DCCFA Faculty Council Votes Unanimously to Form and Charge a Super Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The DCCFA Faculty Council met July 1, 2020 (minutes located at this link), to pass the following statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), by unanimous consent (7-0):

Vision 

The Dallas Community College Faculty Association (DCCFA) envisions working within a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment where our members recognize and support the values, perspectives, and individual dignity of all members of our community. 

Values 

We support the DCCCD Board of Trustees Mission and Strategic Priorities for 2020-2021. In particular, we agree with the priority to foster an equitable, diverse, and inclusive environment for employees and students. 

We pledge to work closely with the four (4) newly created Dallas College employee resource groups (ERGs) to foster an equitable, diverse, and inclusive environment for all Dallas College employees. 

We commit to infusing diversity, equity, and inclusion into the primary responsibilities of full-time faculty, as defined by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC): Curriculum Design, Development, and Evaluation; Teaching; Identification and Assessment of Appropriate Student Learning Outcomes; Student Advising; Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity; and, Institutional and Professional Service.

We embrace diversity in our classrooms where students can openly discuss ideas, celebrate differences, express differing ideas, opinions, and world views, where dehumanizing ideas will not be tolerated.

We seek equity within faculty leadership and representation.  

We desire an inclusive workforce and work environment that fosters critical thinking, open-mindedness, empathy, and acceptance, where new ideas and great discoveries arise from a wide variety of minds, backgrounds, and experiences. 

Actions

Solicit and recruit faculty interested in serving on a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) “super committee” to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion at Dallas College.  

Develop six (6) diversified, co-chaired sub-committees that will independently focus on the SACSCOC-defined core faculty responsibilities: 

1. Curriculum Design, Development, and Evaluation
2. Teaching 
3. Identification and Assessment of Appropriate Student Learning Outcomes 
4. Student Advising 
5. Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity 
6. Institutional and Professional Service 

Charge each committee to: 

• Identify and acknowledge any issues that might restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion.

• Gather and catalog feedback from various stakeholders about advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

• Develop recommendations for change that results in a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive faculty. 

• Summarize subcommittee work in individual detailed reports. 

• Publish a comprehensive account of all subcommittee findings and recommendations. 

The Faculty Council acknowledges we all have been involved in difficult conversations during the past week, and that more difficult conversations are ahead. If you have spoken up, we hear you. We thank every member who has contributed to the ongoing conversation. We also thank those who already have volunteered to serve on a DEI task force. We further encourage additional faculty – particularly those whose voices and perspectives have not previously been heard – to join the effort, share their perspectives and experiences, and be heard. If you wish to be involved in this work, please contact your local campus Faculty Association president.

We do not intend that this is a “final statement,” but rather the beginning of the important work that our DEI task forces will lead.

As always, we thank you for your membership and for your service.