Scholarship & Teaching
As a preliminary step in developing the components of this strategy, central administration and DEI Leads across the university assessed the issues and unmet challenges in regard to supporting innovative, inclusive scholarship and teaching. Employing a variety of methods, we explored how and to what degree DEI issues were integrated into curricula and scholarship, how these ideals influenced the delivery of curricula, and how scholarship was being judged in relation to diversity, equity and inclusion. Based on this data and the stated goals of the university, action items were developed to address priority issues and needs across all academic units.
"I am a woman in a STEM field...and in many ways I feel the University has done a lot to support women"
— Gillian Minneham, Undergraduate Student
Watch Gillian talk about her experience »
Campuswide Action Items
Consideration of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Contributions in Promotion and Tenure Review
In Year Three, the DEI-focused subcommittee of the Academic Programs Group (APG) 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 by individuals of color, women and others from minoritized communities. Year Four was designated as a time to generate strategies for implementing this recommendation, with the goal of systemizing practices and processes that identify and “count” faculty’s previous or ongoing contributions to DEI work within the unit and beyond. Further efforts on this matter were delayed by the pandemic but will restart in Fall 2020.
In Year Four, strategies were identified to identify and “count” faculty’s previous or ongoing contributions to DEI within the unit and beyond as part of promotion and tenure processes
Diversity Scholars Network
NCID engaged its University of Michigan DSN members in a number of ways this year. Our Winter 2020 series of panel discussions on researcher/scholar identity featured U-M faculty from a variety of disciplines. The Network also promoted and supported the scholarly efforts of its members through NCID research briefs, a monthly newsletter, and various grant funding programs. In addition, work is underway on a campuswide directory of University of Michigan scholars conducting DEI-related scholarship across all 19 schools and colleges.
In 2019, 21 scholars received financial awards through the NCID Change Grants and Pop-Up Grants initiatives
Inclusive Teaching Professional Development Programs
On the unit level, DEI was a strong focus of CRLT’s Teaching Academy programs, which serve new faculty in 10 schools and colleges. We also offered 41 faculty workshops and retreats. Campuswide, CRLT presented 22 DEI-focused pedagogy workshops through its fall and winter seminar series, along with a set of programs for instructors who teach courses that fulfill LSA’s race and ethnicity (R&E) requirement. In addition, several programs and workshops on inclusive teaching were offered specifically for lecturers.
CRLT provided intensive, ongoing consultations with teams from 11 courses around equity in teaching as part of the Foundational Course Initiative (FCI)
James S. Jackson Distinguished Career Award for Diversity Scholarship
In 2017, the U-M established the James S. Jackson Distinguished Career Award for Diversity Scholarship and named for its first recipient, whose passing on September 1, 2020 was a major loss to our community. The award is bestowed biennially on faculty members who have made significant contributions to understanding diversity and addressing disparities in contemporary society. The recipient of the 2019 award was Dr. Patricia Gurin, the Nancy Cantor Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Psychology and Women’s Studies. A social psychologist, Gurin’s work has focused on social identity, the role of social identity in political attitudes and behavior, motivation and cognition in achievement settings and the role of social structure in intergroup relations.
The recipient of the 2019 award was Dr. Patricia Gurin, the Nancy Cantor Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Psychology and Women’s Studies
University Diversity & Social Transformation Professorship
In Year Four, nine faculty members from U-M and beyond were designated as University Diversity & Social Transformation Professors (UDSTPs). This first cohort of high-achieving honorees represented disciplines ranging from sport management to public policy, from biomedical engineering to psychology, and from dentistry to marketing.
NCID collaborated with the Center for Academic Innovation to develop a series of videos aimed at elevating and disseminating the work of UDST professorship recipients