Beloit College
PA-7: Support for Future Faculty Diversity

Beloit College requested that AASHE Staff correct a mistake in this reporting field for the reason specified below.

Previous Value: One of the goals of the Office of Academic Diversity and Inclusivity is to devote explicit attention to the recruitment and retention of students, faculty, and staff from underrepresented groups. Data shared in Spring 2015 by the offices of Institutional Research and Enrollment Management confirmed that the student population represents the most diverse of Beloit’s four major constituencies – trustees, faculty, staff, and students. The College Administration is now tailoring efforts to diversify faculty and staff, and to reimagine retention efforts. At their request, we have consulted with two STEM programs that are exploring new ways of reaching underserved populations and preparing their majors to one day become liberal arts faculty. We began our work on this concern by reviewing the new antiracism statement adopted by senior staff that now appears in all employment ads. We are working with Provost Ann Davies, Lori Rhead, Vice President for Human Resources and Operations, and Heather McLean, Director of Human Resources, on the development of more formal procedures for the composition of search committees and on processes that constitute a successful search – and embedding higher levels of transparency on both fronts. We welcomed the invitation extended by the Provost to become involved in the work that had already begun with Dean Klawitter, task force member Cecil Youngblood, Associate Dean of Inclusive Living and Learning, and others. Some members of the administration already have begun to institute and/or consider benchmarks that directly address the potential of faculty and staff appointments to attract and retain individuals from populations traditionally underserved by higher education, generally, and at Beloit College, specifically. We recognize that success on this front is tied directly to an institutional commitment to institute cultural change that is broadly endorsed and shared. The President’s appointment of Cecil Youngblood and Dr. Truesdell to senior staff – the first African Americans to formally serve as members of the college’s senior leadership team – is a good first step. Under the direction of the Provost, Beloit submitted a successful application for inclusion in an ACM-CIC project to diversify the professoriate. We are excited about the possibility of tying a faculty fellowship to a tenure-track appointment for future professors whose background and life experience enhance our faculty diversity as well as enrich student learning. Task force members will join groups representing the college at two workshops scheduled later this month; one related to the ACM-CIC Undergraduate and Faculty Fellows Program, the other is an assessment initiative organized by the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning. At the latter, the Beloit group will focus on conceptualizing and developing assessment and evaluation mechanisms around diversity, inclusion, and equity. Additionally, the task force is collaborating with the Faculty Status & Performance Committee (FS&P) and the Curriculum Oversight and Administration Committee (COA) as they assess the “C” (intercultural literacy) requirement, and with leaders of the Initiatives Programs as they continue to emphasize social identities and student agency. We also have been intentional in inviting members of the campus and larger Beloit community to join one of the 11 “cell” groups that are operating across the campus, and involve roughly 50 members. Similar to Sustained Dialogue groups, cells extend the reach of the task force, serving as avenues through which we increase dialogue about inclusivity initiatives, and expand the level of perspectives that influence how and what we do, support, and/or recommend. Rest assured that cell groups are about more than just talk; in fact some already have clarified measureable contributions they will make to inclusivity initiatives. Moreover, cells include members of the newly organized Staff Advisory Committee that is examining staff compensation.

Explanation: I misread the credit information and instead was focusing on programs that Beloit offers to increase its Faculty Diversity with candidates that have already obtained their advanced degrees.