CoFIE Learning and Development Program

In support of Mason’s broader strategic goals and academic units’ Inclusive Excellence Plans (IEPs), the Coaching for Inclusive Excellence (CoFIE) Learning and Development Program offers strategies for recruiting, hiring, and retaining diverse faculty. These strategies, applicable across all disciplines and fields of study, are taken from decades of research that have resulted in best practices nationwide.  Below are the courses for the Spring of 2023.

To schedule any of the CoFIE synchronous courses for your unit or to register for the Include U asynchronous course, contact Dr. Millie Rivera.

CoFIE, I: Strategies for Diverse Recruitment

Focuses on providing colleges/schools, LAUs and faculty effective tools and strategies to enhance the diversity of their applicant pools. (Focuses on faculty and staff)

CoFIE, II: Strategies for Diverse Hiring 

Based on the work of the University of Michigan’s STRIDE (Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Improve Diversity and Excellence) Committee, this course focuses on how to review applications, shortlist applicants, interview initial shortlisted candidates, and plan/manage the campus interview process. It also presents research about implicit bias and mitigating its effects. (Focuses on I/R faculty)

CoFIE, III: Equitable Evaluation of RPT Dossiers 

Based on the work of the University of Michigan’s STRIDE (Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Improve Diversity and Excellence) Committee, this course focuses on how certain criteria impact faculty in different ways. It covers the role of schemas and implicit bias in the review of a candidate’s performance and bias in a variety of domains (e.g., the grant application process, student evaluations, and letters of recommendation). It addresses how the accumulation of these biases creates advantages and disadvantages among faculty. Finally, it presents research on how parental or other types of leave can negatively impact the evaluation of faculty members. (Focuses on I/R faculty)

CoFIE IV: Include U Bystander Intervention in the Academic Workplace course

The goal of Include U is to increase awareness of how bias affects the academic workplace and the various ways we can intervene when we see bias incidents occurring. Through three modules, the course explores four settings: Search Committees, Faculty Meetings, Faculty Peer Evaluations (P&T) and Casual Interactions. The course was created by faculty for faculty through a National Science Foundation ADVANCE grant, and is available either virtually or in person, as a group experience. (Focuses on I/R faculty) Below are the in-person courses for the spring semester.

Below are the in-person courses for the spring semester.

Include U – Module 1 (Bias Incidents in the Academic Workplace)    

Include U – Module 2 (How to Intervene When You See Bias Incidents)

Include U – Module 3 (More Scenarios and Approaches to Intervening)

Please use this link to register for the in-person course