Chair
Hannah Mathews (SESPECS)
Members
- Linda Searby (HDOSE)
- Pengfei Zhao (HDOSE)
- Holly Lane (SESPECS)
- Albert Ritzhaupt (STL)
- Wanli Xing (STL)
Goals Set in September 2021
- Conducting a review of current research related policies to see if any need updating to:
- Contain more explicit connection to diversity and inclusion
- Align with Collective Bargaining Agreement
- Construct a more transparent process for reviewing internal awards (guidelines, rubrics, weighted criteria) (e.g., CRIF, BO Smith, Fein). This would be an ongoing goal, with expectation to begin in 21-22. This will also include more explicitly supporting OER and deepening the relationship between OER and RAC
Accomplished Work for 2021-2022
CRIF Award – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Focus
We returned to the CRIF award to consider the ways that DEI issues were centered. Given continued foci at the university level on social justice, we kept the language from prior years with some minor adjustments. Specifically, we emphasized that preference would include one or more of four defining factors. This included attention paid to socially significant issues with implications for education and named race and racism an especially important issue.
Language in the 2022-2023 CRIF:
“Preference will also be given to proposals that include one or more of the following: (a) attention to socially significant issues with implications for education, especially issues of race and racism in black and brown communities (b) specific and viable plans for obtaining external funding, (c) interdisciplinary collaboration, and (d) junior and senior faculty collaboration”
Rubrics and Review Process
Thus far, we have piloted the use of “Office of Special Education Programs” style rubrics for scoring the Research Opportunity Seed Fund with more transparency; this month we are applying it to the awards for the CRIF, BO Smith, and Fein Awards. Our goal here was to make the internal review process mirror federal review panels and to provide COE scholars with feedback that they could apply to their work for the purpose of improvement. In our last meetings of the year (May), we will refine these tools based on our use across the year so that they can be improved for the 2022-2023 cycles.
Collective Bargaining Agreement Review
Finally, we reviewed the CBA to consider whether and how there were conflicts with/contradictions of existing COE policy. By mid-May, we plan to submit a report to the FPC chair regarding our review.
Priorities for the Upcoming Year
In the upcoming year, we expect that the RAC should work on reviewing any COE policies related to research and determining how to tighten linkages with questions of diversity, equity, and inclusion.