Compositional Diversity

The Compositional Diversity workstream released its final report in February 2021.

Workstream:

Compositional Diversity

Goal:

Recognizing that ensuring a diverse community is our responsibility and that excellence does not exist without diversity, the Compositional Diversity Workstream examined the makeup of our faculty, staff, and students, as well as our academic and administrative leadership. The Working Group then made specific recommendations on designing new processes to recruit and retain a more diverse university community at all levels, and across all schools, centers, and units of the University. This includes recruiting and retaining diverse faculty and staff, as well as further attracting, admitting, and serving diverse students and ensuring a diverse pipeline.

Charge and Approach:

To advise the President and Tufts’ administration, the Working Group presented data on Tufts’ current compositional diversity along with historical data and context. It identified key areas on which efforts at achievable improvement should be focused and suggested strategies for that improvement. It approached its work through gathering historical data from Tufts as well as comparative data from other institutions in order to establish and assess the university’s current compositional diversity. It then researched best practices and gathered input from the community before devising its recommendations.

Leaders:

Kevin Dunn, Vice Provost (Co-Chair)
Chris Swan, Dean of Undergraduate Education, School of Engineering (Co-Chair)

Members:

• Kim Dao, E21
• JT Duck, Dean of Admissions, AS&E
• Kevin Dunn, Vice Provost (Co-Chair)
• Cecilia Hinojosa, G21
• Dan Jay, Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS)
• Keith Maddox, Associate Professor, Psychology, A&S
• Nirupa Matthan, Assistant Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy
• Megan Mueller, Assistant Professor, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
• Alfredo Ramirez, F22
• Elizabeth Remick, Associate Professor, Political Science, A&S
• Sherri Sklarwitz, Program Director, Tisch College
• Maureen Sonnie, Director of HR Strategies, Human Resources
• Chris Swan, Dean of Undergraduate Education, School of Engineering (Co-Chair)
• Dawn Terkla, Associate Provost
• Roxana Woudstra, Director of Graduate Admissions, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and School of Engineering

Community Engagement:

The committee created a webpage/wiki for community input, suggestions, and feedback that were reviewed in a continuous manner and provided to the committee prior to each meeting. In addition, the committee sent members to faculty meetings at all schools and engaged community members through a series of focus groups and large group discussions to ensure it garnered input and feedback while developing recommendations. The committee also sought input from and reported to the Faculty Senate and the various student leadership groups.

The Working Group:

• Conducted a longitudinal analysis of Tufts’ compositional diversity for identified constituency.
• Researched comparative data from other institutions/benchmarks.
• Identified insights and key themes derived from the analysis, including the identification of needed cultural changes/shifts and considerations from benchmarking.
• Worked with the Institutional Audit workstream to assess the barriers and processes that workstream identified and proposed.
• Developed a presentation and narrative of results.