TO: Deans and Regional Campus Presidents
FROM: Joseph J. McCarthy
DATE: October 30, 2023
SUBJECT: Acknowledging faculty work in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and in Community-Engaged Scholarship
In early 2022, Provost Ann Cudd charged an ad hoc committee led by Vice Provost John Wallace to draft a policy to formally acknowledge and reward diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work and community-engaged scholarship (CES) in the University of Pittsburgh’s tenure and promotion processes. The committee had broad membership, representing each of the schools, a regional campus, the University Library System, and several administrative offices. The committee divided into two subcommittees and drafted the two recommendations attached. These recommendations were endorsed by the Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Advocacy Committee (EIADAC), the Faculty Affairs Committee, the Faculty Assembly, and the Council of Deans.
Both DEI and CES work advance the mission of the university and the Plan for Pitt but are often unacknowledged in annual reviews and promotion and tenure procedures. Both kinds of work can consume a significant amount of faculty members’ time, carry a risk of failure, and often are not adequately recognized or rewarded.
I am now directing that deans and presidents use their governance processes to revise key documents to acknowledge faculty members efforts in both CES and DEI work (in teaching, scholarship, or service). Such documents might include: promotion and tenure guidelines, annual review documents, and CV templates. This is not an effort to require that your faculty engage in CES or DEI work, but to properly recognize it, where it exists. The two recommendations are well-considered and can serve as resources for your schools and campuses as you evaluate the efforts of faculty who engage in these academically important pursuits.
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Read the related documents:
- Policy Recommendations from Provost’s ad hoc Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Community-Engaged Scholarship in Promotion & Tenure Processes
- Recommendations from Provost’s Advisory Subcommittee on Community Engaged Scholarship in Promotion & Tenure Processes