From Chelsea Specht, Associate Director for Faculty Development, Equity and Inclusion; SIPS DEI Council Chair.

Dear SIPS Community, 

As we forge our way in the 23/24 academic year, we are looking for new members to join the SIPS DEI Council.  Do not miss this opportunity to drive positive changes across SIPS, building a more inclusive ecosystem for scholarly exchange.  For your information, I’ve included the Mission of the Council at the end of this message.    

We are looking for Council members to serve for a year-long term, support the development of the strategic plan, and contribute to at least one working group.  More information about the council’s working groups can be found here, most of which are currently inactive and need to be revived with new members.

If you are interested in serving as a council member, please fill out this scheduling poll AND contact Cindy Twardokus (ct259@cornell.edu) by October 31^st to be added to the email list.   [If your term has ended, please contact Cindy if you’d like to renew.] 

In order to ensure representation on Council, we are looking to include: 

• At least one Faculty member who holds a role as DGS 
• At least one Staff member who hold a role as GFA   
• At least one faculty member, one graduate student, and one postdoc representative from each section/field 
• Additional staff members to cover representation across units 

 We are asking you to discuss this as units and decide on the representation that best fits your goals in building inclusive spaces in SIPS. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to Chelsea Specht or sips-dicouncil@cornell.edu. 

Thanks, 

Chelsea Specht
Associate Director for Faculty Development, Equity and Inclusion; SIPS DEI Council Chair

 Mission– The SIPS DEI Council will foster diversity and inclusion and specifically promote an anti-racist culture in SIPS. Specifically, the Council will: 

• Listen to and amplify voices, interests, and concerns of marginalized members of our community; 
• Identify barriers to diversity and inclusion;  
• Investigate best practices for recruiting and retaining members of under-represented groups; advise the Director and Executive Committee on policy and structural changes to remove barriers and promote diversity;  
• Identify and advertise educational opportunities and resources centering on diversity and inclusion;  
• Assist in implementing holistic admissions and recruitment best practices, and curate and communicate data on outcomes 
• And provide support and advocacy for meaningful grassroots initiatives. 

The Council will coordinate efforts with the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Diversity and Inclusion Committee, the Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement, and other relevant entities.  

This year (23-24), members of the DEI Council will work with Leader of Diversity and Inclusion C. Enid Martinez in developing a strategic plant for SIPS DEI efforts, to be presented for CALS approval this coming spring.