COSM Diversity & Inclusion News
January 2022
Welcome
The Diversity & Inclusion newsletter is delivered monthly via email during the fall and spring semesters and is always available on the new COSM D&I webpage. Send contributions and suggestions to any of the COSM D&I Ambassadors listed at the bottom of this newsletter and on the webpage.
We are looking for new ideas and contributions to the newsletter team. If you would like to join the team or put together a newsletter, we would greatly appreciate your contributions.
Diversity Quote of the Month
Feb 17th: THE IMPACT OF WORKLOAD (IN)EQUITY ON PROMOTION & TENURE
COSM and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) inclusive excellence learning community team are hosting a seminar by Dr. Joya Misra - a leader in research on social inequality and a Co-PI on the NSF funded UMass ADVANCE Project: Faculty Workload and Rewards Project . With multiple highly insightful publications such as Equity-Minded Faculty Workloads and 10 Small Steps for Department Chairs to Foster Inclusion, Dr. Misra provides step-by-step guidelines for departments, administrators, and faculty who want to bring about lasting and positive change in the culture of academia.
Dr. Misra will share her findings on:
The impact of workload inequity on career advancement
The divergent experiences of various groups in academia
Evidence-based strategies for work assignment practices that promote equitable P&T outcomes
Join us virtually on Feb. 17th from 2:00-3:15 PM
Zoom Link: tiny.cc/2p8cwh6k
Meeting ID: 811 9440 8146
Passcode: 67212723
Workload Equity
Let’s open that can of worms we all know is sitting on the table:
“As a result of the pandemic, faculty workloads are growing, and growing more inequitable.”
The American Council on Education encourages faculty and administrators to do just that in Equity Minded Faculty Workloads: What we can and should do now. This report summarizes the findings and insights from the Faculty Workload and Rewards Project (FWRP), a National Science Foundation ADVANCE-funded action research project - the same efforts Dr. Misra helped lead.
“Workload inequities lower productivity, increase burnout, and decrease retention [and] accrue over time.” These challenges of equity aren’t new and they aren’t problems fixed with short-term thinking, the workgroup indicates. Reforming workload policies and distribution can increase faculty satisfaction, productivity, and retention by rewarding them for their efforts, rather than simply counting on them to keep “getting the job done” year after year. Tipping the scales farther, reward systems in academia tend to focus on research and teaching, but practical and social expectations require extensive service commitments. Asking faculty who are successful and active in service roles is a commonly cited cause of increased inequity in workload.
Six conditions linked to equitable workloads: Transparency, Clarity, Credit, Norms, Context, Accountability
In addition to summarizing the current state of research on the topic, working with 51 departments around the country, and conducting workload-intervention experiments, the FWRP produced tools and handouts to assist other academic units in their efforts to examine and change workload policies. Want more? Read the full report and listen in on their recorded webinar.
Try This! - Highlight Student Excellence in Your Work
Incorporate #InvisibleWorkSTEM into your annual review! Experienced faculty recommend bringing together the narratives of research and mentorship to showcase the impact of our efforts on student success. Check out this article from Chemical & Engineering News for more examples and advice.
COSM Community D&I Spotlight: What’s up in COSM DEI!
Biology
Over the past year the Biology department created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee. Members of the COSM DEI Collaborative have taken leadership roles, with the group’s primary focus this year being working through the college DEI Action Plan items from the perspective of our own department. Committee leads put forward recommendations to the Chair regarding enhancing recruitment and retention (students, staff, and faculty), methods of addressing inequities in faculty pay and workload policies, and increased transparency of policies and communication. We are working to build student-facing resources for our departmental website to highlight programs and resources available.
The full department was polled to determine faculty definitions of ‘diversity’ and what existing programs in the department support equity and inclusion, which highlighted many ways biology supports underrepresented students. It also highlighted ways in which some efforts that support DEI in more subtle ways are not recognized as doing so by our faculty.
Programs include the Freshman Research Initiative, Biology’s Research Experience for Undergraduates, the Supplemental Instruction & Learning Assistant tutoring programs (taught by students), in-house internships for teaching and laboratory experience, as well as the large number of undergraduate research opportunities that are available to our students, who have often not had any similar experience afforded them. Many of the peer instructors who participated in the DEI professional development training COSM developed through the HHMI grant were members of our extensive group of undergraduate and graduate students.
Chemistry & Biochemistry
This semester the Chemistry and Biochemistry department formulated a collaborative group to discuss and work on DEI initiatives. We have begun reviewing the department culture (both in the classroom/lab and community), viewed through the lens of Chem Ed DEI articles. This will provide us with a framework which has been accepted within the chemistry education community to review our community and program.
In the Spring semester, we plan to offer a DEI professional development workshop during a department seminar to integrate discussion between faculty and students. The workshop will be on why inclusive teaching is important, how to use inclusive teaching strategies, and implicit bias. The workshop materials will be an extension from a PD workshop offered by an HHMI grant. We are also planning to meet with SARC and potentially the Faculty Center to audit what materials and resources we have available to use for students with unique accommodations. Over the Spring and Summer semesters, this will extend to meeting with the safety committee to review what PPE we might need to purchase for students with these accommodations or support animals, and draft policy language around these circumstances.
Geography and Geology
This semester, the Department of Geology and Geography has pursued multiple avenues to demonstrate our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. First, we have set a goal of at least 50% participation by G&G faculty and staff in DEI workshops and trainings annually. Currently, we have met this goal for the Fall Semester of 2021. Second, we are developing an inclusive excellence commitment statement on our departmental website. This statement will be a modification of the COSM inclusive excellence statement with a focus on the particular strengths of DEI that can be highlighted in the fields of Geology and Geography. Third, a G&G Faculty Workload sub-committee has been meeting weekly to discuss ways to address equity concerns in our department. This committee is currently editing the G&G Faculty Handbook to facilitate transparency in differential workloads and the rationale behind them.
Finally, we developed a survey on inclusive teaching practices and distributed it to faculty and staff. We will create an action plan for the continued implementation of these strategies, based on the results of this survey, in the Spring 2022 semester. We had hoped to accomplish more this semester, but we were a bit delayed given the many unexpected challenges our small department has faced, in addition to COVID-19 setbacks and concerns (e.g., a building fire, teaching overloads, etc).
Mathematical Sciences
The members of the Mathematical Sciences DEI Committee have selected three areas of focus for departmental DEI efforts – enriching inclusive teaching, infusing DEI expectations and language into our policy documents, and enhancing the departmental climate. The committee has created a shared folder with information for an inclusive syllabus, as well as tools for implementing active learning. The group held a mini session on inclusive teaching strategies at a department meeting and is planning more intensive training sessions based upon particular strategies of the most interest to the math faculty. Policy change has been a strong suit for the department. There is language about diversity, equity, and inclusion in the revised departmental handbook, the very lengthy and detailed workload policy, the departmental tenure and promotion documents, and in the annual evaluation rubric.
The committee has taken small steps to enhance departmental climate by updating and expanding our wall hangings to include fifteen “Multicultural Math of the World” posters on each campus as well as “Math Moments” posters from the American Mathematical Society, which expose students to a range of authentic problems and contexts in which mathematics is used. In the main offices, we have on display several publications tied to DEI in Mathematics, including “Living Proof: Stories of Resilience along the Mathematical Journey” which highlights the paths, growth mindsets, and contributions of a diverse set of modern mathematicians. Our monthly newsletter is also a means for sharing similar stories and information with students and faculty. Among other things, we highlight a “Mathematician of the Week” in the newsletter, ensuring diverse representation. To make more substantive change to the climate, the group has gathered sample department level climate assessment tools and is preparing to implement a departmental climate assessment in 2022 in order to inform strategic planning.
Physics and Astronomy
The Physics and Astronomy Department has been active in implementing DEI in our department. In Fall of 2020, we updated our department handbook and included a process of anonymous voting. This allowed faculty members to vote their conscience without fear of intimidation or retribution. In Spring of 2021, we invited Sabrina Hessinger to give a presentation to our department. Sabrina presented on the topic of women in physics, including statistics, implicit biases, and resources to address biases. This semester, the Physics DEI ambassador gave a brief presentation on DEI to our freshmen Survey of Physics course. The presentation focused on what the students can expect from faculty and staff and what we expect from them regarding good DEI practices.
Currently, the ambassador is working with the Department Chair in gathering materials to be used as a DEI module/quiz on Folio. This module/quiz would be completed by students once a year and would be required in order to gain access to the physics student room. The learning outcomes would include becoming familiar with DEI terms and definitions; good DEI practices; and expectations from peers, faculty, and staff. We are also working on gathering images that highlight diversity in physics, which would be placed around the department including the student room.
Next semester we plan on having images up in our department space. We also plan on having a draft of a Folio module/quiz, which would be ready for students to take in Fall of 2022. The physics ambassador will continue to refine the presentation materials used for the DEI presentation in the Survey of Physics course and will plan on adding more engaging activities like think-pair-share questions. One of the challenges of this department is to increase faculty participation in DEI activities and will be given a closer look in near future.
Inclusive Excellence 365 Calendar
Have you considered utilizing Georgia Southern University’s new Inclusive Excellence 365 Calendar? It’s web-based, which allows key diversity events to be added to your calendar and provides month-at-a-glance PDFs that are easy to download and print:
Schedule respectfully by checking first for a possible conflict on a religious or cultural holiday.
Promote inclusion opportunities from Black History Month to LGBT Pride Month, from religious observances to cultural holidays. The diversity calendar provides dozens of opportunities to show awareness and respect.
Remember Sensitivity Training as the calendar includes reminders such as inclusion tips, dietary do’s and don’ts, audio pronunciations, and diversity facts.
D&I Campus Connections and Opportunities
STEM Organizations
SACNAS Advancing Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science
NOBCChE A non-profit professional organization dedicated to assisting black and other minority students and professionals in fully realizing their potential in academic, professional, and entrepreneurial pursuits in chemistry, chemical engineering, and allied fields.
STEM Veterans USA Our mission is to connect veterans in STEM with opportunity.
University Opportunities:
Georgia Southern Women in STEM Alliance (contact Sabrina Hessinger)
- Safe Space Training: Information about Safe Space
List of Scholarships from the Office of Multicultural Affairs
Center for Teaching Excellence: Workshop Calendar
NSF ADVANCE Grant (contact Tan@GeorgiaSouthern.edu)
SEAChange with the AAAS is a program with significant interest at the college & university level (contact SHessinger@GeorgiaSouthern.edu)
External Opportunities
- Diversity in STEM Opportunities: Pathways to Science
Something you'd like to see? We'd love to hear from you.
Brigette and Karelle lead the COSM Diversity & Inclusion webpage & newsletter team. They’d love to hear from you, and you can also contact any of your COSM D&I Ambassadors if you would like to contribute to or comment on the newsletter - or discuss other D&I issues. The webpage also includes information on becoming an ambassador yourself.
COSM Diversity & Inclusion Committee Co-Leaders
Arpita Saha - Chemistry & Biochemistry
Brandon Quillian - Chemistry & Biochemistry
Karelle Aiken - Chemistry & Biochemistry
Sabrina Hessinger - Mathematics
Administration
Amanda Klingel
Brian Koehler
Issac Taylor
Biology
Brigette Brinton
Geneva DeMars
Jennifer Brofft-Bailey
Johanne Lewis
Justin Montemarano
Marylou Machingura
Sara Gremillion
Sue Ellen Dechenne-Peters
Chemistry & Biochemistry
Arpita Saha
Brandon Quillian
Brent Feske
Debanjana Ghosh
Karelle Aiken
Shainaz Landge
Geology & Geography
Amy Potter
Rob Yarbrough
Kathlyn Smith
Mathematics
Duc Van Huynh
Eryn Stehr
Jim Brawner
Kyle Bradford
Sabrina Hessinger
Stephanie Wiggins
Tuyin An
Physics & Astronomy
Hua-Jian Jason Liu