Motivation and goals

In the summer of 2021, an ad hoc committee (Jessica Rett, Dylan Bumford, Claire Moore-Cantwell, and Z.L. Zhou) conducted a survey on the department climate.  The central goal of the committee was to establish a list of priorities and action items based on this report.

In AY 2021-2022, a Climate Committee was established with the charge of implementing change wherever possible. The main goals of each subcommittee and its volunteer members are briefly enumerated below. Updates regarding the actions of the committee will be communicated to the department periodically. Anonymous suggestions may also be submitted via the form at the bottom of the page.

Graduate Issues subcommittee

Members: Kalen Chang, Minqi Liu, Arthur Mateos, Laurel Perkins, Ethan Poole, Jessica Rett, Gabriel Teixeira

Goals of subcommittee:

• Increase transparency with respect to the graduate curriculum, in particular the MA requirements and course scheduling.
• Develop suggestions for how the department can improve graduate-student finances and financial well-being.
• Develop suggestions for how the graduate curriculum might be changed to afford more flexibility to graduate students and to contribute towards increased integration and collaboration among subfields.

Accomplished so far:

• We have uncovered that the historical-linguistics deficiency course—which students report not finding very beneficial (in comparison to an actual graduate historical-linguistics course)—is in fact not a requirement on the books.
• We have identified several ways to improve graduate course scheduling, including (i) reminding students of the department-internal course schedule on the website, (ii) encouraging instructors to send out scheduling emails earlier, and (iii) having the DUS and DGS check the schedule for graduate-course imbalance from quarter to quarter.
• We have identified several ways that the department can improve graduate-student finances, including (i) systematize applying for an early first paycheck and (ii) helping students apply for CalFresh (food stamps).

Currently working on:

• Institutionalizing the improvements identified above with the relevant parties, e.g. the graduate SAO, the DGS, and the DUS.
• Discussing whether we should recommend that proseminars count towards MA requirements.
• Discussing the role of the suggested enrollment lists.

Future goals:

• Address reimbursement for conference travel and summer schools.

De-Siloing subcommittee:

Members: Kalen Chang, Noah Coen, Anissa Gladney, Jesse Harris, Laurel Perkins, Gabriel Teixeira

Goals of subcommittee:

• Develop suggestions to reduce siloization by subfield in our own department, and broaden our department’s conceptualization of the field.
• Identify ways to improve relationships (formal and informal) with other departments in the university.
• Identify ways to encourage interaction among students and faculty in different subfields within the department.

Things we’ve accomplished so far:

• We have identified several ways to improve relationships and facilitate interactions with other departments, including (i) adding a list of relevant reading groups and mailing lists to our website; (ii) hosting a yearly fall mixer open to other departments; (iii) improving availability of outward-facing schedules of department meetings on our website and listservs (e.g., by updating website calendar more frequently, and creating a lingevents listserv).
• We have identified several ways to improve relationships and facilitate interactions within our department, including (i) holding more social events that are not subfield-specific; (ii) improving access to the conference room and other shared spaces for informal gatherings; (iii) making department-internal calendar more easily viewable for department members; and (iv) encouraging seminar leaders to publicize their events more broadly.
• We have also recommended that the GLC be notified before the faculty hiring priority vote happens in the spring, so that students can let individual faculty know about their priorities for future hires (such as sociolinguistics).

Currently working on:

• Working with the DGS and staff to implement the access, calendar, space, and website-related improvements identified above.
• Identifying funding and organization for department-wide social events.

Future goals:

• Discuss how to reframe the division between ‘core’ and ‘non-core’ specializations, potentially interfacing with the graduate issues subcommittee.

Department Relations subcommittee

Members: Noah Cohen, Arthur Mateos, Ethan Poole, Jessica Rett, Gabriel Teixeira, Z.L. Zhou

Goals of subcommittee:

• Develop mutually satisfactory mechanisms for graduate students to provide feedback to faculty members
• Develop clear guidelines for reporting bad behavior, and make sure there is a transparent and fair system for reporting bad behavior department-internally
• Develop suggestions on how to identify and reduce sexism in the department

Accomplished so far:

• We have completed a new webpage to guide members who experience negative treatment, including a better explanation of the Personnel Incident Report process
• We are halfway through the process of trying to determine what sorts of different kinds of feedback graduate students want to give faculty and identifying, for each kind, an avenue of reporting.
• We have approached the administrative staff with little requests, including cleaning up the email lists, improving access to the communal spaces in the department, and clarifying certain policies to graduate students

Currently working on:

• Finishing up and launching a webpage devoted to outlining steps graduate students can take for faculty feedback
• Revisiting certain issues with admin, especially about access to communal spaces

Future goals:

• Address concerns about sexism from survey

Communications subcommittee

Members:  Isa CabreraKalen Chang, Jesse Harris

Goals of subcommittee:

• Streamline communication and increase transparency between the department administration and graduate students regarding policies and changes that concern students, including program requirements and internal deadlines.
• Improve the department’s communication with the public (particularly prospective applicants) regarding application guidelines and requirements; resources for potential students; and initiatives addressing diversity, equity and inclusion.

Accomplished so far:

• General plan for updates and newsletters, so that dissemination of information can be more streamlined and organized.
• Solicited summaries from subcommittees, so that all department members can be updated on the climate committee’s progress.

Currently working on:

• Plans to improve the setup of the department website: templates, location of information, sharing of information.
• Polling graduate students to hear about how communication can be improved.

Future goals:

• Revise and add information on the department website for the general public: program requirements for applicants, diversity and outreach initiatives, adopt more inclusive language (AMIGA document), major department updates.