Dear Academic Affairs colleagues,
As the values and identity of students develop and change, and the world becomes more multicultural and influenced by technology, higher education must adapt. I am pleased that TCU is committed to creating and fostering an environment in which our faculty, staff and students can thrive, and that I am in a position to help set a strategy to move the university’s DEI efforts forward. To that end, here are updates on inclusive excellence in Academic Affairs.
Faculty Recruitment and Advancement Initiatives
The Faculty Workload Equity Model is being piloted in three colleges this semester. Over the summer we will scrutinize feedback and make any adjustments, with plans to launch it across campus this fall.
The Faculty Hiring Checklist has been used in 107 searches since we created it two years ago.
We have made five hires toward our goal of hiring 20 faculty of color into tenure-track positions, through the five-year Shared Cost Hiring Initiative, initiated in 2021.
Professional development for online teaching, eFaculty 2.0, has been revised and streamlined to better support our faculty, resulting in five short workshops.
Twenty faculty have participated in professional development for Finding Ourselves in Community, the five-year Quality Enhancement Plan to embed concepts into existing or newly approved courses to help students of all majors develop skills for interacting with people who are different from them. This first faculty cohort will begin teaching their revised courses this summer and fall. The workshops are being revised based on their feedback. Applications are open for this fall’s workshops, which include a stipend.
Student Success Initiatives
Our new Associate Provost for Undergraduate Affairs, Reginald Wilburn, is increasing our collaboration with Student Affairs and identifying gaps to address in equitable student success.
A new Academic Advising platform, Stellic, will allow us to provide uniform advising scheduling and consistency in advising notes. We initiated a soft launch in Spring 2023 and will gather feedback to launch full-scale for Fall 2023.
Student Access and Accommodation continues to improve our accessibility for students, with a 7% increase in processed accommodations in 2011-22.
For students facing academic suspension, the Student Success Team reached out to 57 students in 2022. The retention rate was 85% for students who responded, compared to 60% for those who did not respond.
As stated above, Finding Ourselves in Community is amplifying the curricular work on campus to help students achieve greater social self-awareness of themselves as unique individuals with diverse communities. Studies show that being able to collaborate with people who are different from you is a highly valued skill by employers.
Academic Affairs partnered with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion on a seminar in Fall 2022 featuring Brianna Murray discussing best practices for working with students with disabilities in the classroom and beyond. Plans are in the works for a Fall 2023 seminar.
I look forward to the continued success of these and other inclusive excellence initiatives to support Vision in Action: Lead On Strategic Plan, Goal No. 3: Strengthen the TCU experience and campus culture to foster a diverse and inclusive university for all.
Best regards,
Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs