Presented to the Faculty Senate for Discussion. 12/2/04.
By John Alexander on behalf of the Ad Hoc Faculty Committee on Diversity.
Ad Hoc Faculty Committee on Diversity. In existence for 3 years, currently with a membership of 60. (New members always welcome! Attendance rarely exceeds 10, so there is definitely a need for and room for you!)
Meets monthly to discuss issues related to multiculturalism and diversity and to address and take action on issues as appropriate. Formed and sustained by faculty members from all over the University who feel that diversity and multiculturalism are high priorities for the University and that the faculty's voice has been largely absent in these discussion. (We hope you will agree that this is true and that it needs to change.)
We are also convinced that there are huge untapped potential gifts to the University from alumni and friends who share our conviction that multiculturalism and diversity are priorities.
Immediate Goal Establish a Sustained Dialogue (SD) Group for Faculty. We think this is will be the first SD group for Faculty ever formed. Once again, UVa is in a leadership position. SD parent organization and the SD student leadership here are very enthused about this initiative. If you have any interest in this area, this is a great opportunity to deepen your understanding of yourself and to explore in a safe, non-judgmental group your own attitudes and values. The commitment will be for 1 1/2 hours, every other week for one semester. (Interest forms available for a group to be established next semester.)
Endorsement and Support
for:
-- "Embracing Diversity in Pursuit of Excellence" report (We have agreed to draft a formal written response to the report in collaboration with the Black Faculty and Staff Council.)
--The Commission's recommendation that the report be accepted and enacted holistically
--The Commission's recognition that change will be slow and that the involvement of the entire community is essential.
Amplify and Leverage:
From our point of view there is one recommendation which stands out as a high priority and which we think would pay great dividends for faculty development.
from the Curriculum Subcommittee Recommendations:
(recommendation #11. ) Create grants for faculty to develop new courses or expand their syllabi to include racial/ethnic diversity issues and to explore innovative teaching methods that address a diverse student body. Grants could come in the form of summer grants or release time during the academic year, and could include funding for research projects that involve diverse groups of students working collaboratively. Some examples of effective courses currently offered at U.Va. that could be used as models are the Common Courses in the College of Arts & Sciences and the Ethical Values Seminars in the School of Law, taught at the homes of professors.
We actually wrote a full proposal (originally drafted by Bob Covert and Claire Kaplan) that follows the same line of reasoning as Recommendation #11.
(Full text of Morven Farm Proposal available through the link in the appendix.)
It points to the successful examples of TTI projects (where faculty Fellows are selected annually to work on innovative undergraduate teaching using technology. In the nine years of that program's existence, almost 70 faculty members have developed successful undergraduate courses. This approach works well at UVa, where faculty members are in the forefront of their fields.
What faculty members repeatedly say they need to develop themselves professionally is time (either in the form of release time from courses or focused time in the summer through summer salary) and support. In addition, they benefit from regular contact with their colleagues who are doing similar work.
What Fellows repeatedly say they gain from these one year fellowships is greatly enhanced leadership in their own field and a cohort of colleagues from all over the University who are doing similar work. Our TTI program is the envy of many other schools and the model for professional development programs in such universities as Oxford and Cornell.
Although private giving has not been a feature of the TTI program, several successful programs have sustained themselves and grown with significant external grants. (The two most successful programs by this measure have secured over $8 million in external funds.) In addition, the publication Revealing Possibilities, referenced in the appendix, was actively used by development officers to inform donors about some of the most exciting and innovative teaching going on at UVa.
The same could easily be true for a Fellowship program in Multiculturalism and Diversity.
Such a Fellowship program would be extremely valuable to the UVa community for at least three reason:
--The stature of UVa is built and maintained by the faculty members. This program would support faculty development in a key area comparable to the interdisciplinary area of instructional technology.
--The impact that faculty members have on the students and the UVa community is huge. This program would support and enhance a need long expressed by the students to have more participation and leadership by the faculty in these vital areas.
--The curriculum evolves slowly in part due to our lack of time and resources to devote to it. This program would address both issues which tend to slow its development.
Appendices.
Alexander, J., Reagan, J, and Sakell, J. Revealing Possibilities. Rector and Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia. 1998.
Alexander, J., and Reagan J. "Impact of the TTI Program." Prepared for the University Committee on Information Technology (UCIT). 2004.
Covert, B. and Kaplan, C. " Proposal for the Development of a Multicultural Institute to Improve the Climate at the University of Virginia." Prepared in response to a call for proposals for academic uses of Morven Farm. 2002.
Contact information:
John Alexander
Email: john@virginia.edu
Phone: 243-6619
If you would like to join the Ad Hoc Faculty Committee on Diversity, please write to:
diversity-pro@virginia.edu