AJED Annual and Semester Reports

2022-2023 Annual Report

This report is a summary of the major ongoing discussions, activities, and projects of the Duke Biology AJED committee for the 2022-2023 academic year under the leadership of Committee Chair Nina Sherwood. During the 2022-2023 academic year, the AJED committee met 3 times (October, November, December) in the fall semester and 4 times in the spring semester (Jan, Feb, March, April).

An important part of AJED’s work for the 2022-2023 academic year was to interface with the Kardia Group (Diana Kardia and Nelia Viveiros) who were hired for the year to consult with us on departmental climate which, as indicated by the Duke Biology Self Study needed improvement on several fronts. We worked with the Kardia Group to further understand points of concern across the department (e.g., via listening circles and surveys, as well as direct input from AJED members) and develop short- and long-term strategies to address these challenges. Major lessons were the need for cultural change and community building within the department. Accordingly, this was the predominant theme underlying this year’s projects and subcommittees, summarized below. Looking ahead, AJED aims to continue to serve as 1) a sounding board, to identify problems relating to equity, diversity, and inclusion in the department, and 2) an accountability board, to make sure that these issues are followed up on and addressed to the best possible extent.

The entire annual report is available as a PDF:

Download AJED Annual Report 2022-2023 (pdf - 89.47 KB)

2022 Spring Semester Report

The AJED committee was hard at work during the spring semester of 2022 on five main fronts:

(1) Undergraduate student subcommittee – Biology Cultural Union (BCU)

(2) Education subcommittee

(3) Faculty recruitment subcommittee – Frontiers in Biology seminar series

(4) Undergraduate advising for students interested in research and graduate school – “BioGrad Pathways Program”

(5) Departmental climate survey

Download AJED 2022 Spring Semester Report (pdf - 119.54 KB)

2021 Fall Semester Report

Each semester of the regular academic year, the AJED committee submits a report to the Department of Biology. This is our third report since the inception of this committee in July 2020. In this report we are giving an update on four main activities of this committee:

(1) The inception of a new undergraduate student organization, the Biology Cultural Union (BCU).

(2) A summary on the work by the AJED education subcommittee focusing on BIO 201L.

(3) A brief description of the Frontiers in Biology Seminar series that was led by the AJED faculty recruitment subcommittee.

(4) An update on the efforts by the AJED committee to develop an advising program for undergraduate students interested in research and graduate school – “BioGrad Pathways Program”.

 You can find previous reports here, and here.

Download AJED Report Fall 2021 (pdf - 145.83 KB)

2021 Spring Semester Report

For each semester of the academic year, the AJED committee submits a report to the Department of Biology. Therefore, this is our second report for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Download AJED report spring 2021 (pdf - 232.62 KB)

2020 Annual Report

This committee was initiated during the summer of 2020 as a replacement to the Faculty Diversity Committee. One of the first goals was to assemble a diverse and inclusive committee, representing all group members of the Department of Biology. Currently this committee includes five faculty members representing both tenure and non-tenure track faculty, one staff, two postdoctoral researchers, two graduate and two undergraduate students, as well as two ex officio members (communication expert and departmental chair).

Because of the scope and ambitious list of goals for this committee, five subcommittees were formed to reach these goals more efficiently. Each subcommittee provided a report covering their activities and accomplishments during the fall semester of 2020, as well as their objectives for 2021. Action items falling outside the realm of these five committees were grouped under "General Action Items". These subcommittee reports include:

Acknowledgment: The Action for Justice, Equity, and Diversity (AJED) committee acknowledges and is thankful for the work from the student-led Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism (IDEA) committee, for the Department of Biology to enhance fairness and foster the development of an embracing academic environment where everyone can thrive.

The entire AJED 2020 Annual report is available via download:

Download AJED 2020 Annual Report (pdf - 235.47 KB)