Below is an update on D&I-related goals and outcomes for the program in Spring 2022. This work is ongoing, and we still have other areas which need to be considered in more detail in addition to continued work on the topics described below. We will provide additional updates at the end of Fall 2022.
Honors Diversity and Inclusion Committee: The D&I Committee – composed of students, faculty, and staff – continued working on the initiatives that the “programming & events” and “faculty & staff hiring” task forces began in Fall 2021. More information on these areas can be found in the highlights below.
Honors/Biology Faculty Hire: The D&I Committee created a survey to learn what characteristics make a great UHP faculty member from the students’ point of view. The resulting feedback from the UHP student community was reviewed by the faculty hiring committee and considered carefully as the committee reviewed applications for the Honors/Biology position and conducted preliminary Zoom interviews with a number of applicants. Students from the faculty & staff hiring task force, as well as other volunteer Honors students, then participated in the on-campus interviews with the Honors/Biology faculty candidates. Students met with each candidate in a student-only “meet and greet” to give them a chance to speak freely with each candidate. Students also participated in classroom teaching demonstrations. Students then provided both Likert-scale and free response feedback about each candidate. Feedback questions included items focused on teaching abilities (“This candidate’s teaching style is engaging and intellectually stimulating”), interpersonal skills (“My peers would be comfortable coming to this candidate with academic issues.”), and ability to support all students (“This candidate gives the impression that they would be capable of supporting BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and other underrepresented groups within the UHP.”). This feedback was then aggregated and provided to the full Honors faculty so that they could consider this student feedback while evaluating each candidate from the faculty perspective. Happily, students and faculty were in strong agreement about the candidates and we are looking forward to Prof. Thiago da Silva Moreira joining the faculty in Fall 2022!
Origin Faculty New-Hire Request: The UHP wrote and submitted to the Provost a “new faculty position request” asking for an additional core humanities faculty member. This request focused on the need for this new faculty member both to ensure that most UHP first-year students get to take “Origins” with a full-time faculty member and to bring increased diversity into the program faculty. Students from the D&I Comittee’s Faculty & Staff hiring task force contributed a student-perspective by writing a letter that was included in this position request.
Programming: In alignment with the D&I committee’s long term goals, the committee partnered with GW student organization Alianza to host a cross-cultural event. The Afro-Latinx Culture & Food Night (March 29) included a presentation from Alianza and food from a local DC Latinx restaurant La Famosa. The committee was very excited to work with Alianza and looks forward to working with other organizations in the future for similar events. Additionally, Prof. Kung and the UHP Program Managers hosted an informal “Let’s Talk About Confidence” event (March 2) for UHP students to share and discuss the different facets of confidence that they are impacted by inside of and outside of the classroom. The UHP would also like to thank UHPer Anne Laurie Joseph for proposing and spearheading a “Open Mic: Music & Poetry Luncheon” (February 2) in collaboration with the GW Music Department in celebration of Black History Month.
Sophomore Admissions: The actions put in place by last year’s D&I task force on sophomore admissions were continued into this academic year. This included more intentional advertisement, a prospective sophomore student webpage, info sessions with current UHP students, and opportunity for faculty, advisors and other students to nominate potential applicants, and the replacement of the required letter of recommendation with an evaluation form. Ultimately, we selected 16 expectational rising sophomores from all schools and various backgrounds whose values aligned with the UHP values of inclusivity, community, and intellectual curiosity. As part of our goal in building community from the very beginning, the Program Managers and a former sophomore cohort peer advisor hosted a welcome gathering for the group to meet each other, eat food, and play games.
Peer Advisor Program: This year, the Peer Advisor Program made intentional efforts to connect with UHP first year students on the Mount Vernon Campus with the goal of fostering community. Peer Advisors hosted a variety of events throughout the Spring semester including museum trips, cookie decorating, workshops, and much more.
We are thankful for our peer advisors and wanted to recognize their hard work at the end of the semester. First-year students were also given the opportunity to share their gratitude by submitting personal shoutouts with a new “peer advisor appreciation form.” We received responses from 23 students expressing appreciation for the work of their peer advisors.
As we began to build the 2022-2023 cohort of peer advisors, we aimed to be intentional on how we advertised the position to prospective peer advisor applicants. Our outreach included the expectation that applicants were UHP students that are committed to the UHP and its values (building an inclusive community, increasing diversity, collaborating with their peers, etc.). We also stated that our goal was to build a diverse cohort of peer advisors that span various identities, academic interests, and backgrounds. A nomination form was created and shared with the UHP community as well as faculty and staff from across the university. We received 23 nominations from students, faculty, and staff.
For students interested in becoming peer advisors, we held info sessions hosted by the current peer advisor leaders prior to the peer advisor applications being due. Our goal for these sessions was to continue being intentional about laying out our expectations for the role and to allow prospective applicants to ask any questions that they had about the role.
We accepted 32 peer advisors including 3 peer advisor leaders that exhibited the values of inclusivity and community. Each of our peer advisors has unique insights on various aspects of university life. With our enhanced peer advisor matching form, incoming first-year students will have the opportunity to express their preferences for a peer advisor that can best support them as they begin their time in the UHP and GW.
Additionally, peer advisor Perry Santos (who joined the UHP as a sophomore) met with the Peer Advisor Leadership team and Program Managers to advocate for a peer advisor role dedicated to sophomore admits. For the first time, sophomore admits will be assigned a dedicated peer advisor to serve as a mentor during their adjustment to the UHP and beyond.
Senior Thesis Service or Entrepreneurial Option: In order to help ensure that students with a wide range of personal and professional interests complete an Honors Senior Thesis, the faculty approved a 2022-2023 pilot of a new thesis option focused on service or entrepreneurial work. Prof. Kung worked with Dr. Wendy Wagner who is Director of Community Engaged Scholarship with GW’s Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service to develop a pilot program to test during the 2022-2023 year. Students interested in learning more about this option should consult this UHP blog post.
