Motivation for this Strategic Initiative:
The location of our campus, the time in which we live, and the generation of students we are educating have given UC Merced a special mission to embrace justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion into our research and academic programs as well as our day-to-day interactions. We embrace that mission because it is just and because there are many tangible near- and long-term benefits. Everyone is more productive and creative when working in a friendly and supportive environment. In addition, diverse teams that harness their multiple perspectives and experiences to solving problems can achieve more profound and impactful research outcomes. To fully achieve our vision of providing an exceptional and equitable STEM education and community, we must acknowledge, identify, and take action to eradicate bias and structural discrimination within the academy. In doing so, UC Merced can become an exemplar among much larger and longer-established research universities nationwide. Change at this scale is difficult because it is intrinsically linked to real disparities as well as presuppositions and expectations that can undermine commitment to success for students, faculty, and staff of all backgrounds. UC Merced faculty have made substantial progress in bringing inclusive excellence to the classroom through individual actions as well as funded collaborative projects, and efforts to increase the diversity of our faculty have yielded some positive results. Truly lasting change in these and other arenas in which discrimination is manifest is a challenging task that will require us to bring honest introspection and intentionality to all our endeavors. For that reason, the keystone to all of our strategic initiatives is embedding the ideals and practice of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) into every aspect of our school.
Summary of Task Force Report (see appendix for full report)
The key action item proposed by the JEDI task force is the immediate creation of a standing “JEDI Committee” to work with departments on diversity-related efforts across hiring, promotion, teaching, and mentoring within the school. As proposed, this committee will be led by a part-time Associate Dean and include representatives from each department. Proposed specific consultative duties of this committee include creating checklists of best practices and diversity-related materials for hiring processes, developing rubrics and sample material for diversity statements in tenure and promotion, reviewing policies and procedures of the graduate groups, evaluating differential service loads among different faculty groups, hosting an annual workshop for all faculty on JEDI-related topics, as well as workshops for individual departments as requested. Additionally, the JEDI Committee will act as the information channel between units and groups within SNS, as well as to the Academic Senate, the UCM Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and campus senior management. Finally, this committee will work with faculty, staff, and students to implement the action items proposed for the other Strategic Initiatives to ensure they are consistent with JEDI principles.
Proposed Action Items (see Task Force Report for more details and metrics)
2021-2022
- Create an SNS Standing JEDI Committee to advise departments, graduate groups, administrative staff, as well as graduate and undergraduate students on JEDI-related issues.
- Appoint a part-time Associate Dean for JEDI.
- Work with department chairs and the Dean’s office to negotiate credit and/or compensation for JEDI Committee members.
- Begin development of JEDI-related references, resources, andtoolkits for graduate programs, curriculum development, and academic personnel functions.
- Start coordination with UCM Office of EDI.
2022-2023
- Work with Departments to annually assess contributions to JEDI
- Find appropriate survey instruments to assess climate and attitudes experienced by students, faculty, and staff in SNS; organize the administration and analysis of these surveys.
- Make a model rubric as an example for departments to evaluate diversity statements for tenure and promotion.
- Work with Departments, Dean, and APO to develop recommended best practices for describing JEDI activities in self-statements, cases, and transmittal memos.
- Negotiate with Provost’s Office and/or Vice Provost for Faculty on the possibility of half-step increases for larger loads of JEDI service.
- Improve interactions with staff and faculty to learn about each other (break down barriers, get to know others more personally) and find commonalities (community building).
- Raise awareness of power differential between faculty and staff and identify issues that have caused pain in the past.
- Work with Human Resources and relevant unions to compensate or credit staff for work on JEDI.
- Develop a website with resources on JEDI issues.
- Lower the barrier at the faculty and graduate student level to report or address JEDI issues, including smaller issues before they escalate into larger problems.
2023 and after
- Propose a system to more equitably evaluate service contributions for promotion and consider different mechanisms to think through service loads for individual faculty.
- Work with Dean and Chairs to advocate to the Provost for more FTEs for diversity hires.
- Work with Vice Provost for Faculty to determine how FEAs will work with or participate on the SNS JEDI committee.
- Work with Vice Provost for Faculty to refine FEA functions such that they do not cause significant delays in hiring processes.
- Make sure JEDI service is considered equivalent to other faculty service.
- Work with Graduate School to discuss roles for a new Graduate Student Committee Forum (at school or department level) for complaints and issues related to supervisors or mentors.
- Advocate to facilities and campus planning committees for more single-use/gender-neutral restrooms and lactation rooms.
- Advocate for expanding access to and retaining the quality of the ECEC.
- Assess the effectiveness of the JEDI committee in bringing best practices to the School.
