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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) Initiatives

Our office’s top priority is institutionalizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) values in faculty affairs to serve Provost Mary Clark’s vision of promoting DEI for faculty across campus. The Provost’s office takes a research-informed approach to equity-minded decisions, policies, processes, and practices to support a culture of belonging and thriving for all faculty, including those underrepresented in the academy.

In collaboration with the Faculty Senate, the Office of Teaching and Learning, and Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and other campus partners, we are engaged in a range of diversity change initiatives to leverage, check, and structure faculty discretionary spaces and discretionary authority to support equity-minded judgment, decisions, and actions for all faculty. 

Broadly conceived, this work falls into our office’s four areas and intentionally builds synergistic partnerships with key collaborators. Here is how we constellate this work towards institutionalizing a sustainable approach to DEI in faculty affairs and the cumulative scaling we have achieved in the last 3.5 years:

To access and explore the clickable versions of these graphics, scroll below to “DEI in Action Throughout the Years.”

2019-2023 diversity, equity and inclusion impact color wheel graphic with dots to learn more about initiatives at every impact level, i.e. University wide to individual faculty, and each category, i.e. faculty data governance to workload equity.
2022-2023 diversity, equity and inclusion impact color wheel graphic with dots to learn more about initiatives at every impact level, i.e. University wide to individual faculty, and each category, i.e. faculty data governance to workload equity.
2021-2022 diversity, equity and inclusion impact color wheel graphic with dots to learn more about initiatives at every impact level, i.e. University wide to individual faculty, and each category, i.e. faculty data governance to workload equity.
2020-2021 diversity, equity and inclusion impact color wheel graphic with dots to learn more about initiatives at every impact level, i.e. University wide to individual faculty, and each category, i.e. faculty data governance to workload equity.

Aim: To support the faculty life cycle from hiring to retirement and promotion at all stages.

Activities:

  • Deliberative Decision making (DDM) Unit-Level Promotion and Tenure Training Committee Pilot
  • Participation in COVID Senate Committee
  • Promotion to Full Professor Scorecard Project
    We are partnering with Institutional Research and IT to create a scorecard on advancement for tenure-track faculty from associate to full professor. National research reveals that women and faculty of color are less likely to see themselves as ready to go up for full, and our university-wide COACHE data illuminates that associate professors lack clarity on what is expected for promotion to full. This scorecard will provide a line of sight on how we are doing on promotion to full at DU, help inform our career advancement programming, and track progress over time.
  • Review of Faculty Job Postings for Inclusive Hiring Best Practices
    Our office reviews all faculty job postings in the hiring workflow and works with units and departments so that we can ensure that job ads are as inclusive as possible.

Aim: To support all faculty to chart an intentional career trajectory and build inclusive communities that help faculty thrive and grow as teachers, scholars, and leaders.

Activities: Our 2020 and 2021 events in this area include the following

Aim: To support faculty pedagogical growth to catalyze student learning and belonging.

Activities:

  • Faculty Institute for Inclusive Teaching (FIIT)
  • Faculty Learning Community: Anti-Racist Teaching & Reciprocal Empathy Update
    How can our classrooms and pedagogies challenge systems of inequity to support anti-racist teaching and promote change? Is reciprocal empathy possible in our pedagogies? With the book Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit by Mary Frances Winters (2020) as an anchoring guide, we will explore how to reframe the “problem” by interrogating systems and classrooms versus “fixing” the student. We will explore teaching tools to examine our disciplines and praxis in ways that foster critical thinking and deep learning in our students. This Faculty Learning Community is a collaborative exploration guided by book chapters and shared facilitation between OTL Faculty Fellow of Equitable Professorial Experiences, Brian Gonzales, and OTL Director of Inclusive Teaching Practices, Dr. Valentina LaGrave.

Aim: To support individual faculty and enhance faculty voice

Activities/Action:

  • DEI Faculty Affairs Committee
  • Faculty Consultations in relation to faculty DEI concerns
    With the addition of a second full-time staff member, Alison Staudinger, VPFA has increased its capacity to work with individual faculty members. We are here if you want to talk through a challenge or concern, or speak more expansively about your goals and how DU can help you reach them. We are happy to hold a working meeting to review your tenure, promotion, or review materials, or your strategic semester plan. The VPFA’s office is confidential, within the bounds of legality, but your experience could also anonymously inform our programming and policy advocacy if you choose.

Aim: To build proactive, synergistic partnerships to support DEI in faculty affairs and increase coordination and collaboration across campus

Activities:

DEI  In Action Throughout the Years

Explore the clickable graphics below to learn more about Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Iniaitives from 2019-2023 or access the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Outline document for a listed version of the content below.

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