Dr. Denisa Gandara, assistant professor of Educational Leadership and Policy, recently coauthored a study published in Change: The Magazine of Higher Education. Twenty different faculty members from 20 different research universities were interviewed for “Supporting Public Policy Engagement for Tenure-Stream Faculty of Color” to identify ways institutions of higher education can better support their faculty of color.
Many of the study’s participants stressed the need for institutions to recognize the value of policy engagement as an intellectual pursuit and include it as part of the promotion and tenure evaluation process along with more traditional criteria like research grant awards and publishing in recognized journals.
In response to this and other insights provided by the interviewees, Dr. Gandara and her coauthors developed four recommendations:
- Valuing policy engagement
- Providing institutional support and protection
- Providing resources and compensation for policy engagement
- Connecting faculty of color with access and opportunities for policy engagement
“The recommendations from faculty of color in our study suggest opportunities for institutions of higher education to think more capaciously about strategies to support faculty of color…,” notes the report.
Change, which highlights trends, provides insights and analyzes the implications of educational programs, policies and practices in higher education is intended to stimulate and inform college, university, foundation and government practitioners.
