Advancing The Plan | January 2023
We are asking RIT leaders to share with us just a bit of what they are doing to advance the RIT Action Plan for Race and Ethnicity. We have three updates for this month: the first from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf with Gerard Buckley, president, followed by Anna Stenport, dean, College of Liberal Arts and Finance & Administration with James Watters, senior vice president and Jo Ellen Pinkham, associate vice president and chief human resources officer, Human Resources.
Advancing the Plan: National Technical Institute for the Deaf
As reported during the October 2022 “Together RIT: A Day of Understanding, Solidarity and Racial Reconciliation” event, NTID is pursuing its college-specific Antiracism and Social Justice plan. This plan was approved in the fall of 2020 following consultation with the NTID National Advisory Group, the NTID Alumni Association Board and the NTID Shared Governance Groups. To date, 16 of 33 action steps have been completed, 9 have achieved substantial progress, 3 are COVID travel-related delayed, and 3 are being worked on directly as part of University efforts.
NTID’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s Executive Team, led by Dr. Alesia Allen, with support from Christan Monin, provides overall leadership to this effort in collaboration with the NTID Administrative Council. One of the major goals of the plan is to increase ALANA representation to 20%. While we are pleased to report ALANA representation has increased from 14.9% (2018) to 19.6% (2022), retention and the percentage of ALANA tenure track faculty (10.9%) do remain challenges that require increased attention.
Other highlights of the plan include the success of the Randleman Program, which was established in 2019 as a two year preceptorship experience for BIPOC interpreters. Nineteen protégés have participated in the program and 11 have been hired by NTID. The number of staff interpreters of color has increased from 14 (2015) to 27 (2022).
NTID’s Faculty Fellowship Program (NFF) was established in 2018 to build the pipeline for faculty of color. The program is designed to diversify NTID’s faculty through providing a three-year fellowship/mentorship experience, preparing individuals for careers in education. The program has been expanded to include 11 fellows with 63.6% of the fellows being BIPOC.
NTID’s plan remains a living document and work in progress. The success we’ve achieved to date is the direct result of a firm commitment by faculty and staff leaders at NTID to anti-racism and social justice. Additional information on the plan can be found at NTID’s Antiracism and Social Justice Plan | National Technical Institute for the Deaf | RIT.
Advancing the Plan: College of Liberal Arts
From our legal systems and storytelling methods to our economic, political, social structures and fundamental relationships, the liberal arts are at the very heart of what it means to be human.
At the RIT College of Liberal Arts, our approach to the study of these areas is intentionally tech-infused and human-centered, focused on supporting progress in today’s decidedly digital age.
We teach students to examine and consider problems from multiple perspectives, to think deeply and critically, to wonder and imagine better possibilities. We help them build both foundational expertise and the skills that they’ll need to effect positive change. This is our mission and our contribution to meaningful progress for equity, social justice, diversity, and inclusion. In fall semester 2022 alone, our faculty, staff, and students, pushed our community to explore issues and engage through initiatives that provided an entry point for every individual to join a collective momentum for positive change, such as:
Leadership for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access
The College’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity committee was founded as a standing committee in Fall of 2021. During the past three semesters, a group of faculty and staff leaders have been working on DEI issues in teaching, advising, and faculty affairs. Committee members focused on resources, curriculum, and culture, working off priorities identified in the College of Liberal Arts DEI Taskforce Report from 2021 and RIT’s Action Plan on Race and Ethnicity. The committee supported the purchase of advising tools for working with diverse populations and the creation of a new DEI Faculty Fellow in the college. Along with the DEI Faculty Fellow, the CLA DEI committee is looking forward to expanding its work as a model for other colleges at RIT.
Keri Barone, Principal Lecturer in the School of Communication, has been selected as the college’s inaugural Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, and Access (DEIA) Faculty Fellow. Philanthropically funded, this pilot program serves to enhance CLA’s DEIA culture to explore and advance initiatives related to race, ethnicity, gender and LGBTQIA, accessibility, inclusion, and belonging for students, faculty, and staff.
Elisabetta DAmanda and Sandra Rothenberg are representing the College of Liberal Arts in ongoing commitment and service on the RIT DEI Committee.
The College of Liberal Arts National Council, a strategic advisory group for the college and the dean, is a diverse group of professionals whose perspectives shape plans for the future and enhance promotion of the college among external audiences. Building resources for financial support that can improve access to an RIT education is among the council’s top priorities. The fall 2022 meeting was dedicated to a discussion around the College’s DEI priorities and featured a panel of students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
Promoting an understanding of diverse experiences:
The College of Liberal Arts and the Department of Political Science played an instrumental role in reinvigorating and expanding opportunities for participation in the Frederick C. Cuny Peace and Conflict Summer Program this year, an effort that will continue into 2023 as well. The program enrolls up to 50 students from universities across the U.S., including several from RIT’s main campus, and gives participants the tools to analyze the history, politics, and economics of contemporary, violent conflict.
Aimed at supporting students in developing every dimension of themselves, RIT’s commitment to expanding immersion options, minors, and double majors has advanced thanks to faculty within the College of Liberal Arts. Studying a diverse range of areas allows students to broaden their understanding and optimize their ability to impact positive change in their career fields. A new video produced by Marketing and Communications this fall showcases the vitality of our human-centered and tech-infused mission.»
A new Liberal Arts Multidisciplinary Scholars Program was launched this fall, providing financial support to students who double major in a STEM and a College of Liberal Arts major. “Having a better match between the liberal arts and STEM programs is absolutely critical,” said Joyce Pratt, chair of RIT’s College of Liberal Arts National Council regarding her motivation to make a gift to RIT that created the program.
New this August, a history degree program was added to our list of undergraduate major options. A choice of four specialization tracks, including one on deaf and disability history, is high on the list of features that makes RIT’s program unique.
A new undergraduate major in English was added this August as well. “What do you want an English degree to be at a tech school?” asked Program Director Robert Glick. The answer: a tech-infused program that complements expertise in English with classes from technology-based disciplines, allowing students to build a broader and relevant skill set. Cultural literacy development is a key component of the program, which also requires four classes in other disciplines in order to support skills in areas such as analytics, writing, new media, and communication.
A proposal for a new undergraduate major in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies degree was developed by the College of Liberal Arts and submitted onward for approval to offer.
An article written by Associate Professor of History Corinna Schlombs about Ada Lovelace was recently published in The Conversation. Born in 1815, Lovelace is known as the first computer programmer and has been hailed as a model for girls in science, technology, engineering, and math.
Celebrating and making way for social reform:
“Exhibitions can be forms of activism and advocacy,” said Juilee Decker, professor in the Department of History. The “Clarissa Uprooted” exhibit, held on campus earlier this year, examined the history of the Clarissa Street community in Rochester. Creating the exhibit became part of museum studies and history courses in the year leading up to it, giving students practical experience with exhibition development and as well as an opportunity to engage with the community in this important work.
In collaboration with the Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Celebration Committee, our Department of History and the Museum Studies Program hosted two events featuring Rita Daniels, a descendant of Tubman. The Frederick and Anna Murray Douglass Lecture Series featured a keynote by Daniels and following comments with NTID Lecturer Bakr Ali, member of the World Around You international literacy project for deaf and hard of hearing children. At RIT City Art Space, 280 E. Main St., a panel discussion was held with Daniels; Almeta Whitis of Rochester Reads; Joshua Stapf of Literacy Rochester and an RIT Museum Studies alum; and Patricia Uttaro, Director of the Rochester Public Library. Additionally, School of Communication Professor Hinda Mandell led an interactive workshop “Crafting Resistance” at which participants crafted resistance and peace patches, honoring Tubman and the legacy of fellow Abolitionists and their contemporary social-reformers and human-rights activists.
The College of Liberal Arts, together with the Center for Engaged Storycraft, College of Art and Design, School of Individualized Study, and School of Performing Arts, co-sponsored a Rochester visit from award-winning author Randall Horton in November. While here, he read from his memoir, Dead Weight, and held a public talk as part of the Viehe Lecture Series. He and Radical Reversal, a project group that provides performance space and recording resources for incarcerated people to create poetry and music, also held a performance at the Theatre at Innovation Square.
Looking forward to the year ahead, our teams are already planning events that will continue this important work:
- On January 10th, we hosted conversations with department chairs and program directors with the REJI Prison Education Initiative.
- Our Department of History is working on bringing Matthew Fox-Amato to campus to discuss his new book, “Exposing Slavery: Photography, Human Bondage, and the Birth of Modern Visual Politics in America.”
- Additionally, our new McKenzie Salon Series, spearheaded by Corinna Schlombs, is planning spring semester events with scholars on potential topics such as Caribbean colonialism and school segregation in Rochester.
Advancing the Plan: Finance & Administration
Finance & Administration is involved with and supports initiatives across the Action Plan for Race Ethnicity with a primary focus on Pillar III Faculty and Staff Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement. One of the first recommendations implemented was to enhance resources for staff talent acquisition. In fall 2021, Human Resources appointed Jahmar Elliott, a graduate of Saunders College of Business, as Assistant Director of Talent Acquisition & Staff Diversity Outreach. Under his watch, the Talent Acquisition team worked to expand awareness of staff openings and improve the RIT Employer Brand through actively building pipelines of talented, diverse prospects. Jahmar instituted the RIT Job Fair held at Rochester Saving Bank/Center for Urban Entrepreneurship, designed exclusively for community members looking to explore staff career opportunities at RIT by connecting them with hiring managers from various divisions and departments across the campus. NTID and Human Resources successfully partnered to create a dedicated talent acquisition position for NTID staff roles which was recently filled.
As HR engages with search committees, they have introduced and are actively communicating with search chairs about their responsibility to have search committee representation that is reflective of the RIT community. HR, Diversity Education and Academic Affairs are working closely to ensure inclusive hiring practices as well as to enhance inclusive hiring training for both staff and faculty. HR continues to emphasize the requirement that all search committee members be trained in Uncovering Unconscious Bias in Recruiting and Hiring.
Talent Acquisition has developed a repository of referred prospective ALANA, veterans, differently-abled, and female candidates and continues to enhance efforts to support dual career hires. Work is ongoing to revise onboarding processes, information and programs to help advance a culture of belonging for all employees.
In addition to these focused recruitment activities, several initiatives for improving retention and advancement of under-represented employees are in the works.
At the division level, Finance & Administration brought back its annual Diversity Luncheon this past summer that was put on hold during the pandemic. This event provides an opportunity for hundreds of staff to gather, build a sense of community, and celebrate different cultures through food.
F&A also leads the Executive Diversity Advisory Committee; a group of senior leaders who meet to review trends and discuss opportunities to improve recruitment, retention, and advancement of under-represented staff across the university.