News from the Office of Faculty Development
and Diversity
2018-2019 Year in Review
Dear Colleagues,

As the 2018-2019 academic year comes to an end, we wanted to share with you highlights from this year's ongoing efforts, signature events and new resources. We implemented many of the recommendations summarized in the Report of the Provost's Task Force to Enhance Faculty Diversity .

Throughout the year, we also engaged with faculty search committees, chairs, and university leaders to share Best Practices in Faculty Recruitment and Hiring , and offer tools and resources to identify excellent and diverse faculty candidates, reduce the cognitive biases that may impact the evaluation process, and make competitive offers. If you would like to schedule a session for your department or college, contact [email protected].

We also emphasized the value of mentoring in retaining faculty. The Office of Faculty Development and Diversity (OFDD) released Best Practices in Faculty Mentoring . OFDD holds professional development lunches throughout the year to build community among faculty group while providing opportunities for peer mentoring. We bring in experts on topics relevant to faculty careers. To find out more, go to our events page. We welcome your ideas for future programs and speakers. Please send us your suggestions.

We hope you enjoy your summer!

Best,
Avery August
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs


Yael Levitte
Associate Vice Provost for Faculty
Development and Diversity
Fostering a Diverse Faculty
Diversity statements, grants, training encourage diverse hires
More women and underrepresented minorities are working at Cornell as tenured and tenure track faculty today than in 2003.

As of Fall 2018, there were 512 women comprising 32.4 percent of the tenured and tenured track faculty positions compared to 354 or 23.4 percent in 2003 (a 44.6 percent rate of increase and a total of 9 percent growth).

Similarly, there were 83 (or 5.5 percent) underrepresented minority (Black, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander) faculty members in tenure track and tenured positions in 2003 compared to 134 (or 8.5 percent) in Fall 2018, a 61.4 percent rate of increase and a total 3 percent absolute increase. Other minority tenure track and tenured faculty numbers increased from 172 (5.9 percent) in 2003 to 313 (11.3 percent) in 2018 (a 82 percent rate of increase and a total of 5.4 percent absolute growth).

While we celebrate our progress we also recognize there is room for improvement. Last year the Presidential Task Force on Campus Climate and the Provost's Task Force to Enhance Faculty Diversity issued a number of recommendations we are now implementing.

All candidates for academic appointments are now asked to submit a Statement of Contribution to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion describing past and ongoing efforts as well as future aspirations for promoting equity, inclusion and diversity through teaching, research and service.

A new faculty fellows program offers early career researchers up to two years funding to hone their research and teaching skills before embarking on the tenure track. The university also provides bridge funding enabling colleges to remain competitive when making offers to applicants contributing to a department's diversity.

For more information, contact the Office of Faculty Development and Diversity at [email protected] or 255-6867.
Cook Awards Recognize Those Contributing to a Positive Campus Climate for Women
Honoring those making Cornell a better place
On March 12, the university leadership honored students, staff and faculty members who went above and beyond their job responsibilities to improve the campus climate for women.

The biennial Cook awards are named after two unrelated women, the late Professor Emerita Alice Hanson Cook, founding member of Cornell's Committee on the Status of Women, and the late Constance E. Cook, Cornell's first woman vice president.
Michelle Artibee spearheaded initiatives addressing domestic violence and supporting lactating mother. She is pictured with Liz Brundige, Law School.
2019 Cook Award Recipients

  • Michelle Artibee, Associate Director, Work/Life, Cornell Human Resources;

  • Tisha Bohr, postdoctoral associate in molecular medicine;

  • Cynthia Grant Bowman, Dorothea S. Clarke Professor of Law;

  • Elizabeth A. B. Chang, Ph.D. candidate in food science;

  • Abby Cohn, professor of linguistics;

  • Natalie Hofmeister, Ph.D. candidate in ecology and evolutionary biology, and

  • Hale Ann Tufan, director of GREAT, and adjunct international professor of plant biology and genetics.
Post Doctoral Associate Tisha Boor with Dean of Faculty Charles Van Loan
Tisha Bohr, postdoctoral associate in molecular medicine, with Dean of Faculty Charles Van Loan. Bohr was honored for her role in developing Cornell Policy 6.3 on consensual relationships.
From left, CALS Dean Kathryn Boor, Janice Thies in the School of Integrative Plant Science, Hale Tufan, adjunct international professor, and President Martha Pollack. Tufan was recognized for improving the lives of women in agriculture.
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Professor Abby Cohn, Andy Bass, Senior Associate Dean for Math and Science, and Chiara Formichi in Asian Studies. Cohn was recognized for her mentoring efforts for mid career faculty and for championing an inclusive climate.
Natalie Hofmeister, Ph.D. candidate in ecology and evolutionary biology, with Irby Lovette, professor in ecology and evolutionary biology. Hofmeister tackles difficult topics for women, such as "how to say no," and encourages well-being and inclusion.
Special Events
Celebrating 150 Years of Ezra Cornell's Promise: Reflections on What '...Any Person...Any Study' Means.

Moderated by Avery August, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, the panel discussion on October 29, featured Professors Gerard Aching, Melissa Ferguson, Natasha Holmes and Eduardo Peñalver discussing how their research and personal experiences reflect Ezra Cornell's promise. See Cornell Chronicle .
Mahzarin R. Banaji

Blindspot:
Hidden Biases of Good People

Speaking to a packed Statler Auditorium on February 11, Mahzarin Banaji, Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics and Chair, Department of Psychology, Harvard University, discussed the implicit biases we all hold and how they impact academe in particular. More about her research.