and in the Coast Guard's own, their own self-
assessments.
During the course of our April hearing, the Coast Guard
indicated that six new positions had been assigned to the
Office of Civil Rights. The Director of the Office of Civil
Rights, Ms. Terri Dickerson, stated she could have these
positions filled by June 15th, and I promised that the
Subcommittee would reconvene after June 15th to receive an
update on the progress made by the Coast Guard in filling these
positions and in strengthening the provision of civil rights
services. Ladies and gentlemen, that promise is kept by the
convening of this hearing today.
During our last hearing, Ms. Dickerson also indicated that
a number of plans were being developed and were poised for
implementation to respond to the many shortcomings identified
in the Coast Guard's civil rights services. Initial reports
indicate that significant progress has been made. I note that
yesterday, the Coast Guard announced that civil rights service
providers will now be full-time employees who will receive
standardized training and who will report directly to the
Office of Civil Rights. We applaud the long overdue
professionalization of the Coast Guard's civil rights services.
The announcement was welcomed.
Finally, Ranking Member LoBiondo and I agreed that we would
ask the Government Accountability Office to submit to the
Subcommittee by next April the results of an assessment of the
Coast Guard's effort to strengthen the management of its Equal
Employment Opportunity and Equal Opportunity programs.
I report today that Ranking Member LoBiondo and I, together
with the Chairman of the Full Committee, Congressman Oberstar,
and the Ranking Member of the Full Committee, have written and
made that request. Our staffs have now met with representatives
of the GAO, and the GAO is formulating its research plan at the
present time and intends to present findings to the
Subcommittee next April, as requested.
I say this to emphasize that our oversight of the Coast
Guard's civil rights programs will not end today. I also say it
because I want to make it very clear that this is a bipartisan
effort. It is not a Republican effort, it is not a Democratic
effort; it is an American effort. Today's hearing is just
another installment of what will continue to be an active
oversight process. I remind you that this is our watch. This is
our watch. Our goal is ensuring that the Coast Guard achieves
and sustains a model EEO program for civilian employees and a
model EO program for members of the military.
During our April hearing, we also examined the initiatives
that the Coast Guard is undertaking to expand diversity
throughout its ranks. We have been particularly concerned about
the diversity at the Coast Guard Academy.
In May, the Coast Guard Academy's Class of 2009 graduated.
Out of a class of 225 students, there were, according to data
provided by the Coast Guard, 24 minorities. In that were
included 10 Asians, 9 Hispanics, 4 African Americans and 1
Native American. Additional data provided by the Coast Guard
show that the incoming Class of 2013 is expected to begin with
288 students, of whom 44 will be minorities, meaning that
minorities will comprise approximately 15 percent of the
incoming class. Of those students, Hispanic Americans will
comprise nearly 9 percent of the incoming class and African
Americans students will comprise 2 percent of the incoming
class.
I serve as a member of the Board of Visitors on the Naval
Academy Board. Earlier this month, the Naval Academy announced
that its Class of 2013 will be the most diverse class in the
institution's history, with 35 percent of the class of incoming
midshipmen being minorities. In other words, the Naval
Academy's Class of 2013 has more than double the number of
incoming minority members as a percentage of the incoming class
than the Coast Guard Academy's Class of 2013 does. Further,
this level of diversity in the Naval Academy's Class of 2013
represents an increase of approximately 7 percent over the
percentage that minorities comprised of the incoming Class of
2012 last year.
The very top levels of the Navy's leadership in the Office
of the Chief of Naval Operations have recognized that diversity
is not a problem to be managed but, rather, a promise to be
realized. Our Nation's diversity is one of our greatest
strengths. And, to ensure that it can harness this strength to
accomplish its missions in service to our Nation, the Navy has
set a clear objective of significantly increasing the diversity
of its future senior leadership, and it is holding its current
senior leadership directly accountable for their contributions
to the achievement of this objective.
To that end, I might add that I am joining with Chairman
Bennie Thompson, Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee,
to write the President and the Secretary of Homeland Security
asking that when they appoint a new admiral to head up the
Coast Guard, that they make sure that that person is sensitive
to these issues. It might start at the beginning at the top. I
note that Admiral Allen had done an outstanding job, but we
must now build upon what he has done.
In pursuit of the Navy's overall diversity objectives, the
United States Naval Academy has implemented a comprehensive
effort to break down any barriers that its old recruiting
methods may have thrown in the way of achievement of its
inclusion goals and has initiated new efforts targeted to reach
potential students in every corner of this Nation. This effort
has been led by the Dean of Admissions at the Naval Academy,
Stephen B. Latta, who will testify today. I emphasize that he
is here specifically to share with the Subcommittee how the
Naval Academy has achieved its stunning successes. And one of
the reasons why we invited him here is because we wanted to
show that it can be done. It can be done.
The experience of the United States Naval Academy
demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that where there is a
will to expand diversity, diversity will expand. The Coast
Guard is moving decisively to ensure that its civil rights
services guarantee equal opportunity to all. Like the Navy, the
Coast Guard must also take specific and aggressive steps to
ensure that it can harness the strength of our Nation's
diversity by ensuring that its leadership pipeline reflects
that diversity.
Finally, it is frankly past time for the Coast Guard to
move to define comprehensive, service-wide diversity objectives
and to require each member and unit of the service, including
the Academy, to contribute to the achievement of these
objectives.
With that, I now recognize our distinguished Ranking
Member, Congressman LoBiondo.
Mr. LoBiondo. Good morning and thank you, Mr. Chairman,
very much. The Subcommittee is continuing its oversight of the
Coast Guard's civil rights programs and the service's efforts
to address issues related to diversity within its ranks.
Following our last meeting, I joined with Chairman Cummings
to ask the Government Accountability Office to further examine
the Coast Guard's Office of Civil Rights. While this work has
just begun, I appreciate the Chairman's continued attention to
these Coast Guard programs and how critical they are.
At our last hearing, we were told of several items the
Coast Guard planned to take action on prior to this hearing.
These items included hiring additional civil rights personnel,
a centralization of the civil rights program, and the
identification of proven measures that would improve the
workplace climate and could be implemented in the near future.
I look forward to receiving an update on progress that has been
made on each of these items.
The Commandant has long voiced his interest in expanding
the service's efforts to enhance the diversity of its military
and civilian workforce. I support the Commandant's efforts to
widen the scope of the Coast Guard's recruiting efforts to
reach Americans of all races and in all regions of our country.
The Coast Guard must remain centered on the goal of bringing
the most talented and qualified candidates to serve in the
Coast Guard.
I am pleased the Dean of Admission of the Naval Academy
will testify this morning on their approach to increased
recruiting efforts to attract prospective midshipmen from non-
traditional areas. I believe the Coast Guard Academy should
examine the initiatives adopted by their sister academy and
determine whether or not these or similar approaches should be
considered in New London.
As I said at our last hearing, this Subcommittee stands
ready to work with the Coast Guard to provide resources
necessary to address these issues. Although we have not
received any such requests to date, I hope the witnesses will
include in their testimony whether additional resources or
authorities are required at this time.
Once again, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for your
leadership and I want to thank the witnesses for their
continued efforts in this particular area.
Mr. Cummings. Thank you very much.
I ask unanimous consent that the Congressman Bennie
Thompson, the Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security,
who shares this Subcommittee's deep concern about the Coast
Guard's diversity initiatives and equal opportunity programs,
and has been closely following our oversight efforts, may
submit a statement for the record. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mr. Cummings. We are very pleased this morning to have back
with us Ms. Terri Dickerson, who is Director of the Office of
Civil Rights with the Coast Guard, and Vice Admiral Clifford
Pearson, who is Chief of Staff of the Coast Guard.
Ms. Dickerson, thank you very much for being with us, and
we will now hear from you.
TESTIMONY OF TERRI A. DICKERSON, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF CIVIL
RIGHTS, UNITED STATES COAST GUARD; AND VICE ADMIRAL CLIFFORD I.
PEARSON, CHIEF OF STAFF, UNITED STATES COAST GUARD
Ms. Dickerson. Thank you, sir. Good morning, Mr. Chairman
and distinguished Members of the Committee. I am Terri
Dickerson, Director of the Coast Guard's Office of Civil
Rights. It is my pleasure to speak with you this morning again
to report significant progress in the Coast Guard's Office of
Civil Rights.
I would like to request that my written statement be
entered into the record.
Mr. Cummings. So ordered.
Ms. Dickerson. Thank you.
During the April hearing, we discussed three topics: the
current state of the Coast Guard's civil rights program; the
strategies I had in place to act on recommendations resulting
from a functional review; and, last, the benchmarks I am using
to measure our progress. I am here to offer you evidence that
Coast Guard has followed up on the many items we discussed.
First, action plans. In April I reported that we had
subjected the 53 recommendations arising from the functional
review to action plans with milestone dates which enabled
detailed tracking. I stated that 10 of the 53 recommendations
had been completed. In the ensuing two months, that number has
grown from 10 to 29 recommendations now completed. In sum, all
53 actions are either in the planning stage, various phases of
execution, or accomplished.
Your statements and actions, and those of Admiral Allen,
have communicated a strong message to our workforce: that valid
and properly resourced EEO processes are vital to mission
execution. With the momentum you have inspired, we are on track
to implement all remaining actions.
As to resources, Coast Guard has taken action. I am pleased
to report that Coast Guard directed $570,000 to emergent
current year civil rights needs and authorized six new
positions. I have filled all six positions. Consistent with the
Coast Guard's mission, they represent facets of diversity by
grade level, race, gender, national origin; that is, Black,
Hispanic, Caucasian, Asian American, male and female. Three
were from outside Coast Guard and three represent succession
opportunities within.
Consistent with the preset that nothing substitutes for top
leadership commitment, your strong support and that of Admiral
Allen's for our Office's restructuring and level of resourcing
are receiving service-wide support. I detected this during my
visits over the past two months to five of the nine Coast Guard
districts nationwide. At each I discussed the centralized EEO
service delivery model, the functional review results, and
strategic action plans. I am happy to report that personnel
whom I have briefed are overwhelmingly pledging their strong
support for our strategy going forward.
We have taken a giant step forward finalizing our
restructuring proposal in that it has now been signed by the
Commandant. I expect full implementation of the proposed
restructuring by July, or as soon thereafter as union
notifications and resulting issues are resolved.
In my visits to Coast Guard districts, I have met with
command cadre, field level personnel, and other stakeholders,
and have provided briefs to a wide range of audiences,
including all-hands gatherings. On Tuesday, I reported to the
Commandant that the opportunity to explain the new structure,
one locality at a time, is offering me feedback to improve and
engendering strong support among those who are hearing it
firsthand. They have agreed it reaches benchmarks for a process
fused with integrity and I am extremely encouraged by the
positive feedback.
Last, outcomes. Foremost, we will have a centrally run
national program delivered by personnel trained in EEO
statutes, regulations, guidance, policy, and instruction. This
will foster consistency, better oversight, and faster and more
reliable service. Our results will be evident in measures,
including complaint processing timeliness, consistency of
practices, prevention of unauthorized disclosures, and
compliance with EEO requirements.
Coast Guard has been transparent in its move to a modern
day civil rights program, keeping you informed of our
intentions. In my correspondence with you last year, I reported
my plan to conduct the review. When complete, I communicated
the results of the review to you, the workforce, and the
public, and I have sent you my plan of action, with milestone
dates for completion. In another letter last month, I provided
a progress update, and I am updating the workforce during my
visits.
Mr. Chairman, the civil rights program is not only well on
track with its goals and action plan. As you so eloquently and
consistently remind us, this is our watch. Our journey from
past day to the future one affords the opportunity for
leadership and vision. I am proud to be the Director of the
Coast Guard Civil Rights Program. I sense great momentum in our
organization that I will continue to harness and drive toward
becoming a model EEO program in the Federal Government.
Again, I thank you for this opportunity to testify today
and I am happy to take your questions.
Mr. Cummings. Thank you very much, Ms. Dickerson.
Vice Admiral Clifford Pearson.
Admiral Pearson. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, distinguished
Members of the Committee. I am Vice Admiral Clifford Pearson,
Chief of Staff, U.S. Coast Guard, and it is a pleasure to be
testifying on the service's diversity efforts. I ask that my
written testimony be entered into the record.
Mr. Cummings. Without objection, so ordered.
Admiral Pearson. Mr. Chairman, the Coast Guard continues to
build and sustain an organizational climate that embraces the
potential and enhances the contributions of all of our
employees by promoting inclusion, equality, and respect. We are
taking aggressive action to promote the full awareness and full
equal access to the entire spectrum of Coast Guard
opportunities, and we want every American to know these
opportunities exist.
To that end, we have established a clear and distinct
vision: ``recruit, retain, and support a ready, capable,
diverse, and high quality military and civilian workforce.''
The Coast Guard has completed the initial draft of a new
diversity strategic plan that will be finalized by 1 September
2009. We look forward to sharing it with the Committee upon its
completion.
This strategic plan will better define our diversity goals
and performance objectives that cascade down from and underpin
the Commandant's diversity policy statement. It explicitly
focuses on five strategic goals: increased diversity through
leadership accountability; improve total workforce cultural
climate; expand outreach and marketing; provide equitable
career opportunities for all employees; and optimize and
education to understand the value of a diverse workforce.
This plan will also align with the Coast Guard Academy's
strategy plan, will task subordinate echelon field commanders
with the establishment and implementation of supporting
diversity action plans. The plan's performance measures will
result in leadership transparency and help ensure compliance.
The plan also requires senior leadership's continued emphasis
on the importance and urgency of diversity, and requires
consistent communication to all levels of the service.
As a guiding document, the strategic plan sets clear and
concise direction to better position Coast Guard leaders and
staff to make optimal diversity-related decisions while we
continue to modernize and realign our forces to meet current
and future needs. The strategic goals outlined in this plan are
target levels of performances driven by our cause for action,
our mission, as well as our regulatory requirements in core
competencies. Moving forward, our approach requires an annual
review and revision while evaluating action plan progress on a
quarterly basis to maintain focus and continuously monitor our
goals.
We are confident the Committee will recognize the value of
this plan. During previous hearings, Members of the Committee
have asked ``What can we do to help?'' We ask for your
continued support, interest, and involvement in executing our
plan. You have helped us connect with local schools and
communities we otherwise might not have reached.
You further challenged us to forge stronger ties and share
best practices with our sister services. And, just yesterday, a
New York Times article pointed out the Naval Academy's expanded
urban recruiting effort started two years ago that helped to
result in their banner year, and we hope our similar programs
will prove the same. Lastly, you have participated in Coast
Guard outreach events, conveying the dedication and importance
of making increased diversity in service a reality.
While our strategy is being finalized, we are tracking our
diversity initiatives through our tactical level diversity
action plan. I will highlight some of the accomplishments to
date. We have chartered an MD-715 Team to improve linkages
between our civil rights and equal opportunity programs and all
of our human resource efforts. These links are crucial to
effective change in producing results, including gaps we have
identified as needing closing.
Additionally, we redirected additional funding in fiscal
year 2009 to enhance our diversity initiatives, enabling
increased outreach to Native Alaskans, increased participation
by minority officers, in national level affinity group
conferences vitally important to career development and
progression into senior ranks and leadership roles, increased
outreach activities at historically Black colleges and
universities through strengthened partnerships with the
National Naval Officers Association and the creation of an
ambassador's program.
We have just reprogrammed an O-6 captain billet to serve as
a dedicated liaison to the national historically Black colleges
and universities and predominantly Black institutions. This
position, slated to be filled this summer, will improve the
marketing effectiveness of several programs aimed towards
increasing the diversity of our officer corps and our incoming
Coast Guard Academy classes.
We continue to press forward in our enlisted and officer
recruiting programs. To date, in 2009, 32 percent of our total
enlisted ascensions are minorities. We have also experienced a
4.5 percent increase in women compared to the same period last
year.
We have refocused our college student pre-commissioning
initiative scholarship, CSPI, program to ensure greater
visibility at minority-serving institutions. CSPI has a proven
record of attracting minority officer candidates and it is a
success story. Of the current 42 candidates in the program, 48
percent are minority and 38 percent are female. Projected pool
of applicants for this year is also shaping up to have the
largest candidate pool of any CSPI selection panel we have ever
convened. We expect between 60 and 70 applicants, and that is a
significant increase over the 48 from last year.
We have recently hosted a landmark diversity forum a Coast
Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. entitled Championing
Diversity Leadership Roundtable. It was designed to bring
together national leaders in the field of human resources and
diversity.
Additionally, the Coast Guard Academy recently released
their 2013 strategic plan focusing on diversity, leadership,
and character development. A copy will be provided for the
record. This plan states our goal is to increase under-
represented minorities in the corps of cadets from our current
14.4 percent to 25 to 30 percent by 2015 and in faculty and
staff by 2020. The incoming Class of 2013 currently has a total
minority population of 15.5 percent, an increase from last
year's 11.9 percent. We continue to sustain a strong female
presence at the Academy, with more than 29 percent comprising
the entering class, the highest of any service academy.
We are working diligently to embed sustainable strategies,
actions, and outcomes for several years. We continue to invest
in those programs and initiatives that will lead to increased
diversity, including our Coast Guard Scholars Program, the
Academy's one-year academic preparatory program. This year's
incoming class contains 46 Coast Guard Academy Scholars, of
which 43 percent are minority, and next year's prep class is
estimated at 65 percent minority, including eight African
American students who will make a strong contribution to the
diverse composition of the Class of 2014.
The Academy Introduction Mission, known as AIM, has been
revamped and reshaped to emphasize minority student attendance
where their high school those students selected as AIM
attendees are provided a fully funded one-week experience
during the summer after junior year. We are optimistic the
program will increase enrollment of African Americans and other
minorities since nearly 50 percent of the Academy's incoming
class are typically AIM graduates.
Mr. Chairman, we understand the only way to improve
diversity at senior military levels is to grow it up through
the ranks, and this takes some time. However, we are taking
assertive actions to ensure our junior offices and enlisted
personnel receive the coaching, the performance feedback, and
mentoring necessary to advance in their chosen specialties.
Since our testimony in April, we have implemented the plan
change to our officer evaluation system and have also expanded
the mandated use of individual development plans to help our
newer members stay on track for success. An individual
development plan is a roadmap for our personnel to reflect
their goals and professional aspirations, with the help of
their supervisors.
We have also reprogrammed base resources to send 210
members to participate in national level affinity conferences,
which continue to prove incredibly powerful as career
development tools. The mentoring and network opportunities
created by the presence of our flag officers and senior
executives at these conferences further enhances the long-
lasting connection.
Mr. Chairman, as we previously testified, total workforce
diversity is critically important to the Coast Guard. We view
diversity as both mission relevant and an organizational
imperative. The Coast Guard needs the best talent our great
Nation has to offer, and it translates into mission readiness
and execution. The cause for action is evident. The
demographics of our Nation are changing rapidly and the Coast
Guard must be proactive and forward-leaning in our recruitment
and retention efforts. We have established the metrics to
achieve our workforce diversity goals.
In summary, we must continue to do all that we can to make
certain every American is fully aware of the opportunities the
Coast Guard has to offer and every American has full and equal
access to those opportunities that is equally important as
fostering, mentoring, and retaining our current workforce. With
your continuing support, we will achieve our goals.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I look
forward to your questions.
Mr. Cummings. Thank you very much.
First of all, I want to thank both of you for your
testimony. I want to go to you just very briefly, Admiral.
Well, really, both of you.
I remember one time I had a PR person in my office, but we
weren't getting very much PR, so I went to him and I said we
are not getting very much PR, I don't know what is going on
here, and he said, well, I am doing this and I am doing that
and I am doing this and I am doing that, and I said, you have
been doing this for years now and you have got to produce or
you don't have a job.
I think what I am getting at is that we have got to put
these efforts in to motion. I know some of them are in motion,
but we have got to produce and we have got to see results. And
when I look at the Academy's record, it is a painful sight, and
I don't say that lightly. And the reason why I wanted the Naval
Academy to come through here is because I keep hearing people
not necessarily in the Coast Guard, but overall, when people
cannot find or cannot get to levels of diversity that reflect
our society, quite often they say, pretty much, it can't be
done, and I want to make sure that people understand it can be
done and that we have to direct our efforts in a way where it
is most productive.
And at the end of the day, as strange as this may sound, it
is not something that I believe in very strongly, we only have
a short time on this earth, and I believe that I want that
little boy, that white boy in Roanoke, Virginia, I want him to
have a chance to be in the Coast Guard, and I want that African
American in San Francisco to have a chance if they are
qualified. So it is not about color and all that; it is about
just reflecting our society, and it is a reflection of the fact
that all of our society is paying taxes to create these
institutions, and I would just like to see the participation of
a cross section of our society.
Ms. Dickerson, you have stated that only full-time civil
rights service providers will advise the Coast Guard personnel
on the EEO rights and responsibilities. You further indicate
that all civil rights service providers will report to the
Office of Civil Rights. When will this change be implemented
and do you have enough full-time civil rights service providers
in place now to achieve your projected coverage ratio of one
full-time civil rights service provide per 1,000 employees? If
you don't have enough personnel to achieve that coverage ratio,
when do you anticipate it will be achieved?
Ms. Dickerson. Sir, the President's fiscal year 2010 budget
for Coast Guard contains a request for four additional billets
in the Office of Civil Rights Program. We are currently
undergoing a manpower requirements analysis later this year.
We, in our office, thought that the ratio, because of the
relatively low number of complaints and the way our personnel
are situated of 1,000 to 1 was about right-sized for the Civil
Rights Program, and the manpower requirements analysis will
validate that number for us. We will get the results of that
analysis at the end of 9/30, September 30th is our target date
for receiving that report, and we will act on the subsequent
request thereafter and program any additional billets that we
need from that analysis.
As to the restructuring, sir, all of the authorization are
signed off on and, as I mentioned, the unions have been
notified, and there may be opportunity to bargain. Ten bargain
unit employees are involved in the civil rights chain, so we
will have to undergo that process, and as soon as all of those
clearances have been received, we will be staged to go to the
centralized structure.
Mr. Cummings. You said that you were able to complete, I
think you said, 29 of the 53 recommendations of the Booz Allen
Hamilton report?
Ms. Dickerson. That is right.
Mr. Cummings. When do you expect to have the rest of them
done?
Ms. Dickerson. Almost all of them are scheduled for
completion by the end of the fiscal year, and there are just a
number of others that are programmed for completion by the end
of October.
Mr. Cummings. And would you provide us with a timetable,
not a timetable, but let me know when you expect to have these
done? And just like I asked you, at the last hearing, when you
expected to have the six employees, you gave me a date and I
gave you a week or two more, I will give you two weeks after
you say. Then we are going to check back with you to make sure
that they have been done. It is not that we don't trust you; it
is just that we want to make sure we have accountability.
Ms. Dickerson. Yes.
Mr. Cummings. Were you about to say something?
Ms. Dickerson. May I submit that for the record? I would
look at the 29. I do believe our last completion date is
October 31 time frame.
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Mr. Cummings. Well, what I am saying is that if you have
things are going to be completed, say, for example, if you have
something that is going to be completed at the end of August, I
want to know that because I want to hold you to that and I want
to make sure that that is done as soon as it can be done,
because people's lives are hanging in the balance here.
Ms. Dickerson. Absolutely.
Mr. Cummings. So you follow me?
Ms. Dickerson. Yes.
Mr. Cummings. So, in other words, whatever it is you are
going to get done, I want dates for those things; I don't want
to just wait until the end. So that is what I want. That is the
document that I want. So you want to wait and submit that?
Ms. Dickerson. I believe we submitted it prior to, but I
certainly can resend it.
Mr. Cummings. Okay.
Ms. Dickerson. I was under the impression we had, but if we
have not, I certainly will get this to you right after the
hearing.
Mr. Cummings. All right, that will be fine.
Mr. LoBiondo.
Mr. LoBiondo. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Let me apologize; I had a
meeting with an Air Force general that we could not get
rescheduled, and that is why I was absent from the hearing. You
had asked some of the questions I had asked.
I am not sure if you did ask-- of the 53 recommendations
that were made in the report, how many the Coast Guard has
fully addressed at this point. Did you cover that?
Ms. Dickerson. Yes.
Mr. LoBiondo. You did, okay. Well, I will get it from the
record.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Cummings. I have a series of questions, so I am going
to you, Ms. Dickerson, again. You filled six of the new
positions assigned to the OCR, is that right?
Ms. Dickerson. That is right.
Mr. Cummings. And there is still one person who hasn't
started?
Ms. Dickerson. That person starts next week.
Mr. Cummings. And what will these people be doing? Just
generally. Do they all do the same thing?
Ms. Dickerson. No.
Mr. Cummings. Okay.
Ms. Dickerson. As you know, we took on final agency
decision writing for military complaints, so one of them is a
final agency decision writer, an attorney, who will be in our
office; we also have a support person in our office; and then
four were programmed to the field based on the population of
personnel that they will be delivering EEO services to.
So one went to our seventh district in Florida, one went to
our eighth district in New Orleans, one went to our ninth
district in Cleveland, and Virginia was the other location,
yes, Portsmouth, Virginia was our fourth person, we placed a
fourth person; and these will be delivering civil rights
services on a full-time basis.
Mr. Cummings. Now, the Booz Allen report stated that within
each field command, the commanding officer is considered to be
the senior EEO officer for the particular command. What will be
the role of the commanding officer of field commands in the
Civil Rights Service provision processing forward?
Ms. Dickerson. Going forward, we have taken the collateral
duty civil rights officer and eliminated that function across
the board. As I reported in April, there were about 400
collateral duty personnel situated in local units all across
the world, really, across Coast Guard, and the opportunity to
delivery training to that ever-evolving cadre of people and
policy changes, and to get performance feedback, or to even
give it, was just not workable. So we have programmed a lot of
those functions and they will be going to the XO, which is the
executive officer, at those units. Every unit has one.
So we will be delivering training to them through XO
conferences, and also we will be giving them work tools. One of
the main things that Admiral Allen and Admiral Crea wanted to
make sure that we had was 24-by-7 coverage so that people could
raise civil rights concern even if they were in an underway
status on a ship. So we have added an 800 number whereby those
commanding officers and executive officers can access a full-
time civil rights specialist when something occurs.
And the reason that we programmed it to that position is
that the XO is the one who can break the communication silence
and access a satellite telephone for someone who is
experiencing a problem perhaps on a ship underway, for example,
maybe in a harassment situation. That phone will be staffed 24-
by-7 by military personnel, and if they don't answer the phone
it rings on my personal cell phone. So we have added that
element to make sure that we are not missing any opportunity to
deliver services.
Other of the collateral duty roles that were with those 400
are now being reprogrammed to the full-time civil rights
personnel.
Mr. Cummings. Now, when you say services, are you including
counseling?
Ms. Dickerson. Yes.
Mr. Cummings. Okay.
All right, we are going to have to break, unfortunately,
because we have a vote, three votes. We will be back here in
about a half an hour. Sorry.
We are in recess.
[Recess.]
Mr. Cummings. The hearing is called back into order.
Admiral Pearson, the Academy's strategic plan says that one
of your goals is ``cultivating a community of inclusion.'' One
of the action items that you intend to undertake in support of
that goal is to further diversity within the corps of cadets,
faculty staff, and curriculum, including achieving a critical
mass between 25 percent and 30 percent of the under-represented
minority cadets at the Academy by 2015.
Given that minorities are projected to comprise only
approximately 15 percent of the incoming Class of 2013, what
specific steps do you plan to take to increase the percentage
of minorities by approximately 10 percent or more over the next
six years? What specific recruiting efforts will be initiated
and what are your target goals for the Class of 2014, for which
you are now recruiting?
Admiral Pearson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The approach is to do an extensive awareness campaign, as
well as outreach. We have already begun to get into different
market areas than we had previously been, including communities
of under-represented minorities, as well as specific schools.
And I mentioned in my opening statement about programs that we
have altered the Academy introduction mission AIM and how we
are going to use that as basically a scholarship item to fund
the travel for a particular potential student to travel from
wherever his or her home area might be to the Academy to have
that experience in their summer.
But basically the answer is an extensive awareness and
recruiting campaign, as well as I think an extraordinarily
important part of the entire approach is the Scholars Program.
Those individuals that need a little bit more academic
preparation we are sending to the New Mexico Military Institute
or Marion Military Institute in Alabama for one year academic
additional preparation. That has proven to be very successful
over the past few years, and particular this year quite a
number of our appointments were through the Scholars Program.
We are expanding that.
Also, I think not only does the Scholars Program aid in the
admissions process, but obviously we are concerned of the
success while at the Academy after admission, so with that
preparation at the Scholars Program, it greatly enhances a
cadet's ability to complete the four years of instruction and
then, obviously, through commissioning and off onto their
career.
Mr. Cummings. At the most recent meeting of the Naval
Academy Board of Visitors, they had a young lady from their
recruitment team to come up. I think she was a graduate of the
Academy, but one of the things that she said was that
apparently it is a small office, but she said that they were
very, very much committed to going everywhere they had to go in
communities that so often never see a Navy recruiter, a Naval
Academy recruiter, but that they were willing to go the extra
mile.
And it was clear from her enthusiasm that this was
something that she was truly committed to, and I was just
wondering what kind of recruitment office do we have? Do we
have graduates of the Academy going out there to do that
recruiting? This was a young woman, so she could kind of relate
to these young people, and I have often said that we always
talk about negative peer pressure with our young people. We
need to go back to something called positive peer pressure. I
was just wondering who is doing the recruiting with regard to
graduates and recent graduates.
Admiral Pearson. Yes, Mr. Chairman. And I particularly
support the point of someone closer to the individual target
audience's age and can take the experience that they have
received in the Coast Guard. Not all of our recruiters are
going to be Academy graduates, but obviously that has an
additional credibility that they can speak to their experience
while at the Academy. Some of our junior officers that we are
using in our recruiting efforts might be through OCS, and,
again, the example of the CSPI program that I talked about
earlier.
But it is very important, as I am sure our counterparts at
the Naval Academy would say, that the message is important, as
well as the messenger. So while we have senior officers
involved in some of our outreach programs, again, to some of
the HBCUs, we recognize that we need to have more junior
officers closer in the age and experiential level to the
individuals that we are trying to recruit, so absolutely, sir.
Mr. Cummings. One of the things that is very important,
too, is mentoring. What happens too often is that a lot of
people don't realize it, but if a young person feels that they
are not--not necessarily a young person. If an older person
feels that they are not going to be comfortable and they
qualify to do so many other things, they ask themselves why
would I go to a place where I am not going to feel comfortable,
although it is free tuition? I am just wondering what are we
doing with regard to mentoring.
Admiral Pearson. We have embarked upon a rather extensive
mentoring program using organizations like the National Naval
Officers Association for both Coast Guard officers, as well as
the other sea service officers, and reaching out to our junior
officers that are already within the service, but also using
some of their what we call our ambassador program of reaching
into the target audience that we are trying to recruit.
Mr. Cummings. You wrote in your testimony that the Coast
Guard Academy Scholars Program also presents our greatest
opportunity for pulling students from unrepresented minority
populations to the Academy, as over 50 percent of students in
the Scholars Program represent these populations. Those are
your words. Now the Scholars Program is a program through which
you send applicants to the Coast Guard Academy to a year
preparatory school at another military institution. That is
what it is, right?
Admiral Pearson. Yes, sir. The Scholars Program involves
the New Mexico Military Institute and Marion Military
Institute, and you are correct, sir, for one year of additional
academic preparation.
Mr. Cummings. So what is interesting, Admiral, is that
every time we seem to mention African Americans at the Academy,
the first thing the Coast Guard comes back with is their AIM
program and prep school or college, junior college situation.
There are many students who don't need that.
Admiral Pearson. Yes, sir.
Mr. Cummings. And who can do fine; we have just got to get
them interested, get them in, get them to apply, and then do
what we have to do to keep them interested so they graduate. So
why is sending minority students to preparatory school your
best opportunity to bring more minorities into the Academy? And
don't get me wrong, I am not knocking the preparatory school. I
just think that sometimes we can go in--let me just share this
with you.
When my daughter went to private school years ago,
everybody thought she was there on a scholarship because of her
color, and they wanted to give her some general math and all
the African American young ladies--it was an all girls school--
they wanted to take all of them and put them in this general
math. Well, that kind of concerned her and it was one of the
only times that I did not become upset with her when she did
something like that, she missed school because she stormed out
in protest with the other young ladies because she knew she was
better than that and she though it was unfair. And I am just
wondering.
Sometimes I think we can have some assumptions, and when I
see this as a part of your testimony, I am just wondering if
there is an assumption here that they are not African American
kids and a lot of them, by the way, who may not even need a
prep school. So if we assume that they all need the prep
school, then here are certain groups of people you don't even
go after.
I go to the graduations this time of year almost every week
and see kids that are going to Harvard and Yale, and brilliant
kids with SATs off the charts. I want to get some of those
kids, young people, into the Coast Guard Academy, and I want to
get them in so that they will be a part of the pipeline. I want
to get them in there so that other young people will say well,
Joe, who could have gone to Harvard, he went to the Coast
Guard; maybe I want to go to the Coast Guard Academy.
Any comments?
Admiral Pearson. Yes, sir. I agree with you, the Scholars
Program is not necessarily focused upon under-represented
minorities, but it is, of course, a resource available to any
that need the additional academic preparation; and I think part
of what I took your comments to be, as far as students who are
already academically qualified and prepared to go into the
Coast Guard Academy, we need to find those areas, the schools,
and focus our recruiting efforts in those areas.
I think we have had a comparatively limited recruiting
effort for the Coast Guard Academy, and that is one of the
areas that we really need to expand into, the markets where we
are going to be able to locate and attract the individuals that
are ready for the Academy at that point.
I also take your point, sir, that we would love to have,
obviously, an individual choose the Coast Guard Academy over
the Harvards or the ivy leagues, and I think part of that is
not only trying to focus on individuals in perhaps their junior
year or the summer after their junior year, but start to
progress that clock backwards and find some attraction at even
a sophomore year in high school or a freshman year in high
school.
I think there is also perhaps a cascading event that
individuals who have someone that they looked up to, perhaps in
their high school or their brother or sister who has gone to
the Coast Guard Academy and convey that positive message back
to the school, the community, the home front I think is also a
powerful message that we have to send.
So the key is exactly finding the areas where we need to
expend our recruiting effort, our recruiting capital, if you
will, and focus in on those and find the students. Obviously, I
would continue to support the Scholars Program, but I take your
point absolutely that we need to focus in on those who are
graduating from high school ``this year'' and, if they are
academically qualified and otherwise prepared, we want to find
them and leverage that.
Mr. Cummings. Mr. LoBiondo.
Mr. LoBiondo. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I was wondering if the Coast Guard Academy staff consults
with their counterparts at the other service academies to share
information on their respective recruiting efforts and
successes that they may have had. Have you done that?
Admiral Pearson. Yes, sir. The acronym is COSA, Chiefs of
Service Academies, and our superintendent, Rear Admiral Burhoe,
does participate in those. I believe that the staffs
participate with their counterparts as well. But from the
Chiefs of the Service Academies there have been discussions
about recruiting efforts, and I think that is a powerful tool,
particularly from our standpoint, and I guess being just a
little bit selfish of where we can find those lessons learned
from the other service academies and where they are having
success and how we could translate those over to the Coast
Guard Academy and our efforts. So I am particularly also
looking forward to the secondary panel with the Naval Academy
and, again, find and explore deeper in some of their best
practices and how we can perhaps copy those over to our
institution.
Mr. LoBiondo. It has come to our attention somewhat
recently that there are discrepancies in the Coast Guard with
quality of life issues compared to other branches of the
military, and we are going to make an attempt to deal with
that. I am curious, with recruiting resources, does the Coast
Guard Academy have the same recruiting resources as the other
academies, or how do you compare with the other academies when
it comes to your resources to recruit?
Admiral Pearson. I don't have a specific answer. I would
say that I would suspect it was smaller simply because we are a
smaller institution, but I would have to provide an exact
comparison for the record, if that would be acceptable, sir.
Mr. LoBiondo. Well, I guess what I am after is, I would
understand if it would be smaller, but is it proportionate? Are
we disproportionately smaller I guess is what I am getting at.
I understand you don't have that information, but if you could
get back to us, because, Mr. Chairman, that might be a part of
the problem that has been consistent with how we have seen the
Coast Guard treated in other areas that might be able to help
out in this area. So thank you very much.
Admiral Pearson. Yes. And we will provide that for the
record, sir.
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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0631.014
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0631.015
Mr. LoBiondo. Thank you.
Mr. Cummings. Admiral Pearson, I have a chart showing
application and appointment data to the Coast Guard Academy for
several years. It is up here on the board. I guess it is kind
of hard to see, but you are familiar with that, right?
Admiral Pearson. Yes, sir, I am familiar with it.
Mr. Cummings. The Coast Guard did not provide the numbers
for the chart to show how many Hispanics and African Americans
actually completed application for the Classes of 2008 through
2012. Similarly, the Coast Guard Academy apparently did not
track the number of Native Americans or Asians or Pacific
Islanders who started applications or were offered appointments
for the Class of 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. To me, this shows
a lack of concern for actually tracking minorities at the
Academy. Can you explain what the case is with regard to that?
Admiral Pearson. Mr. Chairman, it is difficult to see up
there. I know that for the African American applications it is
a comparatively smaller number of completed applications from
the initiated applications. Is that what you are referring to,
sir?
Mr. Cummings. Here.
Admiral Pearson. Thank you. I would offer that those
individuals who have started the applications but had not
completed, the Coast Guard Academy does reach out to those
individuals specifically to inquire as to whether we could
continue to work with them to complete their applications.
Obviously, that becomes an extraordinary resource for them
because I would contend that, for example, the Class of 2013,
under 162 African Americans, that those individuals obviously
are aware of the Coast Guard Academy and have some interest in
attending the Academy. I would suspect that they probably have
other competing institutions that they are interested in
attending.
But if we could work more diligently with those 162,
obviously, that becomes a significant opportunity for us. But,
again, I would emphasize that we do, from the Academy
Admissions Department, specifically reach out to every one of
those.
Mr. Cummings. You know, one of the things that is a little
bit disturbing about these charts is that when we look at
completed applications, Class of 2009 for African Americans
there were 55, Class of 2010 there were 52, Class of 2011 there
were 39, Class of 2012 there were 37; and then we have the
lowest number for African American completed applications, 35,
for the Class of 2013. Can you explain that? Do you have any
rationale for why that might happen?
Admiral Pearson. Of why the completed applications----
Mr. Cummings. In other words, why we are going down. We are
going backwards. In other words, the numbers are coming down.
Admiral Pearson. Yes, sir. I do recognize that and I don't
have an explanation for it. But, again, I would offer that, and
I think we both recognize the delta between the complete and
the started applications is a large number that provides us an
opportunity, even though we are reaching out to them, to try to
either find the reason specifically in drilling into the data
why we are losing them. If we have got an opportunity to change
either the message or, again, the messenger, working with these
young individuals to at least encourage them to continue the
application process. But, no, sir, I don't have a specific
reason for the trend.
Mr. Cummings. And we have had trouble nailing this number
down. How many African Americans have accepted an appointment
to the Coast Guard Academy for the Class of 2013?
Admiral Pearson. Oh, yes, sir, I know that there were a
little bit of confusion because there has been a recent
addition, if you will. You may have been provided with
information that the Class of 2013 has five African Americans.
It in fact is six. A young African American female just
accepted her appointment this week; she had had some medical
issues that were resolved.
Mr. Cummings. Now, the Navy has established a set of
diversity benchmarks for the 2037 flag pool based on the
anticipated demographics of society adjusted for anticipated
graduates with science and technical degrees. Has the Coast
Guard set goals for its 2037 flag pool? The Navy did. Have you
all?
Admiral Pearson. No, Mr. Chairman, we have not. We have
consistently stated that the Coast Guard ``needs to look like
America'' and certainly reference the U.S. Census Bureau's
projections, and that becomes our benchmark. In direct answer
to your question, we have not set a quota for flag board in
that area.
I would mention, though, again, that our diversity
strategic plan that I mentioned in my oral opening statement,
that we are looking to finalize by 1 September, we are talking
about leadership accountability, and I think that will
certainly have bearing as we look to the future, sir.
Mr. Cummings. Now, the Superintendent of the Academy is
Admiral J. Scott Burhoe, is that right?
Admiral Pearson. Yes, Mr. Chairman, that is correct.
Mr. Cummings. According to his biography on the Academy Web
site, he began his assignment as Superintendent in January
2007, is that right?
Admiral Pearson. Yes, sir, that is correct.
Mr. Cummings. The Director of Admissions at the Academy is
Captain Susan Bibeau?
Admiral Pearson. Yes, Mr. Chairman, it is pronounced
Bibeau, yes, sir.
Mr. Cummings. According to her biography on the Coast Guard
Academy Web site, she has been in this assignment since July
2001. Is that correct?
Admiral Pearson. Mr. Chairman, I have to respond with input
for the record. It has been a while. I don't recall.
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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0631.016
Mr. Cummings. I can tell you it is right. It is correct.
And why would you think she would have been there so long with
these figures? I can tell you that if this was my office and I
had the goals to have a diverse workforce, she wouldn't be
there. She just wouldn't. It would go against everything I
believe in.
And I am just wondering. Do you have any idea? Do we just
leave people in positions to be leaving them there, when the
numbers are going down, or is there an accountability problem
from the top, or both? Do you understand the question?
Admiral Pearson. Yes, sir, I understand the question.
Mr. Cummings. Okay.
Admiral Pearson. I don't have the rationale as to what
particular bore on the decision for her to be extended in her
existing position. I can provide that perhaps for the record.
Mr. Cummings. Thank you very much.
Admiral Pearson. Yes, sir.
Mr. Cummings. Mr. LoBiondo.
Mr. LoBiondo. No other questions.
Mr. Cummings. Admiral Pearson, my staff was briefed on
Monday that Captain Steve Bains has been designated as your
liaison to the historically Black colleges and universities.
When will he start his new position?
Admiral Pearson. Mr. Chairman, the decision on the
assignment has not been made. He is a very appropriate high,
fine candidate for that billet. I believe it has been
advertised within our system for individuals to basically put
in their request for assignment, and we are looking to have
that billet filled this summer.
Mr. Cummings. And can you give us a date so we can--you
know, we had this discussion last time when we talked about
historically Black colleges and universities, and we said that
there was a liaison for the historically--I forget the name--
Hispanic colleges, which there are very few, and there are over
100 historically Black colleges, but there was no liaison.
Something doesn't add up here. I am just curious, when do you
expect--do you have a date coming up for that?
Admiral Pearson. Mr. Chairman, I don't have a date for the
assignment, but I will tell you with all confidence that it
will be in the very, very near term. I could get you a date and
provide that for the record here shortly, sir. As I mentioned,
the job is correctly being advertised and the process does not
take very long after individuals have expressed an interest
before orders are issued on it.
Mr. Cummings. Why don't we just make a date, say September
1st?
Admiral Pearson. Oh, absolutely, sir. The orders would be
issued well in advance of that. I can't imagine that it would
be after the 15th of July.
Mr. Cummings. Okay. All right, August 1st.
Admiral Pearson. Yes, sir.
Mr. Cummings. We will check back with you at that time.
Admiral Pearson, will the Coast Guard expand what are
currently the very limited number of Junior Coast Guard ROTC
programs and efforts? It seems like another way to be able to
accomplish some of the things that you just talked about.
Admiral Pearson. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. We don't really
have a ``ROTC program,'' but what we do have, as I mentioned
earlier, we refer to it as CSPI, the College Student Pre-
Commissioning Initiative, and we are increasing our quotas in
there and we have also changed that program to increase
opportunities for participation by under-represented
minorities.
Mr. Cummings. We are talking about high school kids now,
right?
Admiral Pearson. Oh, I am sorry.
Mr. Cummings. I said Junior ROTC.
Admiral Pearson. Oh, I heard the ROTC part. I am sorry,
sir.
Mr. Cummings. That may have been my voice. I apologize.
Admiral Pearson. Yes, sir. Well, as far as the ROTC
programs for high school students, we have the one in Florida,
Miami metropolitan area, that we refer to as MAST. There has
been some discussion about establishing another one in the
Middle Atlantic region and, of course, it is not an ROTC
program, but you are familiar with our initiative at MIA in
Baltimore. We don't currently have plans for another ROTC high
school program that I am aware of, sir.
Mr. Cummings. Thank you very much.
Ms. Dickerson, do you owe us anything else? I just want to
make sure we get everything you promised us. I think you----
Ms. Dickerson. Not to my knowledge.
Mr. Cummings. Let me just say this to both of you. We just
want to try to move this process along. We want to move the
process along. We don't know how much time we have in these
positions. We don't know how much time we will have to address
these issues, but in the time we do have, we want to make a
difference.
And there is some little boy, some young lady sitting out
there wanting to, first of all, trying to dream, but they are
not even exposed to the Coast Guard, so they don't even know to
dream about the Coast Guard. Then there are others who are
exposed, but because of various things that have actually come
up in this hearing, they will never get in the Coast Guard, in
a lifetime. And that person who could have contributed to the
Coast Guard and to our Country, they will never have the
chance; and that is very, very unfortunate.
I really believe that we can do better. I just believe our
Country is greater than that, that we can do better.
Ms. Dickerson.
Ms. Dickerson. Sir, if I could just say I don't like
excuses, and I don't want to offer you any at all. To the
extent that we have passed, I am using that to inform us so
that we don't make the same mistakes or get into the same
inertia. I feel as though we have momentum. I appreciate your
leadership very much in developing that momentum and sustaining
it, and that of Admiral Allen's.
As you indicated, this is our watch. I hope not to be
transitioning. I hope to see this and shepherd this through to
completion. I have a vision for how this can come about with
regard to the civil rights program, and I intend to give it the
full force of all my effort and background and training to make
sure that we accomplish all of our goals and really strengthen
our civil rights program once and for all.
Mr. Cummings. Thank you.
Yes, sir.
Admiral Pearson. Sir, let me add on, from a diversity
standpoint and the Coast Guard Academy perspective as well, we
certainly share your view and the views of the Committee, and
honestly very much respect and appreciate the efforts that you
and your staffs have put together with us. We share the same
view. We recognize that we are not nearly where we want to be.
We also recognize that we are building some of the very
important foundational elements right now and setting the goals
and look to achieving them. Obviously, it is important for our
service. It is not only an issue of the proper moral direction,
but I think it is an operational imperative for the Coast Guard
to further diversify from where we are. So again, sir, we share
that goal and we are aggressively pursuing it.
Mr. Cummings. Last but not least, perhaps I have spent a
lot of time talking about the things that we are not doing. Let
me just say I think that we are definitely moving in the right
direction, no doubt about it. I want to thank you for doing
that. But now we have got to have results.
Admiral Pearson. Yes, sir.
Mr. Cummings. I hope that you will implant in the DNA of
every cell of your brain what I talked about with my PR person.
By the way, the response was I am doing this, I am doing that,
I am doing this, I am doing this; and I said, well, basically,
it is like treading water. I am trying to get you out in the
deep water and you are treading water near the harbor, going
nowhere fast. We can have a lot of efforts, but if it is not
leading anywhere--it is nice to watch you tread water, but that
is not getting us anywhere.
So that is why I am so interested in tracking progress. I
think these charts need to be accurate. There is no reason why
we shouldn't know exactly how many folks--white, women, Blacks,
everybody--are going into these academies. The Academy is just
a little bit bigger than maybe two high schools. Matter of
fact, they have high schools bigger than the Academy in
Baltimore, so we should be able to attract the numbers in a
high school. So when I see issues of we can't even figure out
how many people are even coming into the school of different
races and whatever, that does concern me.
We spent, my staff and I, we had to try to figure out
exactly how many folks of different races and whatever were in
the Academy. There is something wrong with that picture. And
you all have heard me talk many times about a culture of
mediocrity. This Country cannot be all that it is supposed to
be if we are caught up in a culture of mediocrity; it just
can't.
Let me be quiet and move on to the next witness. Thank you
all very much. Appreciate it.
Admiral Pearson. Thank you.
Ms. Dickerson. Thank you.
Mr. Cummings. We now welcome Mr. Stephen Latta, Dean of
Admissions at the United States Naval Academy. Dean Latta, how
are you?
Captain Latta. Doing well, sir.
Mr. Cummings. Thank you for being with us.
Admiral Pearson, I want to thank you for sticking around. I
really mean that. I really appreciate that, because most times
folks leave. But thank you for sticking around.
Dean Latta.
TESTIMONY OF STEPHEN B. LATTA, CAPTAIN, USN RETIRED, DEAN OF
ADMISSIONS, UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY
Captain Latta. Thank you, sir. Chairman Cummings and
distinguished Members of the panel, it is my pleasure to have
the opportunity to discuss the Naval Academy's efforts to
improve diversity in the brigade of midshipmen. I first want to
thank the Members of Congress, especially you, sir, for your
ongoing support in both resources and helping us reach out to
the Nation through your congressional districts.
The Naval Academy's efforts to diversify the brigade of
midshipmen have been ongoing for a number of years. However, it
is with the strong support of the Navy leadership and Vice
Admiral Fowler's guidance as superintendent that we have made
the greatest strides in the last three years. Improving
diversity in the brigade of midshipmen is our number one
priority, and there is strong cross-institutional support for
doing so.
Our initial focus was to understand why we were not doing a
better job in attracting young men and women of diverse
backgrounds. With the self-analysis of our marketing programs
and patterns, feedback from parents, many of our Blue and Gold
Officers, our volunteer network, some of you in Congress and
many others, we not surprisingly came to the conclusion a
couple years ago that our biggest challenge was awareness. That
is, many of the young men and women we were trying to attract
to the Naval Academy simply did not know about us.
To reach these youth, their parents and their influencers,
we felt we needed to radically change our approach. We decided
initially to focus our efforts primarily on under-represented
areas of the Country that had large diverse populations and the
high performing schools with large diverse student bodies in
each one. In each area and school we targeted, we tried to
focus on developing strong personal relationships by
maintaining close contact and looking for creative approaches
that would gain confidence and support of local influencers and
others. This is the same approach that is used much like our
football coaches do when they go out on the road.
Supporting these efforts has been a concerted buildup of
support networks such as our Blue and Gold Officer Programs,
our alumni chapters, parents clubs, and building partnerships
with many of the affinity groups such as National Society of
Black Engineers. We have found support networks to be a force
multiplier in many communities.
We also revamped and reoriented our marketing programs to
be more attractive to minority students and focus earlier in
their education, in our case, we thought as early as seventh
grade. This led to the development of our first ever STEM
program, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math program, in
the summer, and several initiatives to invite groups of
underclass students to various venues at the Naval Academy,
including the recent dedication of the Wesley Brown Field House
named for our first African American graduate.
We are constantly looking for new and creative ways to
market ourselves nationwide, whether it is through the use of
our musical groups, such as the gospel choir and our band,
development of new videos such as those seen on ESPN during
football games, or a comic book we call the graphic novel, we
seek to brand ourselves in order to increase awareness.
There are many other efforts underway, and they appear to
be paying dividends at a rate we did not expect them to do so
so early. As you stated, sir, both last year's class and the
one that is about to enter the Naval Academy on the 1st of July
will be the most diverse ever. Supporting the incoming classes
are the most diverse preparatory programs in our history, and
our summer seminar program that just concluded yesterday
included over 1,000 rising young senior minority students for
the first time ever.
In closing, I would like to say that we have accomplished a
lot in a relatively short period of time, but we really feel we
have a lot of work to do. Awareness is a very important issue
in many communities and among many groups, but we know that by
remaining both proactive, persistent, and patient, we will
continue to improve our efforts over time.
Thank you for all you have done to support us in these
efforts, and thank you for this opportunity to discuss our
progress to date. I am available to answer any questions you
might have for me, sir.
Mr. Cummings. Thank you very much, Dean. Dean, tell us how
are we doing with regard to women? When I go to the meetings, I
see it seems like we are doing pretty good at the Naval
Academy. How are we doing with regard to women?
Captain Latta. Yes, sir. We are expecting to bring about 20
percent of our incoming class this year who are going to be
females. The overall application rate for females this year is
about 22 percent of the overall applicant pool. That is an
improvement over the last three to four years. In fact, about
four years ago we were bringing about 15 percent of the class.
We have improved it and the last three or four classes have
been between 20 and 22 percent of the incoming class.
Mr. Cummings. Now, how many of the minorities that are
admitted to the Academy in any given year have attended a
preparatory program and how many are coming straight from high
school?
Captain Latta. I cannot give you that exact number, but I
will get the number for you and bring it in. But we are getting
more direct from high school than we have, I do know that for
sure. For the first time ever, for example, this incoming
class, I have 55 of the 125 African Americans are coming direct
from high school, and we have never had more than about 40 to
45 in a given class that have been able to come straight from
high school. So it is improving and we do see that as we go out
and work many of these schools that have very talented young
men and women, that we are able to do a better job of getting
those that can come straight from high school straight into the
school.
Mr. Cummings. How many recruiters do you have specifically
recruiting students to the Academy and where are they located
across the Nation? How many are graduates of the Academy?
Captain Latta. Yes, sir. Currently, in my office, I have
four diversity counselors who are dedicated toward our
diversity efforts. We divide the Country into four different
regions. Each one obviously covers a different region of the
Country. In addition to those four, we have five officers
stationed around the Country in different locales; one in New
York, one in Atlanta, one in Houston, one in Chicago, and one
in San Diego. Of those nine people whose specific job is to
attract young men and women of diverse backgrounds, seven of
them are Naval Academy graduates.
Mr. Cummings. And how are applications for admissions
reviewed at the Academy? How many people review an application
and how are final admission decisions made?
Captain Latta. We have an admissions board composed, in
most years, between 13 to 15 people I expect next year we will
have about 15 people. Every application that is submitted is
prepared by one of the regional directors, that is a majority
counselor or diversity counselor, and those are presented to
our admissions board for review. The admissions board reviews
every application.
In a sense, even though they are prepared by one person,
because we have an electronic process, every member of that
board can view that application file as it is being briefed and
in detail, and oftentimes there is a lot of I would say it is
kind of like a debate at the admissions board, where they will
talk about the attributes of the different person being
presented, and then the board will make a decision on that
particular person to their overall qualification; that includes
whether that person ought to go to a preparatory program, maybe
they should go to college for another year or they should be
eligible for direct admission.
Mr. Cummings. And I understand that you have a chief
diversity officer position at the Academy. Who fills that
position, what is the position's responsibilities, and how many
staff members work for that chief?
Captain Latta. Yes, sir. We have been working hard for
about the last year and a half. In fact, the two gentlemen with
me today, Mr. Joe Rubino initially was asked by the
Superintendent to help bring that directorate along about a
year and a half ago with a couple of--in fact, we had four
people helping him at the time. Captain Tony Barnes, who is
sitting behind me now, came in last September as we are
continuing to mature that directorate, and we expect to have
about 10 people assigned to it when we are done, but right now
there are not that many in there, there are about five people.
Mr. Cummings. And what percentage of your incoming minority
cadets participated in Junior ROTC, do you know?
Captain Latta. This year, I am anticipating about 16 to 17
percent of the incoming class; last year it was 20 percent.
Mr. Cummings. Mr. LoBiondo.
Mr. LoBiondo. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Latta, thank you for being here. Can you tell us how
has the Academy's outreach efforts changed under your
leadership? What are some things you can point to that you have
changed since you have been there?
Captain Latta. I think probably the one thing is that there
has been some philosophy changes. I worked in our admissions
office for about four years because I became the Dean of
Admissions, and I think even though we thought we were doing a
good job in diversity, in reality, I think we were more focused
on our brand name, that we are the Naval Academy and people
should know about us.
But the realization that people don't know about us in many
communities, in fact, I am a little bit embarrassed to say, a
couple years ago, when we started doing more to reach out to
some of the schools in some of the big cities, when I went up
to Baltimore, there were some kids in some of the high schools
there that didn't even know the Naval Academy was 30 miles
away, and that really, I have to tell you, was kind of a
sobering moment for me because I thought, boy, local kids ought
to know where the local schools are.
But we decided that we weren't going to sit back any
longer; we were going to go out and we were going to look for
the good kids in these good schools. Part of it is a resource
issue. We don't have a lot of people working specifically for
this, so we just tried to do the best we could with what we
have, and I think that is probably one of the big things.
The other thing is that I have encouraged every one of the
folks that work in our office to look for a different approach
in every school that they go to, because many of the schools,
the traditional approaches that we have been using really have
not worked. So, for example, we have some schools that are very
technically focused. They were looking for help initially to
help develop an aeronautical program in their school, so we use
that as an opportunity to link up one of our professors at the
Naval Academy with the school, and part of that was to build
that friendship, that partnership with the school to gain their
trust and interest in us that we were there to help them out.
We have invited many of the students from some of these
schools to come down and do overnight visits at the Naval
Academy, and while they are there we give them an opportunity
to visit and not only see the facilities and get presentations
by the professors, but they get a chance to meet with the
midshipmen who are closest in age to them, those who have
shared experiences and that type of thing, so they start to see
that this could be a place for them.
Probably another thing has been the use of our musical
groups. The gospel choir in particular we have had greater
flexibility with support of our superintendent to use those
groups to get out and outreach in many of the communities.
Wherever they travel, they draw big crowds and the kids in the
high schools see these young men and women who are at the Naval
Academy and they realize that that could be them. In other
words, we are creating an opportunity for them to see that this
could be them in that school doing that. Same thing with our
bands who have developed repertoires that appeal to young men
and women.
There are a number of other things and I can get more
information for you on that.
Mr. LoBiondo. Thank you.
Mr. Cummings. Now, tell us about your STEM program. Tell us
how the STEM program plays in what you are doing and your
efforts, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.
Captain Latta. Yes, sir. The STEM initiative came about
mainly for a couple reasons. Number one, because we knew we
were not doing a good job of attracting our youth at a younger
age. Too often we were going to high schools in the senior
year, looking for students who were getting ready for college.
And other schools--and I hate to say it--like ivy league
schools and high tech schools that already had developed
partnerships with the schools and the kids had already
obligated to go to the schools before we ever got to them, so
we felt that developing a STEM program was a way to increase
awareness of the Naval Academy at a much earlier age.
The other part of it is we felt a civic responsibility in
trying to do our part to encourage math and science
preparation. Coincidentally, that is the type of thing we need
to do for the kids that are coming to our school because we
know it is a very technically oriented school. So if we can get
to a kid in seventh, eighth, or ninth, or even tenth grade and
say, hey, come to our STEM program and we will show you a lot
about the Naval Academy, but we will also guide you in what you
need to do to prepare for college, they will be better prepared
for admission to a school like ours, even if they don't choose
our school down the road.
Mr. Cummings. You have a summer seminar program also?
Captain Latta. Yes, sir.
Mr. Cummings. Talk about that.
Captain Latta. Probably we would call that our flagship
program, but we completely reoriented that whole program with a
focus on trying to improve representation for a lot of the
under-represented congressional districts.
Mr. Cummings. What is the program?
Captain Latta. This program is for rising seniors, those
coming out of the junior year into the senior year of high
school. It is essentially a marketing program where these
juniors going into their senior year come to the Naval Academy
for a week. We have three one-week sessions in June. In fact,
the last session, as I mentioned, just ended yesterday.
They room in Bancroft Hall, they form them up in platoons
with midshipmen who just came out of their first year running
them, and oversight from the seniors. They have an opportunity
to go to academic workshops, tour the facilities, learn a
little bit about physical education the way we teach it at the
Naval Academy, and generally get an overall impression what the
Naval Academy is all about.
So, again, I come back to the awareness issue. We thought
that if we made the program bigger and we expanded it and made
a more concerted effort to get into these areas where we
weren't attracting young men and women, that we could do a
better job of getting them interested in the Naval Academy. And
the reason I say that is our track history has been if they
come to summer seminar, two-thirds of the kids that come will
follow through on their application the following year and
complete the application for admission. That, to me, has been
one of the big keys in improving diversity, because getting the
kids to complete the application gives you a talent pool to
work with that you can consider for an offer of appointment or
preparatory program, what have you.
But when they come to the Naval Academy, they get sold and
their parents, who often drop them off or will come and take
tours of the Academy and get briefings by our staff and meet
with other parents of midshipmen and candidates, the parents
get sold on the program also. So it is a very powerful tool in
marketing the Naval Academy and, as I said, we took a definite
focus on trying to bring more kids in from the under-
represented areas and we expanded the program out to be more
inclusive.
Mr. Cummings. How do you do with regard to retention of
minority young people? Certainly, it is nice to get folks in
the door, but I would like to see them graduate.
Captain Latta. Yes, sir. We have worked real hard at the
Naval Academy in general. In fact, the Class of 2009 that just
graduated, the minority graduation rates were very similar to
the overall graduation rates for the majority counterparts.
Mr. Cummings. And what is that?
Captain Latta. It is about 84.5 percent. I will get the
exact numbers for the record for you, sir.
Mr. Cummings. You said 84.5 percent?
Captain Latta. About 84.5 percent. I will get the numbers
for you. We have done a very good job over time. I think what
has helped are several things: the institutional support in two
areas. Number one is we have an academic center of fully
staffed professors that is available for everybody, but it has
also helped out with many of our minority midshipmen who have
been struggling academically, to help them keep them on track
and succeed at our school. In fact, their philosophy is really
that if a young man or woman comes to our school and they are
trying hard and they want to stay at the Naval Academy and they
want to graduate, then we will take every resource available to
try and help them succeed there.
The other thing we have done is we have put more emphasis
on many of our mentoring group, minority mentoring groups, like
National Society of Black Engineers; we had the Black Studies
Club, Latin American Studies Club, Korean American Club, and
those types of things, and have tried to provide more outlets
for many of those young men and women to go study. If they
don't want to do it in another group, they can do it with folks
that come from their racial or ethnic background.
We have increased access to faculty members during the day,
so if a student has an off period, they can go, for example,
over to Chauvenet Hall, where we teach math, they can do in
there and there is a prof in there that will have work problems
on the board and that type of thing. But the overall idea is
that we are there to help them succeed, rather than help them
fail.
Mr. Cummings. I want to thank you very much. We really
appreciate your being with us. We encourage you--is this your
last year?
Captain Latta. Sir?
Mr. Cummings. Are you getting ready to retire?
Captain Latta. I hope not.
[Laughter.]
Captain Latta. I hope that is not a clue.
Mr. Cummings. I just wanted to see if you were alert there.
Captain Latta. No, I am up for a contract renewal this
year, but I hope to be around for a while. I have to tell you
my personal experience is the more I am around many of these
young men and women, the more I realize it is all about
opportunity. As you stated last week, everybody on my staff,
even though I have a small staff just dedicated toward the
diversity effort, everybody on my staff is very impassioned
about what they are doing and they are out actively looking for
kids. They are mentoring.
I go home most nights between 6:30 and 7:00 at night, and
half of my lieutenants are still there on the phone talking to
their kids and their parents. They are there on weekends
helping to guide tours and do other things, and they travel a
lot, too. I don't know how they all do it, because they are
supposed to be on what the Navy calls shore duty, where they
get a little time off after being at sea for a while. But they
look at this as their mantra and their legacy to give back to
the Academy for having had the opportunity to graduate.
Mr. Cummings. Thank you very much.
Captain Latta. Yes, sir.
Mr. Cummings. This hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:44 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
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