Commitment to Diversity

E.d.i.t. {Yourself}

Equity, diversity, inclusion in teaching

Guiding Principles

• Recruit students from diverse, multicultural backgrounds;
• Develop initiatives that will retain students and increase graduation rates;
• Develop and offer an inclusive curriculum; and
• Recruit a diverse faculty and staff.

Murray State University endorses the intent of all federal and state laws created to prohibit discrimination. Murray State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, age, veteran status, or disability in employment or application for employment, admissions, or the provision of services and provides, upon request, reasonable accommodation including auxiliary aids and services necessary to afford individuals with disabilities equal access to participate in all programs and activities.

In particular and without limiting the preceding and pursuant to and consistent with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its regulations 34 CFR 100 et seq.; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its regulations 34 CFR 104; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 USC 1681 et seq., and its regulations 34 CFR 106 et seq; and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 and its regulations 34 CFR 110, Murray State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, handicap, or age in its educational programs and activities. This non-discrimination in education programs and activities extends to employment and admissions and to recruitment, financial aid, academic programs, student services, athletics, and housing. Murray State is required by Title IX and 34 CFR part 106 not to discriminate on the basis of sex and the prohibition against sex discrimination specifically includes a prohibition of sexual harassment and sexual violence. Examples of prohibited sexual harassment and sexual violence can be found in the “Policy Prohibiting Sexual Harassment” which can be accessed via the link referenced in Appendix I.

The Plan

E.d.i.t. {Yourself} - Equity, diversity, inclusion in teaching

The Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Murray State embraces the efforts of the University’s Plan to pursue Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (hereinafter, “DEI”). These efforts include Diversity Recruitment Resources for search committees, the Diverse Scholars Program, Diversity and Identity Abroad, and the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Access. Beyond the impressive DEI initiatives of the University, The Journalism and Mass Communications Department recognizes the particular importance of DEI in media studies. To that end, the plan, “E.d.i.t. {Yourself},” was developed over the course of several semesters, and adopted by vote as departmental policy on August, 26^th, 2022.

The moniker E.d.i.t. {Yourself} is meant to evoke the personal responsibilities presented in the pursuit of DEI. The plan recognizes that professional development and educational experience in DEI is not uniform among departmental faculty. Various degrees of privilege, racial and ethnic identity, national origin and cultural experiences provide different starting points for JMC faculty as they approach DEI. Discussions within the department further suggest that different faculty members have different Professional Development needs, regarding DEI.

This consideration of DEI Professional Development is based on the premise that before including DEI programming in coursework, the instructor themselves should understand the value of DEI and the issues involved. This estimation was strengthened when the departmental DEI Committee considered the AEJMC Master Class Publication, Teaching Race: Struggles, Strategies, and Scholarship for the Mass Communication Classroom. (Daniels & Blom). 

Concurrent with DEI discussions, the Department revised its guidelines for performance evaluations known as “Evaluation of Teaching Excellence.” It is within this framework that the nexus of faculty scholarship and teaching is measured, including DEI efforts, using the Boyer Model. This model extends traditional models of scholarship into four types of scholarship as described below. In a reflective statement, the evaluated faculty member is to set out:

Scholarship of Teaching: what the faculty member has done to improve and explore new ideas in teaching and faculty development. 

Scholarship of Discovery: what the faculty member has done to expand the body of knowledge in their content expertise. (both research and creative scholarship)

Scholarship of Integration: how has the faculty member integrated the scholarship of teaching and discovery in their classroom.

Scholarship of Application: what the faculty member has done to integrate the scholarship of teaching and discovery in their service to the university and the community.

This reflective statement includes descriptions of the faculty member’s intellectual contributions, including DEI efforts. Opportunities for DEI Professional Development are identified and communicated to faculty by the Department DEI committee. This programming may include lectures, webinars, film series, journal articles, podcasts and other content. The individual faculty member is free to explore DEI content beyond those identified by the DEI committee.

In addition to the reflective statement, the evaluated faculty member will undergo a peer review of classroom teaching and course syllabus. The evaluation rubric for the evaluated faculty member includes criteria for DEI, such as stated ACEJMC values and competencies, lessons and assignments.

The E.d.i.t {Yourself} plan is a vehicle wherein individual faculty members may pursue their DEI Professional Development from a starting point they choose. It incents the manifestation of their scholarship in classroom activity, as a factor on performance evaluations (Evaluation of Teaching Excellence.). All of this is calculated to create a rich DEI experience for JMC students.

Key Performance Indicators

The DEI experience of the student is measured in several ways. Program assessment of learning outcomes is one indicator. The student experience is again measured in the Senior Survey, which is measured in the required senior level class, Senior Seminar. Student exposure to DEI concepts is indicated within faculty performance evaluations.

Adopted by Faculty vote, May 6, 2022