Dear colleagues,
You may recall that I wrote in June about commitments the University has made to help ensure equity and equal access to opportunities for all. The engagement among students, postdocs, faculty, and staff to discuss and advance these commitments throughout the summer has been gratifying. I appreciate everyone’s hard work and good will, realizing that we share common goals and that our adversary is systemic racism, not one another. I am writing now to summarize our progress and indicate where we are going next. I emphasize that this important work will be an ongoing process. We are committed to making positive changes to our practices, and to promoting a culture that supports all individuals and furthers our mission of science for the benefit of humanity.
I’m grateful to the many members of our community who have reached out with ideas, advocated for changes, and helped translate aspirational goals into concrete actions.
Hiring of a diversity/inclusion officer. In June we committed to studying whether Rockefeller should hire an officer devoted to promoting diversity and inclusion. We have since gathered information and studied models used by other institutions for such positions, including summaries of job responsibilities, information about reporting structures, and reports of effectiveness. Groups consisting of administrative staff, faculty, and trainees have met to review this information, concluding that Rockefeller would benefit from such an officer. With this decision, a task force with broad representation (faculty, staff, and trainees) will be convened to define the job description from which to initiate a search and begin identifying candidates by the end of the calendar year. Key to the success of this initiative will be buy-in and participation of the entire community, and I look forward to sharing more information in the coming months as this process evolves.
Publishing recruitment statements. The University has long communicated its encouragement of applications for graduate school and faculty appointments from communities underrepresented in science. To augment advertisements in scientific journals and other venues, we have added these statements to our public website here and here to prominently emphasize the importance of diversity in our hiring practices.
Improving reporting systems. There are several existing mechanisms to report instances of discrimination or bias at the University, and we are committed to ensuring that these are accessible, robust and easy to use—likely by developing and implementing a new website. Importantly, we have engaged a social worker, who is not a Rockefeller employee, who may be contacted directly by members of the community to help with conflict resolution and provide support to members of the community. As is the case with the third-party psychiatrist, confidential reports can be made to this individual. We are also evaluating the utility of a third-party reporting system that would receive and relay anonymous reports of discrimination, bias, and harassment.
Conducting a climate survey. We committed to conduct a confidential survey of the University’s climate as it relates to racial inclusivity, discrimination, and bias. Over the summer we engaged Glint, a firm experienced in the design and execution of such surveys, to work with the University on this project, which was recently completed. The response rate to the survey was excellent and the results were distributed to the entire campus via email earlier this week. The University generally scored well in a number of domains such as overall happiness at Rockefeller and being treated with respect; nonetheless, there were others, such as the University’s visible commitment to diversity and individuals’ ability to influence decisions that highlight areas for improvement. Our ongoing efforts on diversity, equity, and inclusion will be informed by these data.
Increasing diversity of outside speakers. Increasing the number of speakers from underrepresented backgrounds in the Friday Lecture Series and other fora is important both to inspire our campus and to support scientists of color from other institutions, with the added potential of fostering new collaborations. We are inviting Women In Science at Rockefeller (WISeR), People at Rockefeller Identifying as Sexual/Gender Minorities (PRISM), and the Rockefeller Inclusive Science Initiative (RiSI) to collectively select a representative for membership on the Friday Lecture Series committee. We are also reserving one Friday Lecture each year for a scientific speaker from an underrepresented minority group to be selected and hosted by these groups, but also expect many other outside speakers from these groups to be invited to campus. Additionally, there will be a Friday Lecture each year by a speaker chosen by RiSI to present a talk on diversity and inclusion in science. I am pleased to report that Hannah Valantine, M.D., M.R.C.P., who is the chief officer for scientific workforce diversity at the National Institutes of Health, has accepted my invitation to give the inaugural talk in this series this academic year. This applies as well to the many other lecture series on campus. For example, The Rockefeller University Hospital and Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) encourages not only diversity in invited speakers, but also addresses topics such as health disparities, including those related to systemic racism. On August 3, Oluwadamilola “Lola” Fayanju, M.D. presented Beyond Us and Them: Eliminating Disparities among our Patients and the Doctors Who Treat Them; her talk is available online (please use the following password: 8QXVT7^!). Finally, a list of suggested Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), LGBTQ+, and women of color (WOC) speakers, compiled by several campus groups, has been distributed to organizers of the various University lecture series for consideration.
Establishing a mechanism for reporting on HOL mentorship practices. With support from Academic Council, we are creating a system to support HOLs in improving mentorship to all trainees, especially underrepresented minorities, during recruitment, in the lab, and throughout their careers. As part of this system, HOLs will be provided with tools such as an anonymous standardized survey for their lab members to help identify successful practices as well as areas needing attention. In addition, Human Resources will continue to provide annual mentorship training for non-tenured HOLs and one-on-one coaching for all HOLs. Training opportunities will be made available as needed, and HOLs will participate in confidential discussions with the president and/or the VP for Academic Affairs on the topic of mentorship.
Enhancing institutional research partnerships. Existing programs have been very successful in offering research opportunities to undergraduate and high school trainees from diverse backgrounds. We believe these initiatives are critical for improving the appreciation of science as a social good and for ultimately increasing the diversity of the STEM workforce. For example, the Rockefeller University Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program enables diverse groups of undergraduates from across the globe to conduct laboratory research for 10 weeks in the summer in one of our labs. Students receive a stipend and present their research results to the full Rockefeller community at a poster session at the end of the summer.
In addition, the innovative RockEDU Science Outreach program works with K-12 students and teachers to foster active dialogue with scientists and offers hands-on experience in an authentic lab setting. The program’s creative team of scientists, educators, and staff focuses on basic science research and K-12 science education to create programs that promote equitable access to and an appreciation for the scientific process, with a specific focus on enabling and enhancing experiences for students of color. We will explore ways in which this program might be expanded to involve an even greater number of students from communities of color in and around the city.
We are pursuing several avenues through which we can strengthen our programs that provide research opportunities to high school and college undergraduate students. Ideas include the creation of a mentorship certificate program to formalize education and support provided to volunteer mentors; paid positions for undergraduates to provide opportunities to engage in meaningful research; college credit for research conducted at Rockefeller; and the development of domestic exchange programs with institutions that have historically served minority populations, using the existing Bard-Rockefeller exchange program as a model. We are also continuing to strengthen our relationship with neighboring Hunter College to offer academic-year research opportunities to local undergraduates. Building a structure in which early training opportunities are available to and supportive of BIPOC students is an important way we can have a positive impact on diversity in science beyond Rockefeller and over the long term.
Diversity, equity, and inclusivity training. For students, the required Responsible Conduct of Research course will incorporate new content on anti-racism and anti-bias in the sciences. For everyone at the University, annual training is required in the areas of non-discrimination and sexual harassment. We are evaluating training modules in anti-bias with the intention of adding this area to the annual requirement. Human Resources makes available to the entire campus a robust lineup of online training tools in the areas of diversity, inclusion and belonging, bystander coaching and many others. These online tools were reviewed this summer by the University’s executive officers and most of the administrative department leaders. Additionally, anti-bias and workplace culture training and coaching programs tailored to specific departments were conducted by third-party leaders this summer for staff in the Comparative Bioscience Center and the Department of Security. The Child and Family Center also began a monthly series that will continue through this academic year for all teachers and will include curriculum development for inclusion and diversity for young children. Human Resources and other University leaders are working to expand training opportunities and update policies on providing managers and others with initial and recurring training in these issues.
Increasing diversity in the administration.
At the staff level, HR has successfully partnered with universities and organizations to recruit candidates from a wide range of backgrounds. Rockefeller has a robust Affirmative Action Program that includes many diversity and inclusion efforts. Affirmative Action Plans for women and minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans are developed on an annual basis. These plans analyze Rockefeller’s workforce, policies, personnel processes and practices, accommodations, recruiting/hiring efforts, outreach, audit system and more. Looking ahead, HR is increasing job postings on websites that specialize in attracting minority candidates; sending representatives to new career fairs that focus on minorities, veterans, and women as well as enhancing recruitment at historically Black colleges and universities; working with Rockefeller affinity groups on outreach to potential candidates; and building new relationships with organizations that focus on job placements for women and minorities.
Regarding the Board of Trustees, we believe that both professional diversity and social diversity (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, and age) are critical for ensuring that a variety of needed skills and perspectives are represented on the University’s Board of Trustees. While the University has done very well in recruiting women to the board and has several trustees from underrepresented populations, increasing the racial/ethnic diversity of the trustees is an important goal that has been fully embraced by the board chair and the Nominating and Governance Committee of the board, which is proactively seeking both scientists and lay persons from the BIPOC community to serve as trustees. Although recruiting trustees, like faculty, can take time, we are committed to increasing the diversity of the board, and plan to start showing results this year.
There is also a strong commitment to increasing the diversity of the University’s senior leadership, which like the trustees is well-represented by women but is lacking in racial/ethnic diversity. As this is a small group of people, given our lean administrative structure, these positions do not frequently turn over, but there is a strong commitment for future hires to increase diversity.
In addition to these actions, we have pursued other activities that grew out of our ongoing discussions and that bear mentioning here. We are working with students to fulfill a request to create and install a diversity-themed mural to be displayed publicly along York Avenue adjacent to 66th Street. We also have implemented a new security policy that requires the display and swiping of ID cards by all personnel entering at 66th Street. We continue to welcome innovative ideas to improve the campus climate.
Much of this work will be ongoing. I’m grateful for everyone’s commitment and contributions in the midst of a summer with many concurrent challenges. I encourage the community to judge the sincerity of the University’s intent by its actions. There is more to be done to build the institution that we aspire to be—one that is not only committed to excellence in bioscience but that also reflects the broader population of this country. I look forward to contributing to this essential work with enthusiasm and good will in partnership with the entire community as we move into the fall.
Sincerely,
Rick
Richard P. Lifton, M.D., Ph.D.
Carson Family Professor
Laboratory of Human Genetics and Genomics
President
The Rockefeller University