College of Arts and Sciences
Department Diversity Award
Background and Purpose
Diversity is one of the president’s seven goals for the university. The goal states: Strengthen our commitment to diversity of faculty, staff, and students, anchoring our path to excellence in an unwavering commitment to access and tolerance. One of our college goals is to demonstrate the value of having a diverse faculty, staff, and student population and curricular diversity. This award will be given to the department that has demonstrated its commitment to diversity and the enrichment that has created for the department, college, and university.
Definition:
The College of Arts and Sciences views Diversity broadly. The University of Colorado, Boulder’s Diversity Plan exemplifies this. The plan states: “Diversity is rich and complex; it includes but is not limited to ethnicity, race, age, class, sexual orientation, religion, language, disability, health status, political viewpoint, veteran status, and gender identity/expression. In A&S, a climate of healthy diversity means people value individual and group differences; they respect the perspectives of others and communicate openly and honestly; they encourage and develop social understanding and cooperation; and they make reasonable accommodations for those with disabilities.”
Eligibility
Academic departments in the College of Arts and Sciences are eligible. Departments are not eligible for this annual award for two years after receiving it.
Award
An annual award, contingent on the availability of funds, of $4,000 will be given to the selected department. These funds will be placed in the department head discretionary accounts for use as the department sees fit as long as expenditures are consistent with university policy.
Award Criteria
There are a variety of ways of promoting diversity and demonstrating its value. The list below is not exhaustive but reveals a number of areas in which the college has been working to achieve this goal.
- Evidence of attracting and retaining diverse faculty
- Evidence of recruiting and retaining a diverse student population
- Evidence of hiring, retaining, and providing professional development of a diverse staff
- Curriculum design to attract and serve a diverse student population
- Collaboration with other units on campus that promote diversity
- Sponsorship of forums, symposia, conferences that address the value of diversity
- Attendance at Teaching Academy programs and conferences by faculty to learn meaningful ways to promote diversity
Award Procedure
Each spring, based on availability of funds, nominations will be solicited for the award. Nominations can be made by department heads, faculty, staff, and/or students. Nominators should submit a memo to the dean--not to exceed three pages--which addresses the criteria listed above and/or discusses other strategies used to promote diversity. A committee composed of faculty, staff, and students will be appointed by the dean to select the recipient of the award. Anyone interested in serving on the award committee or nominating others to serve on the award committee should submit their interest or nominations to the dean by 5:00 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012. Announcement of the winning department will be made at the spring award ceremony each year. Deadline for submission of nominations for this award is Monday, March 26, 2012 at 5:00 pm.