The Promoting Equity and Relationships among Colleagues (PERC) initiative was born out of the understanding that the cultivation of a culture of inclusion requires institutional mechanisms to respond to bias-related complaints that do not rise to the level of Title IX in a way that empowers targets. Fellows will develop and receive training in bias, active listening, mediation, and restorative justice. They will then provide faculty and staff with a safe peer-mediated space to report bias-related incidents. The goal of this effort is to provide a mechanism for faculty peers to address small incidents before they grow into large incidents.
Department chairs are often the first to become aware of conflicts, bias-related or otherwise, that are bubbling up within departments. Within SF State there are opportunities for chairs to come together to collaborate, such as College Chairs' Council and University Chairs' Council. We are implementing a mechanism for Chairs to bring their “sticky issues” to their peers at these meetings. This process recognizes the vast experience available in a room of department chairs and draws on that collective knowledge to help chairs address challenges or diffuse the situation. The goal of this work is to prevent these issues from growing into conflicts that rise to the level of title IX or the need for disciplinary action.
Sticky Issues Process
In partnership with the the College of Science and Engineering (CoSE), transforms launched a "sticky issues process" in alignnment with our peer-to-peer commitment to social change. Sticky issues is designed to engage Department Chair's in shared conversation to address bias and other departmental challenges through an intersectional feminist approach to finding and implementing structural solutions for redress and change.