2021-03-24 by The Michigan Daily

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Wednesday, March 24, 2021

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FOCAL POINT

Daily investigation finds allegations of toxicity, discrimination in U-M ADVANCE Program 12 former employees discuss high staff turnover in University office supporting faculty DEI LIAT WEINSTEIN

Managing News Editor

The ADVANCE Program is a “critical and evidence-based” component of the University of Michigan’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, according to University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald. Through workshops, trainings, consultations and annual reports, ADVANCE synthesizes data about the University’s climate and conducts research on demographics among faculty and staff to ensure the “success of a diverse and excellent faculty.” ADVANCE also provides resources like a handbook for faculty searches and hiring, as well as support for faculty from underrepresented backgrounds through identity-based networks, among other programs. A Michigan Daily investigation of the ADVANCE program found numerous previously undisclosed allegations of discrimination, ranging from 2012 to 2020, in an allegedly toxic workplace with high staff turnover. In interviews with The Daily, 12 former ADVANCE employees — ten who quit or left, and two who were fired in the past four years — alleged that ADVANCE’s workplace environment hinders its ability to engage in meaningful diversity, equity and inclusion work. Documents obtained by The Daily also indicate that employees repeatedly raised their concerns about discrimination and racism to program leadership and University administration over the past five years. In one instance, an employee alleging discrimination was offered a non-disparagement clause after her position was terminated and she brought her concerns to administrators. When asked to comment on whether the University or ADVANCE leadership was aware of internal climate issues over the past five years, Fitzgerald wrote in an email to The Daily on Feb. 25 that these concerns may have

been shared anonymously and that ADVANCE is working to support its employees. “There also may be instances where concerns are either not reported or are reported anonymously, which can limit any unit’s ability to respond,” Fitzgerald wrote. “The current leadership team and staff of the ADVANCE program is looking to the future and focusing on ways that it can continue to carry out its mission of supporting the recruitment, retention, climate, and leadership development for a diverse and excellent faculty based on research and evaluation; knowledge and skill development; community building; and resources and support.” “There was no one to really have your back” The University’s ADVANCE Program was born out of a 2001 National Science Foundation grant that aimed to increase the number of female-identifying faculty in science, technology, engineering and math and to promote gender equity among women at the University overall. The University was among the first nine higher education institutions to receive the NSF grant — between 2001 and 2007, it received nearly $4 million total. The NSF grant ended in 2007, but ADVANCE continued to grow. Jennifer Linderman, professor in the College of Engineering and former associate dean for graduate education, became director in March 2016. She currently oversees the program along with Shelly Conner, director of research and evaluation, and Associate Directors Cynthia Hudgins and Isis Settles. (Conner replaced Janet Malley, previous director of research and evaluation, this past year.) Linderman referred The Daily to Fitzgerald when reached for comment for this article. Both Malley and Hudgins declined to comment when contacted by The Daily. Conner was not employed by ADVANCE when any of the 12 employees that The Daily spoke to

Design by Madison Grosvenor

worked there, and all employees stressed that they had no issues with Settles. According to the University’s 2020-2021 Budget Detail, ADVANCE received almost $2.3 million last year, making it one of the most well-funded programs overseen by the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. This is more than twice the amount issued to the Office of Institutional Equity, which investigates sexual misconduct claims and other claims of discrimination. Fitzgerald wrote in the Feb. 25 email to The Daily that ADVANCE’s focus on faculty distinguishes it from programs run by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, as the latter also includes issues related to student diversity. “The original focus of ADVANCE was to increase the presence of women faculty in STEM fields,” Fitzgerald wrote. “That focus has been expanded to include a broader definition of diversity among the faculty and all areas of research and teaching on campus. But its focus continues to be on university faculty. That’s different from the DEI office, for example, which addresses all members of the university community – students, faculty and staff.” In particular, ADVANCE produces reports that use institutional data to highlight gender and race gaps among faculty.

ADMINISTRATION

The most recent reports focused on faculty equity during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as exit interviews as a way of understanding job satisfaction and reasons for faculty departure. According to a 2019 report created by ADVANCE, ADVANCE programs have “positively influenced” the increase in faculty diversity and representation since 2002. But within ADVANCE, reports of staff dissatisfaction have been left seemingly unaddressed by program directors, according to the former employees who spoke with The Daily. In a 2017 survey mandated as part of the University’s DEI Five-Year Strategic Plan and obtained by The Daily, 50% of ADVANCE employees said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied by the program’s climate and environment, compared to an average of 21% for staff across all 49 units at the University who responded to the survey. 40% of ADVANCE respondents also said they experienced some form of discrimination in the past 12 months at work — a percentage considerably higher than the 15% University-wide total. ADVANCE leadership received the final report in December 2017, according to the copy obtained by The Daily. All 10 ADVANCE employees employed at the time responded to the survey. Craig Smith, former ADVANCE

employee and current University library assessment specialist, worked at ADVANCE from Dec. 2014 to May 2018 as a member of the research & evaluation team when the internal climate survey took place. Smith recalled that program leadership was hesitant to discuss the results of the survey after they were sent to employees. Smith said that a group of employees met in January 2018 and drafted a list of requests for program leadership to address the report’s results — specifically the part that showed that 50% were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the office’s internal climate. “We had a meeting as a group to talk about (this result), and the director would only budget a halfhour for the meeting and initially didn’t want to talk about that result at all and wanted to just talk about campus-wide results,” Smith said. “And so we had to ask her specifically to start addressing the climate at ADVANCE.” On Jan. 16, 2018, Smith met with Linderman and read to her a seven-page document he had written describing incidents of perceived discrimination and racism at ADVANCE, according to Smith. Another former ADVANCE employee confirmed to The Daily that they saw this document in 2018; The Daily has also reviewed this document. Smith said while Linderman agreed to take these claims seriously, he never saw them followed up on or discussed after this initial meeting. Smith also alleged that ADVANCE leadership tried to undermine the survey results by saying they only reflected the opinions of a small group of employees. “The director of ADVANCE was saying that those results were just the result of disgruntled employees who had already left,” Smith said. “But the fact of the matter is that people left because of the climate there. And so she was dismissing, in some ways, the climate itself by saying that people who weren’t happy left and now it’s fine.” Another former ADVANCE

employee, who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation, also worked at ADVANCE in the years leading up to the internal report. This employee corroborated many of Smith’s claims. In this article, they will be referred to as Alex. Alex said that many of the climate issues at ADVANCE stemmed from microaggressions — small, seemingly mundane conversations or tones of voice that made the office a hostile place for employees, particularly people of color. They said that apart from anonymous surveys like the mandated internal DEI report, it was difficult to give voice to these microaggressions given the small size of the organization. “People were excited when the (University-wide) DEI survey happened because it felt like the first time where people could shine a light on some of the issues taking place within the ADVANCE office,” Alex said. But even with the DEI survey, Alex said tackling these issues was difficult because of how small and hierarchical ADVANCE is. “It was frustrating because you felt very silenced, because you didn’t have the numbers,” Alex said. “We’re the ones doing the work for the rest of the University. There was no one to really have your back if you had issues.” Fitzgerald confirmed that an allstaff meeting took place in January 2018 to discuss the survey results. According to Fitzgerald, this was followed by individual meetings between ADVANCE employees and outside consultants in 2019, where employees had the opportunity to discuss these results as well as their issues with the climate at ADVANCE. “There have been many additional staff discussions since, as the ADVANCE staff has worked to ensure that the unit’s climate is inclusive, equitable and respectful for all,” Fitzgerald wrote in his Feb. 25 email. See ADVANCE, Page 3

CAMPUS LIFE

Commission on Carbon Neutrality AAPI Heritage Month opening publishes final report, hands off task of ceremony talks rediscovering cultural reducing emissions to administration identities, anti-Asian racism After two years of deliberation and research, PCCN recommends achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040 ARJUN THAKKAR & CHRISTIAN JULIANO Daily Staff Reporters

After over two years of deliberation, research and engagement with community members, the President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality released its final 104-page report on March 18. The document outlines 50 recommendations for the University of Michigan’s three campuses to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040 as part of efforts to combat the ongoing climate crisis. None of the recommendations are binding — instead, they must now be approved by University President Mark Schlissel and the Board of Regents. Schlissel announced the creation of the PCCN in February 2019. The announcement followed considerable activism from students, who called on the University to take action to mitigate climate change. The commission, co-chaired by Engineering professor Stephen Forrest and Law professor Jennifer Haverkamp, consists

of faculty, staff and alumni from across the University’s departments and was created to develop a set of recommendations to achieve carbon neutrality. The commissioners set multiple goals outlining the path to carbon neutrality within three targeted scopes of carbon emissions. Scope 1 includes the University’s direct emissions, including those from the University power plant, the transportation and bus fleet on the campuses and emissions from boilers in University buildings. Scope 2 emissions derive from University off-campus electricity and “purchased power.” Scope 3 emissions are indirectly attributed to the University and include commuting to campus and food procurement on campus. The final report maintains the targets of achieving carbon neutrality on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2025 and achieving Scope 3 carbon neutrality by no later than 2040. The final recommendations were initially supposed to be released in December 2020 — instead, a draft report was released and community members were invited to respond, with

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some unsatisfied by what they considered the University’s unambitious 2040 end goal and reliance on carbon offsets. More than 521 comments were submitted to the commission responding to the draft recommendations. The commission also hosted community forums with the Planet Blue Ambassador Program and the Student Sustainability Coalition in January to engage with stakeholders and solicit additional feedback. Using carbon offsets According to the report, meeting the proposed emissions targets will depend heavily on the use of carbon offsets. This is a strategy in which the University would balance their greenhouse gas output by investing in carbon reduction or sequestration that would occur off-campus. Activists have long criticized carbon offsets, arguing they let wealthy institutions essentially pay to emit more carbon and do not directly cut an organization’s carbon output. See PCCN, Page 4

In wake of Atlanta shootings, podcast creators & attendees discuss dismantling white supremacy IVY MUENCH

Daily Staff Reporter

The virtual opening ceremony for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month began March 17 with a discussion about rediscovering cultural identities as well as anti-Asian racism in the wake of the Georgia massage parlor shootings in which eight people were killed, most of whom were Asian women. The shootings sparked discussion over the long history of anti-Asian racism and violence in the United States and rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly against women. Over 40 participants attended the opening ceremony, including the creators of “Continental Shifts,” a podcast aiming to explore Samoan and Filipino-American identities by discussing education, politics, union organizing and hiphop. This event was hosted by the AAPI Heritage Month Planning Committee in coordination with the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student

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INDEX

Affairs. It was co-sponsored by the United Asian American Organizations and the APID/A Staff Association. Public Health junior Victoria Minka, student coordinator for the AAPI Heritage Month planning committee, began by acknowledging March 16’s shootings. Minka emphasized the prevalence of xenophobia in the United States before asking attendees to honor a moment of silence for the individuals who were killed March 16, as well as others who have lost their lives due to hate crimes and racist violence. “This violence is not new to us,” Minka said. “There is a pattern of xenophobia and racism towards Asian Americans that only feels like it’s beginning to be recognized by the American public. We know its history, and we feel the reverberations of this pain.” Many students commented in the chat that they came to this event to be with a safe, comfortable and supportive community. Many others said they came to offer support. Gabriel Tanglao and Estella

Owoimaha-Church, hosts of “Continental Shifts,” began with acknowledgments that the places they were Zooming from — New Jersey and California — were stolen Indigenous lands and recognized the tribes native to that land. While discussing Tuesday’s shootings, Owoimaha-Church shared various Samoan proverbs that create space for kindness and community. The two said their podcast originated when they met at a leadership event and connected over their curiosity about their heritage, which eventually became the project’s focus. “It’s really about wayfinding and self-reflection along our journey in the diaspora,” Tanglao said. Owoimaha-Church said while the COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges, it also provided an opportunity for the pair to meet virtually and collaborate on a podcast about identity in ways they may not have been able to previously.