{"636423":{"#nid":"636423","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Next Steps: College of Sciences Task Force on Racial Equity","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EA letter from\u0026nbsp;Susan Lozier, Dean and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair: \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMany voices have expressed pain, anger and frustration over the past few weeks about the recent deaths of Black men and women at the hands of police and at the centuries of racial injustice. While strides have been made in the past, recent cries for change have too often been met with inaction and indifference in this country. Change is needed, and words alone are not enough. There is plenty of work to do at national, state and local levels, but there is also work to do within our own College of Sciences community. There are steps that we can individually take to educate ourselves on countering racism, such as learning how to be anti-racist.\u0026nbsp; Transformative change within our College, however, will take collective input and collective action. For that reason, I am charging a task force to address the following two questions:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1. How do we build a College of Sciences community that is just, fair, and equitable for all members of our community \u0026ndash; staff, students and faculty?\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ETo answer this question, we should ask: \u003C\/em\u003EWho does not feel welcomed, supported, or valued in our community? What practices, written or unwritten, create a discriminatory environment?\u0026nbsp; What practices should we dismantle? Which should we construct?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E2. How do we attract and retain Black faculty, students and staff to our community?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ETo answer this question, we should ask:\u003C\/em\u003E Why have previous efforts to attract Black faculty failed? Why is the number of Black graduate students so low? What practices, written or unwritten, are responsible for these outcomes? What practices should we dismantle? Which should we construct?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETask Force Members \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cem\u003ECo-Chair: \u003C\/em\u003ELewis Wheaton, Associate Professor, School of Biological Sciences\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cem\u003ECo-Chair: \u003C\/em\u003EMatt Baker, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Professor of Mathematics\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003ETamara Bogdanovic, Associate Professor, School of Physics\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EEmma Blandford, Assistant Director, Living Learning Communities, College of Sciences\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EDania Ibrahim, Undergraduate, Neuroscience\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EJasmine Martin, Assistant to the Chair, School of Biological Sciences\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003ELea Marzo, Assistant to the Chair, School of Mathematics\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EMinda Monteagudo, Graduate Student, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EKeith Oden, Director for Academic Diversity, College of Sciences\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EMary Peek, Principal Academic Professional, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EDoby Rahnev, Assistant Professor, School of Psychology\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EAlonzo Whyte, Academic Professional, School of Biological Sciences\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI expect the work of this task force to commence this summer and to finish next May. Along the way, there will be many conversations across the College as we work to answer these questions and chart a path forward. While we do not have answers today, collective good faith will ensure that we can effect transformative change in the years ahead.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo close, I want to thank each of these members of our community for so readily agreeing to serve on this task force.\u0026nbsp; Please extend your thanks to them as well.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ELAST CALL: Today, June 23, is the last day to nominate individuals to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/inclusive-and-informative-team-college-sciences-creates-staff-advisory-council\u0022\u003Eour first College of Sciences Staff Council\u003C\/a\u003E. CoS students, staff, and faculty are invited to nominate CoS staff members who they would like to represent the College. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/forms.cos.gatech.edu\/cos-staff-council-nomination\u0022\u003ENominate staff members here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EOn behalf of Susan Lozier, Dean and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair: \u003C\/em\u003EI am charging a task force to address the following two questions: 1. How do we build a College of Sciences community that is just, fair, and equitable for all members of our community \u0026ndash; staff, students and faculty?\u0026nbsp; 2. How do we attract and retain Black faculty, students and staff to our community?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Dean Lozier announces a new task force focused on fostering racial equity in Sciences community"}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2020-06-23 15:04:36","changed_gmt":"2020-06-23 15:04:36","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-06-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-06-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"634625":{"id":"634625","type":"image","title":"world","body":null,"created":"1587514986","gmt_created":"2020-04-22 00:23:06","changed":"1587514986","gmt_changed":"2020-04-22 00:23:06","alt":"","file":{"fid":"241498","name":"nasa-Q1p7bh3SHj8-unsplash.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nasa-Q1p7bh3SHj8-unsplash.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nasa-Q1p7bh3SHj8-unsplash.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":364096,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/nasa-Q1p7bh3SHj8-unsplash.jpg?itok=PGnz2gQZ"}}},"media_ids":["634625"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/statement-solidarity-black-community-we-stand-equity-and-justice","title":"Statement of Solidarity with the Black Community: We Stand for Equity and Justice."},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/faculty-resources\/faculty-diversity-council","title":"College of Sciences Faculty Diversity Council"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/graduate-student-diversity-council","title":"College of Sciences Graduate Student Diversity Council"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/inclusive-and-informative-team-college-sciences-creates-staff-advisory-council","title":"\u0027An Inclusive and Informative Team\u0027: College of Sciences Creates Staff Advisory Council "}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"EAS"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"85951","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"},{"id":"1279","name":"School of Mathematics"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"443951","name":"School of Psychology"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences at Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}