a. Within New Jersey colleges and universities minority faculty members with doctoral degrees in certain academic disciplines, notably the physical and life sciences, engineering, mathematics, management, computer science, environmental sciences, and statistics, are underrepresented in comparison to nonminority faculty members with doctorates.

b. There is in the United States a serious shortage of minority doctoral degree graduates in the academic disciplines cited above from which New Jersey colleges and universities can recruit faculty members.

c. The colleges and universities in New Jersey currently face difficult problems in recruiting and retaining minority faculty members with doctoral degrees in the academic disciplines cited above.

d. Rutgers, The State University and the State colleges have cooperated in implementing a pilot program, the Minority Advancement Program in Teaching and Research, whereby eligible State college minority faculty members or other minorities admitted to the State university in a doctoral degree program in certain academic disciplines are provided grant, loan and other support opportunities to assist them in completing the academic degree requirements and to increase the pool of potential minority faculty members holding doctoral degrees.

L.1984,c.189,s.2; amended 1994, c.48, s.271; 1999, c.46, s.53.