Action Item (as stated with DEI strategic plan launch in 2016)
As part of the overall accountability efforts related to the DEI Strategic Plan, the Office of the Provost will convene a DEI Faculty Evaluations Working Group comprising deans and department chairs to determine how best to include DEI-related contributions in faculty evaluations and tenure reviews. This working group will develop methods for valuing efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion as service, and for ensuring inclusive teaching efforts and the consideration of DEI-related scholarship and service as part of the promotion and tenure process.
DEI 1.0 Evaluation Update
Currently, all schools and colleges include DEI content in their annual Faculty Activity Reports (FARs)—a significant first step in making DEI contributions an element of the promotion and tenure review process. Also, an increasing number of schools now incorporate DEI in their promotion and tenure process, and others are developing plans and processes for doing the same.
A formal working group of deans, convened by the Office of the Provost, has recommended that the university “adjust promotion criteria for faculty and staff with the goal of recognizing the ‘invisible DEI work’ that frequently goes unrecognized and which over time can decrease commitment to DEI.” Invisible work is defined as an unacknowledged workload burden for faculty and senior staff, and is frequently borne in particular by individuals of color, women and others from minoritized communities. This “invisible DEI work” results in larger than usual committee workloads as well as higher than usual mentoring and advising loads to meet the needs of diverse students, junior faculty and staff.
During DEI 2.0, efforts to generate specific strategies for implementing this recommendation will continue. The ultimate goal will be to systemize practices and processes that identify and “count” faculty’s prior or ongoing contributions to DEI work, within the unit and beyond.
Responsibility: Office of the Provost