Some colleges and universities have outlined plans for the safe return of students this fall, but many of us are left wondering how institutions will support diverse faculty members both in the immediate future and over the long term. As members of the University of Massachusetts ADVANCE team, funded by the National Science Foundation, we are focusing on offering equitable campus support for faculty members and fostering inclusion amid major shifts to higher education and deep uncertainty about the future. We are working to develop systemic solutions to increase the participation and advancement of women and underrepresented racial minorities in science and engineering faculty. And, in the midst of COVID-19, it’s clear to us that the need for equity projects is more urgent than ever. [...]

Document impacts to ensure institutional memory. Universities should establish procedures that allow faculty members to document the impact of COVID-19 on their careers. Those impacts will be long-lasting for many people, but institutional memory may not be. Memory loss will only further marginalize and hinder the careers of women faculty and those from underrepresented racial minority groups -- potentially reversing any progress made in recent years.

At the panel we hosted, a key question faculty asked was, “What kind of documentation should we keep as part of our personnel record to track ongoing impediments to our research and teaching programs -- or the added expectations for teaching, mentoring and service work?” Since the panel, ADVANCE has worked with the provost’s office to communicate ideas about impact statements and how they might appear, while passing along resources shared within the national ADVANCE network. In July, the provost announced that the annual faculty review would include sections where faculty could describe the effects of COVID-19 on their research, teaching, mentoring and service -- thus informing their official personnel record.