The CFAES DEI Action Council has been hard at work. The first meeting was held on January 11, 2021. Dean Kress and Senior Associate Dean Kitchel led us off with a charge to the committee. The Council is tasked with providing recommendations, identifying issues, developing goals, and engaging in difficult conversations related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in addition to advising the Dean. We are fortunate to have a wide array of members including undergraduate and graduate students along with faculty and staff from all three of our campuses. You can view the list of members here https://equityandinclusion.cfaes.ohio-state.edu/cfaes-dei-action-council.

The mission of the council is to create and develop a welcoming and inclusive environment for faculty, staff, and students; To challenge racism, sexism, queerphobia and all other isms that impact those who make up the protected classes of the university; to identify, develop, and implement programs, policies, and practices that demonstrate the importance of and our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The team broke into seven work groups that met during January and February to identify areas of concern and to brainstorm ways to address the concerns. The work groups are:

The teams started to identify best practices and to draft recommendations that will be shared at the next full council meeting taking place in April. If you are interested in seeing who is on the council and to read the full minutes of the first meeting please visit the CFAES DEI web page https://equityandinclusion.cfaes.ohio-state.edu/cfaes-dei-action-council.

The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) is currently accepting applications from undergraduate students to participate in the Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP)! The SROP provides undergraduate students the chance to work on an independent research project of interest with a faculty mentor in CFAES. Students will also participate in various professional development sessions, ranging from tips on applying to graduate school, building research skills, and communication/networking. Students will receive a stipend of $3,000 for participation in the program, and those who apply to graduate programs at Ohio State will be eligible for specific funding opportunities, such as the Patrick S. Osmer Fellowship. You can read more about the program and read stories of past participants on our website.

Due to travel restrictions in place for 2021, we are only accepting current OSU undergraduate students or those located within the Columbus area.

To apply, students will need to complete an online application which includes a brief (less than 1250 words) personal statement AND research statement, and provide 2 letters of recommendation. This information will help us evaluate your application and match you with a faculty mentor. If there is a specific faculty member you would like to work with, please include this in your research statement.

Student applications are due by Monday, March 22, 2021 (letters of recommendation can be submitted until March 31). We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis and will be accepting students into the program through early April. If you have questions about eligibility or the program, please contact Pamela Thomas (thomas.8@osu.edu)

Access the application: https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4GybB7vFuKZreaG

The YWCA of the Greater Cleveland area is excited to announce the 2021 21-Day Challenge for Racial Equity and Social Justice will launch today, March 1st, and run Monday through Friday, March 29th. They hope that you will go into this challenge with an open heart and an open mind, ready to be pushed out of your comfort zone. These discussions can be difficult and can bring up powerful emotions, but your commitment to increasing your awareness is what will help move our community forward.

Each month we will be celebrating the diversity of the CFAES student body by highlighting one student (undergraduate or graduate) and one of our colleagues who are working to make CFAES and the community a welcoming place for all people. Do you know someone who you think should be featured? To submit a nomination for the DEI Student Spotlight and the DEI Faculty and Staff Spotlight, please fill out this form.

For the March DEI Student Spotlight we are featuring Amber Cleggett who is an undergraduate student majoring in Animal Sciences and minoring in History. Amber is also the treasurer of the Ohio State chapter of MANRRS.

This month's DEI Faculty and Staff Spotlight features Dr. Melvin Pascall who is a professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology (FST). Dr. Pascall currently serves as a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee in FST. He has also served on the CFAES DEI Committee from 2015 to 2017 and the Promotion and Tenure (P&T) Committee at the departmental level where he was the Procedure Oversight Designee (POD) during 2018.

For a full list of our Spring 2021 webinars, please visit our professional development webinars page.

LOCATION: Zoom

DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, March 3rd, 1:00-2:00PM

What is diversity and why is it important? What is the difference between equality and equity? What does it mean to be inclusive? How do all of these things fit together to achieve justice? This 60-minute session will explore these questions and provide an introduction to diversity, equity, and inclusion so that attendees can better understand and engage in current social justice movements.

LOCATION: Zoom

DATES AND TIME: Monday, March 8th, 1:00-2:15PM

This 75-minute training provides an overview of best practices for recruiting a diverse candidate pool. Although this program primarily focuses on faculty searches, much of the content applies also to staff searches. Participants will examine the role that various forms of implicit bias can play in screening applicants and identify ways that intersecting social identities create an unlevel competitive job market. Strategies for targeted recruitment of historically underrepresented minority applicants will be addressed. CFAES requires that all individuals serving on a search committee complete this training every 2 years.

LOCATION: Zoom

DATE AND TIME: Thursday, March 11th, 11:00AM-12:30PM

Microaggressions are common, often subtle expressions of bias, many times initiated unintentionally and unconsciously that can have serious impacts on recipients including shortening a person’s life expectancy. In this 90-minute webinar, participants will learn how to recognize common microaggressions and the hidden, harmful messages they send. We will disentangle intention from impact and identify best strategies for responding when we accidentally initiate a microaggression.

LOCATION: Zoom

DATE AND TIME: Thursday, March 18, 1:00-2:30 PM

To help create a more equitable environment and advance the professional interests of women faculty and staff, the College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Science is hosting the Ohio State Advocates & Allies for Equity initiative on Thursday, March 18, 2021, at 1:00 – 2:30 PM for a virtual session. You are invited to become an OSU Ally for Equity for your unit.

Advocates & Allies is designed to bring men and men-identified individuals further into the gender equity equation by building a cross-campus network of Allies who share an understanding of the effects of implicit bias and systematic privilege and to introduce specific practical actions to help them better support women and people of all genders at the university.

Your facilitation will be led by two Advocates, or senior faculty and administrative men from within OSU who already have a substantial record of supporting gender equity. They will guide your group through structured inquiry, discussion, and reflection to expose participants to ways of better identifying and behaving as Allies. In addition, the Advocates will share evidence-based knowledge, skills and strategies to effect positive personal, departmental and institutional change.

LOCATION: Zoom

DATES AND TIME: Wednesday, April 7th, 11:00AM-12:15PM

This 75-minute training provides an overview of best practices for recruiting a diverse candidate pool. Although this program primarily focuses on faculty searches, much of the content applies also to staff searches. Participants will examine the role that various forms of implicit bias can play in screening applicants and identify ways that intersecting social identities create an unlevel competitive job market. Strategies for targeted recruitment of historically underrepresented minority applicants will be addressed. CFAES requires that all individuals serving on a search committee complete this training every 2 years.

LOCATION: Zoom

DATE AND TIME: Friday, April 2nd, 1:00-3:00PM

What does it mean to have privilege? What is oppression? How do your social identities, such as race, gender, class, religion, sexuality, etc. grant or deny you privilege? How can we use privilege to transform systems that perpetuate social inequity? This 2-hour interactive webinar will explore these questions, providing participants with an opportunity to delve into their social identities - a process that reveals how we all have and lack privilege simultaneously.

LOCATION: Zoom

DATE AND TIME: Thursday, April 22nd, 1:00-2:30PM

All too often we witness subtle comments or behaviors rooted in bias that cause harm to others, many times directed toward people in vulnerable populations. Have you ever been in a situation like that and wanted to say or do something, but didn't know what to do? Anyone can become an active bystander and learn to address explicit and implicit bias. In this 90-minute, interactive webinar, we will explore some of the most common forms of bias and identify tools you can use as an active bystander to interrupt bias in daily life.

In celebration of Women’s History Month, every Wednesday in March, the OSU Leadership Center invites you to learn more about women in the workplace and how to create an inclusive and equitable environment. This complimentary webinar will be held from 11:30am to 12:30pm. This series was created in collaboration with the community development program through OSU Extension in Medina County. Topics include women's history and strengths (March 3); empathy and perspective (March 10); vulnerability and authenticity (March 17); self -empowerment (March 24); and creating your board of directors (March 31).

Register here: https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9KtT6Fng3glN61E

The series kicks off March 3 and wraps up April 14. All events are free and open to the public. 

Register here: https://osu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_G5u-PxvlTmCvNujNGc7Mww

Register here: https://osu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIrc-GppzgoE9wb4BhzlBJD_aH2sF7Rm9Fm

The Society of Fellows Digital Dialogues series brings together artists, scholars and activists working in a range of disciplines aligning with our current theme of Human Rights: Pasts and Futures. Areas of expertise include studies in art, performance and activism; critical human rights; disability; incarceration; Indigeneity; environmental justice; intersectional rhetoric; migrant and refugee rights; race and citizenship; and sexuality, among others.

Dialogue five considers the impact of colonialism on human rights in the context of indigenous jurisprudence, cultural heritage and representation. Panelists will examine the relationship between the rule of law and structures of racial difference, the right to possess other people’s cultural property, and the politics of repatriation. Additionally, they will assess the tensions between rights-based discourses and issues of cultural conservation and the scholarly impact of the decolonial turn across disciplines.

Read more: https://globalartsandhumanities.osu.edu/events/digital-dialogue-five

President Kristina M. Johnson and Provost Bruce A. McPheron invite you to attend the twenty-second annual, spring semester, Diversity Lecture and Cultural Arts Series at The Ohio State University.

This program offers the campus and the Columbus community opportunities to benefit from some of the most eminent scholars, artists, and professionals who discuss and exemplify inclusive excellence through diversity.

FEATURING:

Dr. Robin DiAngelo

Affiliate Associate Professor of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum in the College of Education at the University of Washington.

AUTHOR OF:

Register here: https://osu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kZfeFNDkQzqg_r8UDVzBTA

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