Action Item 3.1

Conrad-Scholars

Elevation and support for historically underrepresented voices in the curriculum

No matter the subject or discipline, historically underrepresented voices have an intellectual presence that if continually left out and/or dismissed from the curriculum, fail to prepare students to be true critical thinkers and global citizens. The existence, viewpoints, and research of underrepresented scholars need to be valued, shared, and included as part of the overall learning environment.

Recommended Action Steps:

Responsible Party: Faculty Senate
Implementation Chair: Pete Johnson, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
CIVC Attachè: Richard Sévère, Associate Professor of English

Updates

In November 2022, the project leaders are launching a series of workshops that will train twelve additional faculty members on how to revise their syllabi in order to build a more inclusive curriculum. The twelve faculty members participating in this effort will receive a stipend and commit to implement changes in their syllabi for Fall 2023, as well as share their learnings with other members of the faculty community.

The taskforce presented the progress in this project during the Fall 2022 Faculty Symposium. There was a strong response from the faculty as a whole.

In Spring 2022,  we conducted a survey to assess the use of historically underrepresented academics, scholars, authors, and scientists having an intellectual presence in curriculum development. The faculty reviewed
382 courses. This information will be used next semester to include more diverse voices in class syllabi.

Action Steps for Strategic Discussion and Potential Implementation:

Responsible Parties: Deans and Faculty
Implementation Chair: Pete Johnson, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
CIVC Attachè: Richard Sévère, Associate Professor of English