Faculty Wellness and Well-being Working Group (Chrystal Carpenter, Julie Lellis, Lynda Butler-Storsved, Steve Friedland)
Work with Staff Advisory Council, Kelli Shuman to develop the Faculty/Staff Council on Wellness and Well-being.
Working with a member of CREDE, conduct focus groups with Faculty of Color on Service, the Culture of Busyness, P&T, SPoTs, and Shared Governance to determine faculty perspectives and experiences. Revise recommendations from the 2020-21 Wellness Working Group accordingly. Begin implementing recommendations where feasible.
Monitor faculty wellness and well-being as we make the transition to a difficult hybrid semester and propose immediate, ongoing initiatives to improve faculty well-being.
Working Group/Subcommittee on Faculty Handbook (Tom Green, Martin Kamela, Catherine Dunham)
Review the Faculty Handbook bylaws and non-bylaws and develop Handbook language provisos or guidelines related to the recommendations of the Task Force on Fall Semester.
Review Faculty Handbook language from and provide recommendations to the AC DEI Working Group.
Continue and complete ongoing efforts listed in AC’s Handbook Language Working Group’s End of Year Report for 2019-20. Give priority to: (1) seeking full faculty approval of bylaw changes related to establishing an AC standing committee on Handbook language and language proposals related to UCC; and (2) completing work on ongoing Handbook revisions regarding the faculty grievance procedures.
Develop recommendations and Handbook language for developing a Grade Appeal Committee outside of Academic Council.
Communications/Shared Governance Working Group (Steve Bailey, Megan Squire, Jill Auditori, Susan Anderson)
Work with the President’s and Provost’s offices to improve relationships between faculty and the Board of Trustees.
Develop strategies to make the processes and actions of Council more accessible, open and engaging to faculty, including exploring revisions to General Faculty Meetings, Town Halls, and instituting AC “office hours.”
Explore technologies and processes to facilitate better faculty input and communication beyond fac/staff email.
Institute ways to make it easier and more efficient for AC members to collaborate and communicate between meetings (i.e. Microsoft Teams).
Revamp AC’s Moodle site to make it more accessible and effective in doing our work.
Make recommendations to the Provost and President on facilitating better communication between the administration and faculty.
Review the recommendations for expanding Academic Council (2019-20 Shared Governance Working Group) and determine a timeline for implementation.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group (Rosemary Haskell, Matt Buckmaster, Kevin Otos, Jeff Carpenter, Paula DiBiasio)
Build meaningful bridges between Academic Council, the Center for Inclusive Excellence, CREDE, the African and African American Advisory Committee, the History and Memory Committee and others with expertise in anti-bias work at Elon.
With input from the groups above, reckon with own Whiteness and develop strategies to diversify AC membership and include more voices of color in our work in both the immediate and long term.
With members of the Inclusive Community, conduct anti-bias training for all current AC members and continue training for incoming members each year. Charge AC members with participating in ongoing discussions and initiatives on race and anti-bias work across campus.
Examine and research policies, processes and practices across Elon, including the Faculty Handbook, through a DEI lens (e.g., P&T, SPoTs, hiring practices), and make recommendations for changes.
Together with the VP of Inclusive Excellence, CREDE, and others, institute ways to systematically increase intercultural consciousness at Elon, hold all faculty responsible for infusing inclusive pedagogy into their teaching (e.g., Unit 1s/performance appraisals), and assess and reward efforts so that further progress can be made.
Together with the University Curriculum Committee, Elon Core Curriculum Committee, African and African American Studies, and others, recommend and support curriculum changes that will increase racial equity and inclusion across the curriculum.
Provide input to the VP of Inclusive Excellence and VP of Student Life on changes to the current anti-bias reporting system from a faculty standpoint, with the goals of 1) clear follow up and communication on actions taken, and 2) a clear process for faculty of color to report and receive support from the Provost’s office and others where needed.
Establish ways to support faculty of color both inside and outside of the classroom, including shepherding FOC through the ranks from assistant to full professor.
Include requirement in the Faculty Handbook to annually conduct anti-bias training with P&T Committee, particularly in outlining biases in SPoTs and acknowledgement of the different kinds of scholarship conducted in DEI work.
Develop best practice standards for inclusive representation on faculty/staff surveys.
Coronavirus Working Group (Jason Husser, Paula Patch, Brian Lyons, Karl Sienerth)
Serve as a bridge between the Ready & Resilient Task Force and faculty to implement Fall return plans. Develop a system for monitoring/gathering faculty questions and concerns and filtering those through the appropriate department or people.
Recommend to the President a faculty member to serve on the COVID alert monitoring team and any other implementation committees developed in the fall semester.
Review Elon’s processes and practices during the pandemic disruption to date, consider lessons learned, and make recommendations for the Long-Range Planning Committee moving forward.
Committee on Committees (in addition to regular duties)
Review and monitor the work of standing committees and special committees and provide guidelines for prioritizing work around teaching and mentoring for the 2020-21 academic year.
Convene an ad hoc committee to recommend a lens through which to evaluate faculty during the coronavirus disruption extending for the next two years, including the use of SPoTs. Communicate guidelines to all faculty, department chairs, deans and the P&T committee.
Charge all standing committees and special committees to review their work through a DEI lens.
Depending on COVID circumstances, convene a special committee in the spring to revise the promotion and tenure process, clarify service expectations, and develop a faculty appeals process.