What did we do?
We structured our DEI plan around three strategic objectives: recruitment and retention, education and scholarship, and building a more inclusive and equitable community.
RECRUITMENT & RETENTION
Greater diversity within our community helps everyone feel that they belong. Though we have more work to do, we made progress in diversifying our faculty and student cohorts on some dimensions. We asked: “How can we do more to recruit and retain a more diverse community of students, faculty, and staff?”
Faculty Diversity Recruitment Click to expand
As part of the UM Presidential Postdoctoral Fellows Program, a diversity recruitment initiative, UMSI was approved to hire 11 Fellows between 2013 and 2022 – the most of any unit on campus. All 11 fellows have been retained, and to date, eight of these postdocs have transitioned to the tenure track.
UMSI requires the U-M ADVANCE Program “Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Improve Diversity and Excellence (STRIDE)” training for UMSI faculty members serving on faculty search committees, and encourages all faculty to attend the training. Since 2014, 61% of UMSI’s instructional faculty have had STRIDE training. During the DEI Plan, strategies recommended in the STRIDE training were integrated into UMSI’s hiring and selection processes.
Mentoring was strengthened for all assistant and associate professors in the school. Launch committees offer a team approach to faculty development for first-year faculty. Mentors provide feedback on grant proposals, papers, and promotion materials, help faculty to build their professional networks, and provide advice on professional matters.
In 2020, UMSI received the esteemed Rhetaugh Dumas Diversifying Faculty Award from the UM Center for Education of Women (CEW+).
In 2021 UMSI led two proposals selected as part of the University of Michigan Anti-Racism Faculty Hiring Initiative. The Racial Justice in Technology proposal supports hiring a cluster of three faculty members who will be appointed in the School of Information, the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design. The Racial Justice in Healthcare: Informatics and Data-Driven Approaches proposal supports hiring a cluster of five faculty members, to be appointed in the schools of Information, Nursing, and Public Health, College of Pharmacy and Medical School. The three-year university hiring initiative will ultimately add at least 20 new tenured or tenure-track faculty members with scholarly expertise in racial inequality and structural racism to schools and colleges across campus.
While we still have much work to do, UMSI made notable gains in faculty diversity between 2015 and 2021. Specifically, compared to the baseline year of 2014-15:
The proportion of non-white tenure track faculty in 2020-21 is 29% (n=16) compared to 23% (n=10) at baseline
The proportion of women tenure track faculty in 2020-21 is 39.2% (n=22) compared to 37.2% (n=16) at baseline
The proportion of Black tenure track faculty in 2020-21 is 8.9% (n=5) compared to 7.0% (n=3) at baseline
The proportion of Asian tenure track faculty in 2020-21 is 12.5% (n=7) compared to 9.3% (n=4) at baseline In terms of faculty representation -- compared to the baseline year of 2014-15
UMSI grew the tenure track faculty 30%
The number of women faculty increased 37.5%
The number of Black faculty increased 67%
The number of Asian or Asian-American faculty increased 75%
UMSI hired our first three Hispanic/LatinX faculty members
Student Diversity Recruitment Click to expand
UMSI has continued efforts to advance our student recruitment efforts, within legal parameters, to support student diversity in all academic programs. These efforts include events, advertising, recruitment outreach, website marketing and the work of professional staff, paid student staff and faculty as well as student and alumni volunteers.
During DEI 1.0, the largest gains in African American, Hispanic and Native American (AHN*) applicants and enrollments came the years that application barriers were removed such as:
The GRE can create a financial barrier and research supports it is not a predictor of academic success. The GRE was removed from admissions criteria for the MSI in 2018, from the MHI in 2019, and from the PhD in 2020.
Opening enrollment to undergraduate transfer students with particular emphasis on Community College students and simplifying the credit transfer process.
For example, following GRE removal:
In the Master of Science in Information (MSI) Program:
The number of applications from African-American, Hispanic and Native American (AHN) students increased by 3.65% in one year.
The incoming cohort increased 5.2%.
In the PhD Program:
AHN applications increased 3.6% (from 15.63% the previous year to 19.23%)
AHN enrollment reached 31% in the incoming cohort, a record high. UMSI community members can view a summary report on five year trends for AHN enrollment here. Additional data is available upon request.
*The full definition of AHN: Includes domestic students who identify as African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), and/or Native American/Alaskan Native/Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; or multiracial including one of these racial or ethnic groups (count is unique individuals).*
In 2021 a group including student leaders, UMSI Admissions staff, the Assistant Dean for DEI and leaders from the DEI Committee met to discuss ways to advance student diversity recruitment efforts. This dialogue informed a number of new actions, including:
Securing approval for a new full time staff position focusing on student diversity recruitment.
Providing information about UMSI’s DEI values and efforts in recruitment information sessions
Expanding the number and range of diversity and identity focused organizations included in UMSI recruitment marketing and conference attendance
Confirming that students enrolled in Historically Black Colleges/Universities and Minority Serving Institutions meet the criteria for the SI Achievement Fellowship, a full tuition scholarship that is modeled after the Rackham Merit Fellowship.
Increasing outreach to and relationship building with campus identity based student groups.
Increasing funding for student attendance and involvement with recruiting at diversity oriented conferences.
iSuccess Transfer Student Support & Retention Click to expand
UMSI iSuccess includes a series of activities and programs to support transfer students in their transition to the University of Michigan and the School of Information. The program emphasizes cohort-building to create connections among students, while also providing space for transfer students to address the unique opportunities and challenges they are likely to encounter.
A 2018-19 evaluation of iSuccess found that:
100% of on-campus, enrolled transfer students had either an academic advising or iSuccess coaching appointment.
65% (24) scheduled both an academic advising and iSuccess coaching appointment at some point during the year.
100% (35) of on-campus, enrolled transfer students engaged with the BSI academic advising/iSuccess canvas site.
Education & Scholarship
Social justice-oriented research strengthened, while a new commitment to create an anti-racist curriculum and co-curriculum galvanized faculty, staff, and students to change the status quo.
Inclusive Teaching & Anti-Racist Curriculum Click to expand
Since 2013, UMSI has continued to provide annual inclusive teaching training in different forms to faculty including customized workshops facilitated by UM experts and external consultants. In addition, UMSI has supported an inclusive teaching liaison as a faculty service role, which involves attending campus meetings and connecting UMSI faculty with resources and training opportunities. In 2017-19, we collaborated with the UM Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) for a two-year initiative when nearly all faculty participated in an individual consultation focused on inclusive teaching pedagogy.
When our students engaged in activism following George Floyd’s murder in 2020, UMSI prioritized creating an antiracist curriculum. An anti-racist curriculum task force was embedded into the UMSI DEI Committee. In the first year, consultants were hired to provide anti-racism education for faculty (as well as for staff and students). Upon reviewing external resources and reviewing dozens of syllabi across UMSI, the DEI Committee's anti-racist curriculum subcommittee synthesized the practices identified and developed a “good practices” document. This living document provides inclusive teaching practices including course content, pedagogy, supplementary course materials, and course policies and procedures.
In its second year, the antiracist curriculum initiative more clearly connected the work of the DEI committee with academic program committees. Program committees engaged in a process of building antiracism into statements of program competencies and developing antiracist content into a core course such that all students would have exposure to this content during their program at UMSI. These efforts continue and include building assessment and accountability practices.
Research Supporting Diverse Communities Click to expand
Overview
UMSI has a long tradition of community based, equity focused and community impact research. With our explicit commitment to DEI and with an increase in the diversity of faculty joining UMSI, we have seen this strength grow further and faster.
A number of UMSI's research teams include a focus on addressing inequity and understanding and impacting historically underserved communities, and many guest speakers sponsored by faculty research groups shared scholarship that addressed inequity with a DEI and social justice lens.
Here is a selection of the scholarship UMSI faculty - most hired in recent years as a result of faculty diversity recruitment efforts - produced across many dimensions of diversity, equity and inclusion, social justice and antiracism:
UX/HCI/Social media
(In)visible moderation: A digital ethnography of marginalized users and content moderation on Twitch and Reddit
By Thach, H., Mayworm. S, Delmonaco. D, and Haimson, O.
Reference: Thach, H., Mayworm, S., Delmonaco, D., & Haimson, O. (2022). (In)visible moderation: A digital ethnography of marginalized users and content moderation on Twitch and Reddit. New Media & Society, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221109804
Race-positive design: A generative approach to decolonizing computing
By Eglash, R., A. Bennett, M. Lachney, and W. Babbitt
Reference: Eglash, R., A. Bennett, M. Lachney, and W. Babbitt. (2020). Race-positive design: A generative approach to decolonizing computing. Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA. https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10182458
Critical Race Theory for HCI
By Ogbonnaya-Ogburu, I.F., A.D.R. Smith, A. To, and K. Toyama
Reference: Ogbonnaya-Ogburu, I.F., A.D.R. Smith, A. To, and K. Toyama. (2020). Critical Race Theory for HCI. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376392
Eliciting Tech Futures Among Black Young Adults: A Case Study of Remote Speculative Co-Design
By Christina Harrington and Tawanna R Dillahunt
Reference: Christina Harrington and Tawanna R Dillahunt. 2021. Eliciting Tech Futures Among Black Young Adults: A Case Study of Remote Speculative Co-Design. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 397, 1–15. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445723
LIS/Archives
Critical directions for archival approaches to social justice
By Punzalan, R. L., & Caswell, M.
Reference: Punzalan, R. L., & Caswell, M. (2016). Critical directions for archival approaches to social justice. The Library Quarterly, 86(1), 25-42. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/684145
Traversing a political pipeline: An intersectional and social constructionist approach toward technology education for girls of color
By Garcia, P., & Scott, K.
Reference: Garcia, P., & Scott, K. (2016). Traversing a political pipeline: An intersectional and social constructionist approach toward technology education for girls of color. InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies, 12(2). https://escholarship.org/uc/item/52f3z0wt
Data Science/Information Economics
Author Mentions in Science News Reveal Wide-Spread Ethnic Bias
By Peng, H., Teplitskiy, M., & Jurgens, D.
Reference: Peng, H., Teplitskiy, M., & Jurgens, D. (2020). Author Mentions in Science News Reveal Wide-Spread Ethnic Bias. arXiv preprint arXiv:2009.01896. https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.01896
Health Informatics
Health informatics and health equity: improving our reach and impact
By Tiffany C Veinot, Jessica S Ancker, Suzanne Bakken
Reference: Tiffany C Veinot, Jessica S Ancker, Suzanne Bakken, Health informatics and health equity: improving our reach and impact, Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, Volume 26, Issue 8-9, August/September 2019, Pages 689–695, https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocz132
Student Career Development Click to expand
The UMSI Office of Career Development (CDO) developed the following DEI mission statement: The Office of Career Development is committed to integrating diversity, equity and inclusion, and anti-racism into all curricular and co-curricular offerings, policies, practices, and assessment with a particular focus on student empowerment and advocacy, as well as employer education and accountability. Actions to date include:
Implementing more flexible internship policies to reduce barriers for completing this requirement
Increasing internship grant funding in partnership with Development & Alumni Relations, providing more support for students to pursue unpaid or underpaid internships that support their career interests.
Expanding the DEI career resource library in the CDO canvas site
Integrating DEI related questions into internship and job outcomes assessments
Launching a monthly CDO team meeting for DEI-related discussion & planning
Creating workshops, tools, and resources educating students on assessing company culture during the recruiting process and to identify companies that support broadly diverse identities in the workplace
Implementing a policy stating that all employers who participate in campus recruiting at UMSI are asked to include a slide in their company recruitment presentation regarding their DEI commitment and any related diversity, climate, or inclusion initiatives within their organization (resulting in 100% compliance)
Cultivating an Equitable
& Inclusive Community
With a fast-growing community of busy, productive people, the challenges of distributed work spaces and amidst a global pandemic, we considered: “How do we develop, promote and reward the norms, expectations, and practices that create an inclusive community that helps every one of us thrive?”
DEI Committee Click to expand
The UMSI DEI Committee, first formed in 2013, brings faculty, staff, and student committee members together as a working group to identify and address DEI priorities, issues, and initiatives. The committee, a true working and advisory committee, has prioritized two kinds of actions:
Meaningful actions that would lay the groundwork for future activities; and
Concrete actions that could be executed relatively quickly, so as to make quick, visible progress.
The intensive multi-year time commitment, and smaller subcommittee structure with faculty, staff and students working together creates an important chance not only to address the items in the charge but to build community and understanding across faculty, students, and staff. The committee’s structure and membership model is still uncommon at the University.
Over the years, many DEI efforts were incubated in the DEI committee and have since become part of what full time DEI staff members lead as part of the DEI Office. This includes DEI awards, DEI newsletter, DEI website, DEI funding requests (mini-grants) our signature iDEI Talks event, Lunar New Year event and annual MLK event, organizing DEI education and inclusive teaching sessions on anti-racism, disability advocacy and sexual misconduct prevention and hosting community gatherings to address immediate or emerging issues or to provide a space for reflection and healing.
In its practices, the DEI Committee seeks to model ideals of an inclusive, equitable working group through discussion about its norms, opportunities for formal feedback and reflection, and frequent informal check-ins with committee members. The DEI committee is a vital community and organizational structure and serves as a positive force for DEI efforts and as a group that advocates for equity and inclusion at UMSI.
DEI Awards Click to expand
UMSI's DEI awards recognize members of the UMSI community for contributions to our goals for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) including efforts to build an anti-racist community. UMSI has two awards, the first, an award for Impact in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, launched in 2015. The second, an award for Impact in Gender Diversity in Information & Technology, was created in 2017.
Since the inception of DEI Awards over 30 students, faculty, and staff have been recognized for their contributions-- as individuals and as teams. In addition to the selected winners, each year we received numerous nominations that demonstrated the breadth and depth of efforts and impact that individuals and groups are having in our community. From the staff team that created the Religious Holidays Fact Sheets to the Career Development Team's comprehensive approach to integrating DEI, from faculty-led community impact research to student leaders and activists, the DEI Awards are one way we demonstrate that what we value, we recognize.
Student Life Click to expand
A division of the Office of Academic and Student Affairs (OASA), UMSI Student Life is focused on helping all students feel welcome and part of an inclusive community. Examples of programming and resources developed during DEI 1.0 include:
iConnect: iConnect invites all students to join small groups based on interests to facilitate relationship building and a sense of belonging; all groups are open to anyone with an interest in the group’s focus or mission.
Leadership Series: The UMSI Leadership Series offers all students an opportunity to reflect on and build leadership skills with a focus on inclusive leadership.
Student Organizations: UMSI Student Life encourages student leaders to create and sustain student organizations. Student organizations provide organic, accessible, and student-led spaces for connections and experiences. Black@SI and OUTformation are two student initiated affinity-group organizations recently established at the school. All recognized student organizations are open to all who support the student organization’s mission.
Common Reading Experience: The UMSI Common Reading Experience creates a shared opportunity for students to learn and connect through DEI-themed readings and facilitated conversations. This has become a mandatory component of new student orientation for all degree programs.
Outreach Click to expand
The Community College Summer Institute (CCSI), is the first of its kind within a school or college at the University of Michigan. Community college students often view the University of Michigan as an “out-of-reach” institution for transfer. UMSI sought to change this in 2017, when we launched the first CCSI with funding from the Office of the Provost. As the school’s flagship outreach program, the institute creates a low-barrier point of entry for community college students to learn more about UMSI and the University of Michigan. Using a high-touch, participant-centered approach, this three-day event offers intensive exposure to the field of information, application and admissions advising, professional development, transportation assistance, housing, and a travel stipend. Since 2017, CCSI has reached 175 community college students, of whom:
33.5% were from historically excluded student populations
32% applied to and/or were admitted to U-M
26% applied to and/or were admitted to UMSI
Since the institute’s inception, UMSI has collaborated and consulted with multiple other campus units - including the Center for Educational Outreach and Wolverine Pathways - in support of expanding community college outreach and access at UMSI and campus wide.
Engaged Learning Click to expand
The UMSI Engaged Learning Office has integrated diversity, equity, and inclusion and antiracism into curricular and co-curricular offerings, policies and practices, and assessment activities. Particular focus has been given to incorporating DEI-oriented skill building for students and emphasizing engagement with DEI-oriented organizations as part of client and/or community based courses and programs.
The ELO team has engaged in significant training and reflection related to DEI in order to carefully build policies and practices that center DEI and anti-racism into their work, and has collaborated with the DEI Office to continue to enhance how they prepare students to work effectively in diverse teams and in diverse communities. Some examples of ways the ELO has emphasized DEI in its work include:
Incorporating an understanding of power and privilege and creating mutually beneficial outcomes into workshops preparing students for community engagement work
Identifying and engaging, among others, organizations that work on DEI related issues, demonstrate a value for DEI in their organizational culture, and/or have ownership reflecting historically excluded groups
Streamlining program application processes to support increased participation
Providing $100,000+ in scholarship funding for study abroad to reduce financial barriers for participation
Developing workshop series on teamwork and collaboration, including sessions on social identity development
Teaching SI 688, Immersive Applied Projects in the Social Sector in which students learn about social disparities through applied projects with civic organizations
DEI Education Click to expand
From student orientations and community conversations, to staff meeting DEI sessions and faculty workshops, we worked to educate the UMSI community, organizing opportunities to learn from skilled practitioners and from each other. DEI education activities have been organized by the UMSI DEI Office, the DEI Committee, by UMSI units such as the Office of Academic and Student Affairs, and by faculty, staff and students across UMSI, often with DEI funding support.
Here is a sampling of DEI education and community building events from across the five-year strategic plan:
Community Conversation: Introduction to Outreach @ UMSI
Change It Up: Bias Intervention Training
School of Information Masters Association Culture Sharing Night
Annual Lunar New Year celebration
DEI Retreats with faculty, staff, and students
UMSI Staff Meeting Common Reading Experience Activity: Undermining Racial Justice
Mitigating Harm and Creating More Community in the Classroom
CRLT Players Moving the Needle: Shifting the Conversation on Sexual Harassment
Integrating Anti-Racism & DEI in Everyday Work
Coded Bias Film Screening and Q&A with Filmmaker Shalini Kantayya
Student Community Conversation/DEI Design Jam re: Building Community among Students @ UMSI
iDEI Talks: Talks at the intersection of DEI and Information
How to talk about Race with Courage and Nuance
Anti-Racist Pedagogy 3-part Workshop Series
Learning Together Disability Workshop: Supporting acceptance of and equity for people with disabilities
MLK Celebration Film Discussion: Good Trouble