All Times Eastern

 

Welcome, Introductions, and Setting the Stage
11:00 – 11:30 a.m. ET
In this opening session, our faculty will introduce themselves and set the stage for the rest of the conference. We’ll frame the three themes of the conference—Policies, Programs, and People—within a broader systemic lens in higher education. We’ll then ask participants to share their high-level goals for the conference and identify specific ways in which they are bringing faculty development and diversity––previously separate verticals––more closely together on their campuses.

 

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THEME: POLICIES

 

Promotion & Tenure: Creating a More Equitable Policy and Process
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ET
Institutions across higher education are in the process of re-examining and revising their promotion & tenure criteria. For many, this is being motivated by a desire to address well-known issues of equity at play throughout the process when it comes to definitions, measurement, and distribution of workload around teaching, research, and service. This session will present data that frames the national conversation.

 

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Revising the Promotion & Tenure Process: Large Group Share Out
12:00 – 12:30 p.m. ET
You’ll have a chance to share what the process of revisions or re-examination of promotion & tenure currently look like at your institution: what questions have been asked, who’s involved/driving the process, and what key challenges you’re facing along the way.

 

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Short Break
12:30 – 12:45 p.m. ET

 

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In-Depth Small-Group Discussions: Teaching, Research, and Service
12:45 – 2:00 p.m. ET
Having discussed the broader process of revising promotion & tenure in the large group setting, attendees will then be divided into small groups based on institutional type to engage in more in-depth conversation about what revisions to P&T around teaching, research, and service respectively look like on their campus. Some of the topics that will be discussed include:

Teaching

• Moving away from conventional student course evaluations as evidence of quality teaching
• Ensuring an equitable distribution of teaching loads across faculty of similar rank and tenure in each department

Research

• Facilitating and increasing access to research mentorship and funding for underrepresented faculty
• Faculty roles in research mentorship with undergraduate and graduate students

Service

• Mitigating the amount of invisible labor/disproportionate service work underrepresented faculty end up taking on compared to their white male peers
• Identifying mechanisms for better defining and measuring service in the promotion & tenure process

 

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Long Break
2:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET

 

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Applying Your Learning
2:30 – 2:45 p.m. ET
You will be given an opportunity to reflect on any new or interesting ideas you heard today that you now want to consider. For those of you wishing to discuss your ideas with members from your institution who are also participating in this conference, we can assign you to your own break out room. Our faculty will provide a quick overview of tomorrow’s topics and specifically how we translate policy into programs and bringing along critical campus partners to move forward towards your campus goals.

 

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Day One Q&A and Networking Reception
2:45 – 3:15 p.m. ET
This informal reception is your chance to decompress, ask the faculty any final questions that you may have from today’s event, and expand your network of connections.

 

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All Times Eastern

 

Refresh and Reset
11:00 – 11:30 a.m. ET
Attendees will have an opportunity to share out what first step, related to supporting and retaining underrepresented faculty, they are now considering after participating in yesterday’s sessions.

 

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THEME: PROGRAMS
Formalizing Retention Programs
11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. ET
Faculty mentorship programs, sponsorship programs, and affinity groups are some of the ways that leading institutions are bolstering their support infrastructure for underrepresented faculty. In this session, you will learn about the benefits of these programs, including strategies you can use to incorporate and scale them for your own campus. Attendees will also have an opportunity to share around other types of programs that they’ve incorporated to support and retain underrepresented faculty.

 

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Short Break
12:15 – 12:30 p.m. ET

 

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Faculty Leadership Development Programs
12:30 – 1:15 p.m. ET
Providing effective support for underrepresented faculty as they navigate and plan out their career paths is a critically important priority across institutions. For many underrepresented faculty, this entails moving up the faculty ranks and achieving tenure, but for others this may mean pursuit of an academic leadership role or a more permanent appointment heading up a research or innovation center on campus. This session will provide ideas and strategies for academic leaders who can provide support in different and meaningful ways to underrepresented faculty.

 

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Applying Your Learning
1:15 – 1:30 p.m. ET
You will be given an opportunity to reflect on any new or interesting ideas you heard today that you now want to consider. For those of you wishing to discuss your ideas with members from your institution who are also participating in this conference, we can assign you to your own break out room.

 

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Long Break
1:30 – 2:00 p.m. ET

 

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THEME: PEOPLE

 

Working Across Stakeholders and Structures
2:00 – 2:45 p.m. ET
Now that we’ve reviewed the “science” of policies and programs, this session will focus explicitly on the “art”: how you can effectively work across stakeholder groups and structures and build strategic partnerships to get this done. In this session, we will cover questions like:

• Who is driving this effort at your institution/within your unit? Who are your policy influencers?
• Who are your champions/allies, and how can you best work with and through them?
• Who will help drive your change management process? Who will resist these efforts?
• If you’re part of a central university-level unit, how can you ensure that your efforts trickle down and take hold at the department level?
• If you’re part of a unit-level office, how can you best partner with and leverage central supports (or the network of other embedded supports across the institution) to get things done?
• How can you incentivize academic leaders like Chairs and Deans around faculty support and diversity using performance evaluations and metrics?

 

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Short Break
2:45 – 3:00 p.m. ET

 

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Next Steps: Assessing Your Departmental Needs
3:00 – 4:00 p.m. ET
Our faculty will share seven different approaches to help you conduct your needs assessment that will eventually inform your efforts. Following the presentation, you will have the opportunity to identify opportunities for new relationships with campus leaders, understand your role in cultivating strong relationships, and develop/refine effective programs and policies to support your underrepresented faculty. Participants will review their application of learning worksheet to identify their next steps.

 

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Final Q&A and Closing Remarks
4:00 – 4:30 p.m. ET