How do we recruit, support, and retain diverse faculty? Reflections from our discussion series

Posted: Aug 2 2021 by

Patricia Marsteller
Emory University

Pat Marsteller, co-leader of working group 5, Professor of Practice in Biology Emeritus, Emory University

Equity, inclusion, diversity, and justice are foundational in effective higher education settings, including STEM disciplines. Our ASCN working group brings together communities whose work focuses on justice, equity, inclusion, and diversity (JEDI) in higher education. In spring 2021, we focused on a series of informal conversations centered on recruiting diverse faculty. In the series we discussed:

• Why recruiting diverse faculty is important.
• Promising practices for department leaders, such as creating detailed and inclusive recruitment plans, utilizing cluster hires, broadening searches, using faculty search advocates, and providing JEDI education for faculty and for search committees.
• Working with other institutional actors (e.g., data analysts, deans) for institutional and departmental reflections, hiring plans, and data needs. More

Transforming Institutions Takeaways

Posted: Jun 24 2021 by

Rachel Renbarger
Western Michigan University

Rachel Renbarger, Western Michigan University

Last week concluded the 2021 Transforming Institutions Conference that marked the 10th year of convening like-minded change leaders. The event was a rousing success; we had over 250 participants from at least 3 continents with over 40 concurrent presentations, 60+ posters, and 4 workshops containing research-based strategies for improving higher education. What did we learn from such an amazing event? More

Departmental Change: Sustaining Impacts

The Departmental Action Team (DAT) Project supports departments as they make changes to their undergraduate programs. In previous posts, we described the principles that underlie the DAT Project, the initial stages of DAT formation, and how DATs accomplish change initiatives with the support of facilitators. In about 70% of cases, departments that host DATs continue to catalyze change after external DAT facilitation ends, and sometimes even after the DAT itself ends. In this final post, we explore several ways DATs catalyze sustained impacts. More

Do you need a change theory?

Posted: Apr 6 2021 by

Daniel Reinholz
San Diego State University

Tessa Andrews
University of Georgia

Tessa Andrews, University of Georgia and Dan Reinholz, San Diego State University

Do you have an innovative new approach to teaching? Are you an educator who is frustrated by the lack of support for new teaching methods? Are you an administrator trying to improve education on your campus? Although research has taught us a lot about how to improve teaching and learning, actually making these improvements a reality can be much more challenging. That is where change theory comes in. More

Departmental Change: Engaging in a Change Initiative

The Departmental Action Team (DAT) Project supports departments as they make changes to their undergraduate programs. In previous posts, we described the principles that underlie the DAT Project and the initial stages of DAT formation. In this post, we'll share some of what DATs and facilitators do as they engage in a change initiative together. If you are interested in learning more, we are leading a free interactive webinar (Tuesday, March 30, 12-1:30pm EST) about facilitating change using the DAT model. Register for the webinar. More