CIRTL Diversity Team Expands Its Outreach Program
Katherine Friedrich

To meet the national demand for its workshops and reshape the Diversity Institute resources, the CIRTL Diversity Team plans to expand its outreach efforts with additional support from the National Science Foundation.

"We had gotten energized. and didn't want to stop," said chemistry professor Judith Burstyn, co-Leader of the
Diversity Team. "We realized that if we wanted to make a national impact, we needed to go beyond what we had already done."

A wide variety of academic audiences have responded positively to the CIRTL Diversity Team's basic workshop, which is easily transferable between fields and institutions. The workshop is grounded in data, interactive, and based on inclusive teaching principles. Workshop participants use educational research results to develop practical responses to challenging teaching situations.

"I think for grad students, the first time teaching is really scary," said social work professor Sherrill Sellers, who is also a co-Leader of the Diversity Team. "The resource book walks you through every phase. It becomes a kind of guidebook and road map with a twist."

The Diversity Institute resources - a literature review, a resource book, and a book of case scenarios - offer "practical ways in which individuals can contribute to creating a more inclusive environment," Burstyn said.

During the year after the 2005 CIRTL Forum, the resources became quite popular on the Internet. Many web site visitors downloaded the literature review. In addition, people from many institutions have expressed interest in the case book.

Although the resources are in demand, the Diversity Team agrees that there is much more work to be done. The current grant plan proposes to augment the resources for easier Web access, to broaden the range of social issues that they address, to update the literature review, and to conduct evaluation and dissemination.

To increase the impact of their workshops, the CIRTL Diversity Team will be conducting a facilitator training called "Bringing down Barriers." The training, which involves one-hour sessions once per month, will be conducted live over the Web. New facilitators will learn how to introduce the resources to their colleagues, and will conduct two or more workshops during the spring semester of 2006. For more information on how to become a diversity workshop facilitator, contact Katherine Friedrich, Associate Editor, at diversity@cirtl.net .

November 7, 2006

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