2021-23 Fostering Crucial Conversations and Building Opportune Consensus on the use of Contributions to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statements for Faculty Recruitments

At UC Davis we propose to conduct an exhaustive study into the use of Statements of Contributions to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in recruitment through research into how they are employed and valued at UC campuses and other universities. We recognized the potential value of these statements in a previous Advancing Faculty Diversity Grant from the UC Office of the President, which provoked an Academic Senate referendum protesting their mandatory inclusion in ladder rank faculty applications. After completing the research, which will include studying hundreds of public comments that Academic Senate members provided opposing and supporting the statements, we will develop two “industrial films” – one using professional actors discussing use of the statements in the context of recruitment committees reviewing applications, and a documentary facilitated by an experienced DEI facilitator and screenwriter to gain student perspectives on their lived experiences and focusing on their engagement with faculty. These will be provided to future recruitment committees at UC Davis, and other UC campuses as hiring resources.