Faculty Commons Project at the UCR Center for Ideas and Society

UC Riverside, 2022-2023

Project Principal Investigators

Dylan Rodríguez (Media & Cultural Studies; Co-Director, Center for Ideas and Society)

Katharine Henshaw (Executive Director, Center for Ideas and Society

Project Abstract

The Faculty Commons Project helps retain historically underrepresented and marginalized faculty through intellectual communities rooted in shared scholarly and creative interests. Over two grant periods (2018-19 and 2019-21), Commons activities have developed deep professional and social bonds among participants, the majority of whom share personal backgrounds and institutional experiences. The 2022-24 intervention increases efforts to affect campus retention policies by establishing a retention think tank to inform and advise campus administration. A new Working Group will join the other five in offering programming that attempts to remediate the dire effects of the COVID-19 pandemic through writing retreats, research development workshops and community-engaged programming. The project evaluation will survey Commons members and conduct interviews on retention experiences with former and current CHASS faculty. Project PIs hypothesize that the outcomes of this pivotal third wave of project activity will demonstrate the positive impacts of the Commons on climate and retention at UCR.

Faculty Affairs and Academic Programs