AdvanceRIT has prepared a variety of tip sheets covering many topics, including effective communication, mentoring, and unconscious bias. In this newsletter we are highlighting two of the tip sheets: | Late Spring 2020

The Chair's Role in New Faculty Mentoring

This tip sheet provides a helpful checklist of what the chair’s duties are to new faculty hires. The checklist starts with preparing members of the department for the new hire’s arrival to then later on introducing and warmly introduce the new faculty member to students, and finally ensuring that professional-development workshops are being offered every year for faculty.

Interrupting Bias or Exclusionary Comments

Aware and active bystanders can support norms of inclusion and interrupt awkwardness from unconscious biases -- ultimately creating space for all people to do their best work. But it is natural for bystanders to freeze or to “diffuse responsibility" and hope others will speak. Practice helps. Our NSF funded AdvanceRIT institutional transformation project promotes an inclusive campus community and uses interactive presentation as one mechanism to empower active bystanders. This tip sheet provides some ideas for action. (Primary source for this information is Dr. Maureen Scully of University of Massachusetts & True Story, Inc.)