DEI Committee Policies

Objective: Establish policies to provide Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for members of the DEI committee. Policies can be amended as needed.

Quorum and Voting

A quorum for the committee in a meeting will be ≥½ of the members (excluding interns), and anything to be voted on in a meeting should be circulated to the membership 3 days in advance of a vote. Interns are voting members, but because of their busy schedules, their absence shall not deny a quorum. Voting by email is permitted--an email period should last at least 3 days, and no quorum is required for an email vote. Votes will be decided by simple majority unless otherwise specified or required by Roberts Rules of Order.

Adding or changing policies

Policy changes are carried out via a vote of the committee. After a policy has been voted on, that same policy may not be brought for a vote again until the subsequent July 1st.

Statements

A public statement on behalf of the Committee may be passed by a simple majority and is normally only considered when the committee receives a request from one or more members of the Departmental community (students, staff, and faculty). 

A public statement on behalf of the Committee may also be opened to other faculty, staff, and/or students to append their names if they so choose by vote of the Committee. Additional signatories will not be able to edit the statement. 

Search Committee Representative Selection

Search duties will be assigned from a rotating list of committee member names. If possible, the DEI representative should be someone from outside the discipline of the search. 

Normally, DEI committee members should serve on a maximum of one search per semester. If there is a shortage of DEI Committee members for multiple Search Committees, past DEI Committee members (within 2 years) can assist in serving on the Search Committees.

Search Committee Representative Responsibilities

The Dean shall notify the DEI Committee as soon a search is approved. The DEI Committee Representative (DEICR) and DEI student intern, if applicable (see below), shall be appointed prior to the stage at which the job ad is being crafted. The Inclusive Hiring Training for the entirety of the search committee should take place before the job ad is finalized; members of the DEI Committee will have already been trained as part of mandated annual Inclusive Hiring Trainings. The DEICR and DEI student intern, if applicable, shall thereafter assist in the following manners: 

• Assist the Committee in developing processes, rubrics, and interview questions in line with DEI best practices.

• Assist the Committee in building a diverse pool and ensuring that the pool is narrowed in ways that are equitable and inclusive. 

• Assist the Committee in evaluating the track record, capacity, and commitment of candidates to diversity, equity, and inclusive practices.

The DEICR, along with the student intern, will serve as a resource for the search committee, offering best practices in equitable hiring. In Tenure-Line searches, the DEICR and the student intern are voting members, but may abstain on questions in which they feel they lack expertise. 

For Visiting Faculty searches, the DEICR is non-voting unless the search committee decides to grant the DEICR voting privileges. DEI interns will not be provided for Visiting Faculty searches due to the large number of visitor searches and the low number of DEI interns.  For all other searches, the involvement of a student intern may be requested; their role as a voting or non-voting member shall be determined by the individual committee. 

Reporting DEI-related suggestions and concerns 

Normally, concerns should be addressed to the appropriate Civil Rights officer of one or more Colleges if the concern is formally actionable (e.g. a harassment claim under Title IX). Members of the DEI committee are considered Responsible Employees for all Title IX issues, however, we recognize that not all concerns rise to an actionable level but might be better considered by the DEI Committee. If the Committee considers a concern substantive and ameliorable, the Committee shall discuss and take steps to address the concern, working with other entities in the Department and at the Colleges as appropriate.