Creating a welcoming department

Faculty Retention Toolkit

Toolkit Home

Executive Summary

Monitoring Dept. Health and Welfare

Transparency in Operations

Creating a Welcoming Climate

Mentoring

Valuing Diversity in the Dept.

Supporting Pre-Tenure Faculty Career Development

Encouraging Mid-Career Professional Development

Faculty Development Programs, Benefits, & Resources

Flexible and Accommodating Policies & Practices

Acknowledgements

References

CREATING A WELCOMING CLIMATE

An unwelcoming organization is sometimes described as having a chilly climate. In a chilly climate individuals or groups feel unsupported, isolated, and/or invisible. They may also experience a lack of respect, a sense of powerlessness, and/or discrimination (either intentional or unintentional). Research on chilly clmates has emphasized disparate experiences relating to gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, and other types of differences. Improving the climate by addresses issues such as unintentional and unconscious biases against underutilized groups will benefit all members of the organization.

Professional isolation is a frequently cited reason for leaving an institution. For example, underrepresented faculty may be left out of the social networks that provide access to crucial information. Creating a sense of community may help reduce isolation, lead to productive research collaboration, and increase willingness to buy into the department decision-making process. While the responsibility for creating a sense of community is shared by everyone, the department chairs (and other senior leaders) often bear the bulk of it.

INFORMAL SOCIAL NETWORKS:

One way to create a sense of community is to help build informal social networks. Several ideas for building these networks include:

regular department chair or senior faculty member hosted department social events such as monthly or weekly social hours
department-sponsored quarterly lunches for subgroups of faculty members; groups could vary each quarter so that the faculty have a chance to interact with different groups of colleagues
invitations to lunch by the department chair to groups of young faculty to "show them the ropes"
monthly dinner outings of the assistant professors organized by one young faculty member (this should count as department service)

Building relationships in an informal capacity can lead to stronger relationships and better understanding when it comes to formal decision-making interactions.

ACTIVE APPRECIATION:

All people appreciate being valued. Faculty are no different. If faculty become disengaged from the department, it may be because they no longer feel part of the community. There are many small ways that department chairs can demonstrate active appreciation.

checking-in with faculty in their offices rather than having them always come to the chair's office; knowing that someone in a leadership role has a personal interest in him or her can make a big difference to a faculty member
assuring faculty that their departmental and institutional service contributions are appreciated both in public and private forums (i.e., faculty meetings, one-on-one conversations)
sending personalized messages can be very powerful morale boosters
extending praise and attention beyond research accomplishments or funding successes; for example, annual reviews should be upbeat and constructive, focusing not only on what needs to be improved, but also recognizing positive contributions, including good mentoring and excellent student interaction

See http://depts.washington.edu/asccp for additional resources and ideas on improving department climate.

Last Updated: July 07, 2005

advance@engr.washington.edu

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