College of Arts and Sciences seeks nominations for Inclusive Excellence Committee

The College of Arts and Sciences is seeking nominations by Sept. 28 of faculty, staff and students to serve on a new Inclusive Excellence Committee.

"Recognizing the centrality of inclusive excellence to Ohio University and the College of Arts and Sciences, the committee helps craft and advise on the college’s diversity, equity, and inclusion-related policies, procedures, and initiatives," said Nukhet Sandal, the college's associate dean of curriculum, instruction and students and an associate professor of political science.

The committee will be composed of six faculty members, with attention to Regional Higher Education and instructional faculty representation; two staff members; and one undergraduate and one graduate student representative.

The term will be two years, but candidates who can only serve for a year due to other commitments also will be considered, Sandal said, noting that the members will be selected based on nominations and self-nominations of individuals who have a demonstrated interest in inclusive excellence.

A&S faculty and staff are invited to make nominations, which should include a brief statement of 300-500 words on how the nominee would contribute to the committee’s vision and activities. Nominations should be submitted to Sandal by Monday, Sept. 26.

The committee's responsibilities are:

1. Review and collect data on existing college- and department-level diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and provide recommendations on the assessment of their outcomes.
2. Based on feedback from faculty, staff, and students, make formal recommendations to the dean on how to implement and assess new initiatives to advance inclusive excellence in the College of Arts and Sciences.
3. Identify and facilitate DEI training and programming opportunities for faculty, staff and students.
4. In cooperation with the Office of the Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, direct interested College of Arts and Sciences community members to the relevant research and teaching resources.

The committee will meet on Teams for one hour every two weeks. The monthly time commitment will be four to five hours, including the meeting time and preparation.

For more information, visit the College of Arts and Sciences Inclusive Excellence Committee web page or contact Sandal at sandal@ohio.edu.