Responses to our TEAM-UP Survey are below. If you would like to participate in the survey, click here.
Report Use | Implementation | New Activities
To learn more about the TEAM-UP project, click here.
I presented the report, it's summary, and factors (with findings and recommendations) during a science seminar. After I presented each factor, I asked everyone in the department to fill out a google sheet with the structure of the Department Self Assessment. We discussed the data and it was circulated to the department for future awareness and reference.
One of the actions our university department took this fall 2020 semester was creating a graduate student run series on the TEAM-UP Report, hosted during our regularly scheduled Diversity Journal Club. Each month we had volunteers present one of the factors discussed in the report and then a discussion was held to brainstorm actionable items we could implement in our own department to address the findings raised during the talk.
Reading group
We had a department event going through various parts, and later developed an action item list with TEAM-UP citations for ~every item.
We are using the Change Management section to guide our newly formed working group focused on making the center for diverse, equitable, and inclusive. We started by discussing the Change Management section as a group and are in the process of developing a theory of change.
In the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, we are using the TEAM-UP report as the basis for developing a theory of change around increasing the number of students who self-identify as Black that attain graduate degrees using data from the 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time. The Rubin Observatory Science Community includes several thousand scientists across the Project and eight Science Collaborations. We organized a dedicated plenary session at the annual Project and Community Workshop that was focused on addressing the need for a second-order change and discussing strategies for change management discussed in the TEAM-UP report. We are now attempting to develop a more comprehensive theory of change through a series of monthly virtual meetings over the coming year. We aim to present the work we accomplish this year at the 2021 Rubin Observatory Project and Community Workshop. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the Physics Department, I am using the TEAM-UP report both in my teaching and initiating new programs. I am currently teaching a course for physics majors, and I dedicated a full class period to discussion of diversity, equity, and inclusion topics and used the TEAM-UP report as one of the main suggested readings. The report was new for most of the students, and stimulated a lot of discussion. Also in the Physics Department at University of Wisconsin-Madison, I am submitting a proposal to use some department discretionary funds to establish research scholarships for undergraduate students from marginalized groups in physics. The proposal is directly motivated by the TEAM-UP report, with the intent that paid research scholarships will help to partially address financial challenges, enhance physics identity, and create opportunities for mentoring and career support.
Reading it as guidance for next steps.
My department started a reading group around the report with myself and 4 other interested faculty. We have continued to meet to discuss about what actions we might be able to take. Our faculty have analyzed demographics of our majors over time. We have also brought in advisors to talk to us about their impressions of the department and where students might need support. We attended a colloquium where Sharon Fries-Britt spoke about her research and the findings of the TEAM-UP report.
After the report presentation, our department chair initiated the idea of using last year's graduate student prospective funds to increase incoming funding for graduate students.
Yes! One of our colleagues has secured an AIP mico-grant to fund expenses for undergraduate students. New mentoring programs have been created. More advertisement for campus resources, tutoring help, etc., has been carried out. We are creating surveys to gather data on how students feel about the department and get statistics on students who enter and leave the program. More can be done to educate everyone in the department about the barriers and challenges that specifically African American students face. How do we reach the people who don't attend our Diversity Journal Club meetings? Our department also need to hire more diverse faculty.
Forming task forces to change climate, recruiting and admissions processes in the department.
We developed a set of action items each with one or more connected TEAM-UP recommendations (see here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LMqNnHeGF0TD5hXakwR0RwJJKc5A9t4GNVk…) and are working towards implementation
Yes - 6a and 6b.
Improving belonging and working on a more inclusive environment.
We are still working on this. This survey was a good opportunity to revisit the report's specific recommendations (not just its findings).
What are some new or modified activities, programs, practices, or policies you are implementing as a result of the TEAM-UP?
After the report presentation, our department chair delegated the task of collecting all funding opportunities for undergraduate research into one place, and will post them on our website.
Outside the Diversity Journal Club, a larger Diversity and Inclusion Committee (organized by faculty and staff) is working on implementing more of the direct action items described in the TEAM-UP report. This is still a work in progress and hopefully they will address the concerns brought up in the discussions during our Diversity Journal Club series. We also have created at our university a broader organization (ran by graduate students, but with membership at all levels) with the goal of making a more equitable department by implementing actionable changes (i.e., surveys, mentoring groups, data collection, written recommendations, etc) through five major task forces. The five task forces are admissions, mentoring, recruiting & retention, department climate and international scholars.
We are collecting data to track the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities.
The first success was formation of a BIPOC student & alumni group
As a center, we formed a working group to research, plan for, and take action towards creating more supportive environments for Black students and being more diverse, equitable, and inclusive overall. Leaning on the Change Management section of the report, we are operating with a shared leadership model and developing a theory of change. We have four subgroups focused on (1) climate, (2) education, outreach, and communication, (3) recruitment, hiring, and retention, and (4) education and training. We are still in the development process but are earnest in our desire to take actions.
Engaging organization in idea generation. Creating an engagement committee to better understand and partner with MSIs. Thinking about establishing a new peer cohort building program in the region.