Welcome to the Department Inclusiveness Toolkit website, where we are excited to introduce you to our web-based toolkit designed to guide and assist academic departments in assessing and improving inclusiveness. Development of the toolkit was supported by a grant from the Mellon foundation through the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS).
The development of this toolkit was driven by the realization that while much attention and resources are directed towards improving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across a range of areas within higher education, more work needs to be done to address inclusiveness within academic departments. Our research revealed a substantial interest from personnel working in DEI areas across ACS institutions in assessing and improving inclusiveness within academic departments.
Our web-based toolkit offers a comprehensive approach to assessing and improving inclusiveness within academic departments. At the center of our toolkit is a scientifically robust measure of inclusiveness that has been piloted, revised, and refined based on a substantial sample of ACS faculty respondents. The measure is designed to identify specific areas for growth and improvement within a department.
In addition to the measure, the toolkit includes materials to guide a departmental self-study of inclusiveness and improve inclusiveness based on the department’s assessed growth areas. The toolkit’s user-friendly interface is designed to make the process of evaluating and enhancing inclusiveness accessible and effective for departments of all sizes and disciplines.
We are proud of the work that has gone into creating this toolkit and are excited to share it with academic departments nationwide. This toolkit can significantly contribute to the ongoing efforts to create more inclusive and equitable academic environments, and we hope that you will find it a valuable resource for your department’s DEI initiatives.
Thank you for visiting our website, and we look forward to hearing from you and working together towards a more inclusive future.
Original Project Co-Investigators
Al Bardi, Associate Professor of Psychology, The University of the South
Elizabeth Skomp, The University of the South (now Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Stetson University)
Additional Co-Investigators
Betsy Sandlin, Associate Dean of the College & Professor of Spanish, The University of the South
Anne Goldberg, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Hendrix College
Student Collaborators
Lynnaya Hamby, Hendrix College, website assistance and proofing, toolkit research and development.
Seif Selim, University of the South, survey construction and dissemination
Erika Kaivani, University of the South, toolkit research and development
Jack Knowles, University of the South, toolkit research and development
Questions? Contact Al Bardi at cabardi@sewanee.edu