What to do as a Group
As a group of faculty reviewers, be sure to have a plan for conducting the discussion. For example, you could decide that:
- Each reviewer will say one positive thing about the faculty member’s work or the dossier or the professional narrative or external letters (if included).
- Then, each reviewer will say a second positive thing.
- And keep repeating that until pretty much everything positive has been said.
- And, only then, do you turn to the negative or the concerning or the troublesome.
- Be sure to question each negative statement and identify the evidence that supports it.
- Consider establishing a practice of questioning one another with curiosity: “I’m wondering, can you say more about why you think that? I’m wondering, can you say more about why that’s the first thing you went to in this case?” Questioning with curiosity can help you and your colleagues unveil bias that might be at work. It can help prevent bias from going undetected. And you can hold one another accountable.
- Consider designating a member of the committee to be responsible for actively questioning potential bias or to serve as “the skeptic” questioning each assertion the other members make.
- Be sure to establish – and actively use – community agreements for the discussion.
- Use a rubric.