Diversity & Professional Development
Diversity & Professional Development
Overview
A commitment to diversity—in our student body, faculty and staff, as well as in our curriculum—is one of Barnard’s core values. As articulated in our mission statement, the College aims to prepare “graduates to flourish in different cultural surroundings in an increasingly inter-connected world.” Barnard sees the ability and desire to engage profoundly with radically different ways of analyzing the world as a key value in the students it takes pride in graduating: engaged global citizens possessed of a discerning intelligence, an understanding of inequality and power, and the moral courage to make a difference.
Barnard’s commitment to expanding diversity and promoting inclusiveness encompasses a broad range of campus offices and programs, from the Admissions Office and Student Life to the Deans’ and Provost’s Offices, on the Board of Trustees, and in student and staff leadership. Recognizing the need to do even better, the College announced a joint task force in late 2015, The President's Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion, that would bring together representatives of each of these divisions to coordinate their efforts, working for the prioritization of diversity in fundraising and hiring, and developing programs to promote diversity and equity through the creation of concrete goals and structures of accountability. The President’s Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion is co-chaired by the President and the Dean for Faculty Diversity and Development.
The Dean for Faculty Diversity and Development is a position that was created in 2009 when the Committee on Faculty Diversity and Development (FDD) was formed. The FDD Committee, which currently includes tenure-eligible, tenured, and off-ladder faculty who represent all four divisions of the College, is charged with increasing diversity among the faculty and expanding Barnard’s support for faculty throughout their careers. These initiatives grew, in part, out of work done under a “Difficult Dialogues” grant from the Ford Foundation.
The FDD Committee works with a broad definition of diversity in order to provide a better education for our students and a richer intellectual environment for our faculty. The Committee also works to address social structural biases and exclusions that have led to inequities in access to education and in the ranks of the academic profession. More generally, the Dean and the FDD Committee support programs that promote an open and inclusive campus climate for all faculty.
Faculty with questions about the College’s Diversity and Development programs should contact the current Dean, Debra Minkoff (dminkoff@barnard.edu).
- Working with faculty searches for full-time, long-term positions to ensure an expansive and inclusive search. View Handbook for Faculty Searches and Hiring.
- Supporting junior faculty through hiring, third-year reviews, and tenure, promotion or reappointment (depending on the nature of their position)
- Leading FDD Committee initiatives
View the links on the left-hand side for more information on the following programs.
- Faculty Mentoring Program
- Inclusive Pedagogy Working Group
- Junior Faculty Research Talks
- New Faculty Orientation
- Professional Development Workshops
- Willen Seminars
- Social events designed to build networks between new colleagues, across departments and professional generations
Faculty Diversity Survey
During the fall of 2014, the Faculty Diversity and Development (FDD) Committee worked with the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment to develop a faculty survey to better understand the social composition of the full-time faculty and views about faculty diversity and climate at Barnard. The response rate was 75% and respondents’ self-reported sex, race/ethnicity, rank, and voting division closely mirrored that of the population surveyed. A brief summary of the results was presented at several meetings in late Spring 2015. The FDD Committee hosted a series of more specific conversations with faculty committees about the results of the survey in Spring 2016. View the final report on the FDD Faculty Survey.
FDD Action Plan
During the 2015-16 academic year, the FDD Committee developed a set of priorities that were identified as critical to moving the College forward in terms of faculty diversity and inclusion. A version of the Action Plan was discussed at an FDD-sponsored faculty forum in April 2016, and a revised version was unanimously endorsed by the Barnard faculty at the May 2016 Faculty Meeting. View the FDD Action Plan.
Opportunity Hiring Initiative
During Fall 2018, the FDD Committee, along with the Provost Office, developed a set of guidelines to help faculty identify and recruit established and emerging scholars to contribute to the College's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. View the College-Wide Opportunity Hiring Initiative guidelines.
Faculty Mentoring Program
Faculty members involved in the mentoring program are strongly encouraged to consult the Mentoring Handbook.
The materials in this handbook are adapted from successful mentoring programs at other institutions, including Grinnell College and Emory University and the publication Inside Higher Education.
The Mentoring Program is part of a suite of events, programs, and workshops offered by the Provost’s Office and the Faculty Development and Diversity Committee (FDD) that are designed to guide and support Barnard faculty in successfully building their careers as scholars and teachers.
Other components of this support include:
- New Faculty Orientation
- Junior Faculty Research Talks
- Professional development workshops (on such topics as academic publishing and securing grants and fellowships)
- The Willen Seminar program, designed to support faculty coming together for occasional seminars organized around a research or pedagogical topic
- Social events designed to build networks between new colleagues, across departments and professional generations
Senior faculty participation in the Mentoring Program is considered an important service activity by the College. The Mentoring Program pairs a new faculty member with a senior colleague, usually from a different department, who has a record of scholarly accomplishment, an excellent knowledge of the institution, and a willingness to help a new colleague navigate the next stages of the career at Barnard.
The mentoring pairs regularly meet, determining strategies and identifying local resources to help the new faculty member formulate goals that are appropriate for the department, discipline, and career path. Although participation in the program requires a commitment to regular and sustained interactions between the partners, the program leaves it to the participants to negotiate the specifics of their mentoring relationship.
The most important part of the program is that new colleagues receive the necessary information, guidance, and advice they need to succeed at Barnard (and Columbia) and in their careers more broadly. To that end, the FDD has formulated this Mentoring Guide with suggestions for information sharing and strategizing regarding scholarship, teaching, and service.
Note: Many of the recommendations in this guide are suited to new faculty members at the beginning of their careers. However, the mentoring relationship can be valuable to an established scholar joining a new institution. Mentors and mentees should consider how their relationship might change as both accrue more experience. For more ideas about the need for mentoring as one’s career advances, read this article from Inside Higher Ed.
Inclusive Pedagogy Working Group
We are a group of faculty members interested in stimulating and supporting efforts to make our classrooms places where students can flourish and where structural barriers to excellence are dismantled.
We initially came together to organize a campus-wide workshop facilitated by the African American Policy Forum on Inclusive Pedagogy. That event, sponsored by the Mellon Foundation, occurred on December 12, 2017. Below we will list upcoming events related to this initiative and also point to a canvas site where faculty members can share resources and continue to discuss related issues.
If you are a member of the Barnard College teaching staff and would like to join the Inclusive Pedagogy Canvas teaching web site, please contact courseworks@barnard.edu who can add you to the site. There you can share ideas, best practices, articles of interest and engage in discussions with colleagues.
Junior Faculty Research Talks
Beginning in Fall 2014, the FDD Dean’s office has organized regularly-scheduled talks by junior faculty members. Held in the evening and accompanied by a dinner, these talks give junior faculty the opportunity to share their research with the campus community, enhancing their visibility to senior faculty and promoting an inclusive and connected scholarly environment. The talks are held in the Judith Shapiro Faculty Dining Room from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Invitations are sent to all faculty via email.
New Faculty Orientation
The FDD Dean organizes several meetings for new faculty during their first year at Barnard that are timed to help faculty gain familiarity with the work involved in teaching and scholarship at Barnard as they are likely to come up during the academic year. Before the semester starts, faculty are introduced to the members of the Provost’s and Dean’s offices and representatives from the Library, and they also receive Title IX training. Later on, they participate in discussions about course development, student services, and various ways by which to meet the needs of our diverse student population. Guests at these sessions in the past have included representatives from the faculty, the Writing Programs, Furman Counseling Center, Barnard’s First-Year programs, Student Life and the FDD Committee. New faculty wanting to understand a particular aspect of faculty life at the college should approach the FDD Dean about integrating a discussion into orientation meetings.
Professional Development Workshops
As a means of supporting faculty across their careers, the FDD schedules two professional development workshops each year.
In the Fall semester, Chris Johnson, Director of Sponsored Research, holds a session on applying for grant and fellowships.
In the Spring semester, Michael McGandy (acquisitions editor at Cornell University Press) conducts an informal publishing workshop open to all faculty.
The dates of these workshops will be circulated to all faculty by the FDD Dean several weeks before they meet.
Willen Seminar
Willen seminars are designed with the purpose of fostering interaction between faculty across the campus in ways which support their work as scholars and teachers. Groups of faculty may apply for amounts of up to $1,500 to support new intellectual work at the college. The budgets may cover the purchase of books or other materials, supplies and food (capped at $20 per participant) for meetings, or stipends for participants. Proposals may include requests for funds for local speakers and if travel and hotel are necessary the FDD committee will work with faculty members to secure additional funding. The FDD committee particularly welcomes proposals which engage aspects of diversity and collaboration between junior and senior faculty. Faculty of all ranks are invited to apply.
Funding for the Willen Seminars is provided by the Janet Younker Willen ’39 Fund.