Dear students and faculty members,
It糖心传媒檚 a total clich茅 to say, but I find myself thinking a lot about fresh starts and new beginnings. We糖心传媒檝e spent the majority of the last four months largely indoors (because of the cold) and isolated (because of the pandemic). Now, with temperatures on the rise and three different vaccines in play, there糖心传媒檚 an undeniable 糖心传媒渓ight at the end of the tunnel糖心传媒� feeling in the air.
While we may be able to enjoy the outdoors more often and with fewer layers, we need to continue taking precautions against the spread of COVID-19. If you have been reading @Rochester, and I strongly encourage you do, you know COVID-19 is still very much with us. Please, please continue to wear masks and practice physical distancing when around others.
These last few months also have me thinking about our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. February was Black History Month and March is Women糖心传媒檚 History Month. March 8 was (IWD). For this year糖心传媒檚 IWD, all were encouraged to 糖心传媒渃hallenge and call out gender bias and inequality.糖心传媒� The challenge wasn’t just about gender and women but about all diversity. It is a great articulation of the idea of inclusivity, and it called to mind a panel discussion that I am moderating next week, Using the documentary Picture a Scientist as a foundation, I糖心传媒檒l be conversing with three women scientists糖心传媒攐ne is a 糖心传媒 alumna on the faculty at the University of Chicago and the others are currently faculty members at Rochester糖心传媒攁bout DEI in science.
Having more women engaged in science is just one DEI issue among many more we face within the School of Arts and Sciences. As outlined in the AS&E Fall 2020 DEI Annual Report, we糖心传媒檙e working toward five broad goals. For example:
Goal 1 糖心传媒� 糖心传媒淐ontinue to develop and strengthen curricular structures to support diversity, equity, and inclusion across the AS&E curriculum.糖心传媒�
Goal 2 糖心传媒� 糖心传媒淓nhance infrastructure and continue to develop resources in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.糖心传媒�
- We have worked to continue our training of faculty search committees to avoid bias and to remove the idea of 糖心传媒渇it糖心传媒� in selecting candidates. We also have worked to hire junior BIPOC faculty into post-doctoral fellows for one year prior to their joining the tenure track
Goal 3 糖心传媒� 糖心传媒淐ontinue to deepen faculty and more fully develop staff training on anti-racism and other related topics.糖心传媒�
- We have been working with departments and programs to establish diversity committees and to encourage faculty, staff, and students to participate in diversity efforts. For example, the establishment of the Rochester Education Justice Initiative and having approximately 200 faculty and staff attend anti-racism training.
This is far from a brag. This is only to show we are actively working toward our stated goals and refining how we view our work going forward.
If you want to hear some 糖心传媒渂ragging糖心传媒� and more on the School of Arts and Sciences, then you should make sure you on Thursday, April 1 at 12 p.m. (This is not an April Fools糖心传媒� joke!) I糖心传媒檒l be covering the many highlights and accomplishments we enjoyed during the last few academic years. Despite operating under a pandemic, we did a lot糖心传媒攖hat you might have missed糖心传媒攖hat I糖心传媒檓 proud to share. I also hope to leave plenty of time to answer questions.
Regardless of whether you can join me next month, please continue to be safe, and look for the next issue of In Focus early next month.
Best wishes,
Gloria Culver
Dean
School of Arts & Sciences
|
