As this initiative unfolds over the next several years, different working groups will be charged to focus on different aspects of the work. This approach provides multiple opportunities for different faculty to be engaged at different levels and at different times as we move forward. To ensure continuity of invested stakeholders, we also created two "pools" of individuals who will be invited, at various points in the project, to lend specific kinds of expertise to the work--Teaching Advocates and Equity Advocates.
Project Teams are small by design. They serve as the working group for a given phase that keeps the project moving forward. Keeping the main working group small provides more flexibility for scheduling and limits the workload burden for most faculty members who will engage in this process.
A pool of full-time faculty members (of any rank, in any track) identified by their colleagues as educators who have expertise in pedagogy, are committed to scholarly teaching, and/or are generally recognized as faculty who shape the way their colleagues think about teaching.
Throughout the project, they are invited to provide targeted input, shape emerging drafts, and more. They also serve as advocates for the project among their colleagues. They engage only if/as they are able to do so. A list of Teaching Advocates may be found here.
A pool of faculty and staff who have DEI expertise, have experience applying an equity lens to policies and processes, and/or have experienced inequitable teaching evaluation practices.
Throughout the project, they are invited to provide targeted input to ensure an equity lens informs the work. They serve as “critical friends” to the work, both its processes and products. They engage only if/as they are able to do so. A list of Equity Advocates may be found here.
The Project Team also will engage with any and all faculty to ensure the process has as much faculty input as possible. This will happen in various ways throughout the project, including: town halls/listening sessions; digital communications; online input forms and surveys; and meetings with school/college faculty councils/assemblies, academic units, P&T committees, and any other faculty groups that wish to meet.
We’ll also engage regularly with the Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee, the Provost/Faculty Senate Gender Equity Committee, Department Chairs, Program Directors, Deans (and their teams, and any other academic leaders.
All members of the SLU community may contribute ideas and pose questions through the online General Input Form.