Working Paper Series Vol 1 Issue 2
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WORKING PAPER SERIES 2020 Volume 3 | Special Issue 2 Higher Education and COVID-19 Navigating Careers in the Academy: Gender, Race, and Class www.purdue.edu/butler [email protected] Contents 1 Editors’ Note 1 Mangala Subramaniam 2 Editorial Board Members 4 3 Academic Labor and the Global Pandemic: Revisiting Life-Work Balance under 5 COVID-19* Megha Anwer Purdue University 4 Experiences of Life in a Pandemic: A university community coping with 14 coronavirus Kimberly E. Fox and Norma J. Anderson Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts 5 Contemplating Course Comments, COVID-19 Crisis Communication 29 Challenges, and Considerations – Change vs Color? Marie Allsopp Purdue University 6 Being an International Student in the Age of COVID-19 47 Jaya Bhojwani, Eileen Joy, Abigail Hoxsey, and Amanda Case Purdue University 7 Stranded on Calypso’s Island: Cornerstone, COVID, and power of 61 transformative texts Amanda Mayes and Melinda S. Zook Purdue University 8 Managing Uncertainty in a Pandemic: Transitioning multi-section courses to 73 online delivery Jennifer Hall, Bailey C. Benedict, Elise Taylor, and Seth P. McCullock Purdue University 9 Increasing Access to Food through a Rural Community Pharmacy Initiative 84 Jasmine Gonzalvo and Claire Schumann Purdue University and Northwestern Memorial Hospital 10 Reflections on Institutional Equity for Faculty in Response to COVID-19 92 Dessie Clark, Ethel L. Mickey, and Joya Misra University of Massachusetts Amherst 11 The Inclusive Syllabus Project* 115 Laura Zanotti Purdue University Biographies of Authors 127 *Invited articles. EDITOR’S NOTE Support and Inclusion for Transformative Action Mangala Subramaniam* Purdue University We are all facing challenges because of the uncertainties posed by COVID-19. We also continue to grapple with supporting faculty colleagues and hearing about their stress and anxiety as each of us is looking for ways to cope with our own concerns. While I have support networks within Purdue and outside, I am compelled to rely on a virtual mode to connect with extended family across borders. The time difference across countries also impacts work and life. Anwer’s invited article in this issue speaks poignantly to the issue of life-work balance as a foreign-born faculty member. She says, “… I have to confess that achieving even a modicum of a work-life balance has been cruelly impossible for me, and no doubt, others like me who have been unable to travel because of the pandemic. It’s hard to explain what time at ‘home,’ in one’s country of origin, means for one’s psychological and physical wellbeing” (p. 11). Well-being and support are critical for everyone on this campus and worldwide and people are learning to cope with the challenges as the pandemic continues to spread across countries. In fact, Fox and Anderson, in their article in this special issue, provide a snapshot into how people on their campus were feeling about the virus, their sense of job security, and work-life balance. Discussing the findings from a survey that was conducted during the peak of the coronavirus wave in Massachusetts, they note that inequalities – gender and rank (including faculty versus staff) - in “normal times” appear to be exacerbated during these extraordinary times. Two instances of how inequalities come into play during these times are discussed by Allsopp and Bhojwani et al. Shifts in the mode of teaching early in the pandemic, mid-spring 2020 semester - required faculty to quickly become familiar with online delivery of course content. Recognizing that such a disruption could provide skewed teaching evaluations, Purdue announced that (a) evaluations for the spring 2020 semester will not be considered in evaluations and (b) two open-ended questions will be included for all courses and it was up to faculty members to access the responses. In her article, Allsopp examines student feedback for two of her courses taught during the spring 2020 semester. Let me note that it is very courageous on her part to confront the overall negative comments from the students. As a woman faculty member of color who is currently an assistant professor, such evaluations can directly influence motivation and success that in turn can impact retention. While there is a new set of guidelines – Provost Guidelines – for teaching evaluations presented to the Senate in April 2020 and now in place for fall, I believe there is a need for a * Corresponding Author: Mangala Subramaniam, Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence, Purdue University, Ernest C. Young Hall, Room 361, 155 S. Grant Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907. Email: [email protected]. Recommended Citation: Subramaniam, Mangala. “Support and Inclusion for Transformative Action.” Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence and ADVANCE Working Paper Series 3(2) Special Issue: 1-3. 1 more comprehensive approach to evaluating teaching recognizing the experiences of women of color in the classroom and how they could be advised and mentored about teaching. Allsopp’s experiences powerfully speak to the ways in which teaching evaluations can be gendered and racialized. These experiences have implications for teaching recognition during ‘normal’ times and even more so during the pandemic. In contrast to Allsopp, Bhojwani et al. discuss findings from a survey of a non-probabilistic sample of graduate students’ experiences during the pandemic. These experiences cover the multiple ways their finances, housing, health, and future security have been compromised despite their articulation of what they need from their universities, professors, and peers to feel protected. Yet, the vast majority reported not receiving what they need from their institutions. Both Allsopp and Bhojwani et al. remind us to be attentive to the ways in which the experiences of individuals intersect with the institution. University policies and procedures should consider the differential impact on various groups – faculty and students. The individual-institution intersection is also evident in the ways in which undergraduates chose to adjust their lives as described by Zook and Mayes. Adjustment was not restricted to students, it was also an important aspect for teaching in general, and especially for courses with multiple sections and different instructors. Hall et al. provide useful suggestions to manage instructor and student uncertainty in transitioning to online delivery in the current context of the pandemic. They detail the actions they took and the lessons they learned. Perhaps this can prove helpful for managing such large multi-section course in fall 2020. Examining and understanding the institutional dimension in responding to COVID-19 is much needed and is the focus of two articles in this special issue. Gonzalvo and Schumann describe a Purdue College of Pharmacy-led project aimed at addressing temporary food insecurity needs during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Involving pharmacy students, the project relied on existing institutional structures of pharmacies offering medication delivery to distribute food boxes because of being homebound or due to economic hardship. Institutional structure is also the emphasis of the article by Clark et al. Describing the work of UMASS ADVANCE, Clark et al discuss institutional transformation by cultivating faculty equity through collaboration in three arenas - research, community building, and shared decision-making. They share their work with the institution to respond to the pandemic. The role of the university and the needs of the faculty during COVID-19 affected faculty research and teaching and therefore mechanisms to provide support and address evaluation parameters. The article provides useful suggestions for universities by being attentive to organizational structure and culture to enable institutional transformation As is evident from the articles, COVID-19 is impacting us all, in higher education, in different ways. It raises some key conceptual ideas that need to be thoughtfully translated into action. First, is the importance of recognizing ‘difference’ and the varying life experiences in understanding impacts on people. This recognition is also key for enabling inclusion. Inclusion does not lie only in representation but also in the practices we adopt and recommend. In this vein consider Zanotti’s detailed suggestions for creating inclusive syllabi. It is a great beginning for the practice of inclusion. Representation allows for bringing people and voices to the table, but 2 which voices are heard, and which of them convert to meaningful action sets the tone for transformation. Additionally, how do we support faculty in the current conditions? The Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence (SBBCLE) has made some efforts towards providing support in response to concerns raised by faculty. First, the existing Coaching and Resource Network (CRN) (in partnership with ADVANCE-Purdue) that pairs an assistant or associate professor with a full professor who is a CRN member can be an important connection for both, the mentee and the coach. Second, this month (September), we announced the Support Circle with Faculty Allies as a flexible network for faculty to utilize at their convenience. Both these initiatives are made possible because of the commitment of Purdue’s faculty – their generosity, empathy, and their steadfast willingness to enable the success of their colleagues is laudable. The Center remains grateful to the faculty members. Third, just like a few other