June 5, 2020

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you very much for all that you have done this term to support our students and our campus during a year that has been unimaginably difficult.

Indeed, we are writing to you at the end of the term, when all of us are already exhausted by our unending responsibilities and requests. Our exhaustion is being exacerbated by the latest cycle of murder and violence of black men and women at the hands of the police. There is also much angst and pain over the protests and unrest nationwide.

We acknowledge the impact that COVID-19 is having on all faculty as we journey through a time that has few guideposts.

We are particularly alarmed by recent reports documenting the heavy toll that COVID-19 is taking on research productivity among women faculty who may be bearing as caretakers during this time, as well as the additional toll on women of color as a result of structural racism and discrimination in our society. We also realize that the latest wave of violence against black men and women is also impacting the research of black faculty and other faculty of color as well, despite the fact scholarship has not yet had time to document such disparities.

Given reports about COVID-19’s impact, we’re very interested to learn about whether or not these trends are evident on our campus, the particular ways that your writing, research, and creative activity may be impacted, and what type of support will be most helpful. We do so at a time of great financial uncertainty, the need to align our support with financial realities, and the hope that we will be able to align our support with faculty members’ greatest needs.

We invite you to contribute your input through this survey. The information will be used by a small working group in the Office of the Provost and the Division of Equity and Inclusion to understand what challenges you may be facing, and whether there are ways that we can effectively support your research and writing productivity, and during what timeframe. We’d appreciate your input by June 16, 2020, so that we can use the summer months to review the data as we think about next steps.

Thank you,

Patrick Phillips
Provost and Senior Vice President

Yvette Alex-Assensoh
Vice President for Equity and Inclusion