DEI commitments required to get tenure, promotions at this medical school

On June 16, the Faculty Steering Committee at Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) approved a proposal requiring faculty to “show effort toward advancing DEI” to be evaluated for tenure and promotions.

Examples of activities and projects that meet this new requirement include “Participat[ing] in active recruitment of diverse students and trainees” and “Policy development, quality improvement efforts, and other service to the profession that has significant impact on DEI-related outcomes.”

The DEI requirement is intended to accord with the IUSM Honor Code, which calls on members to “champion health care equity.” 

IUSM says its proposal was influenced by the recently revised Promotion and Tenure Guidelines of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). 

[RELATED: Medical professionals continue ‘anti-racism’ push in public health schools]

These guidelines state that faculty work focused on DEI should be “acknowledged and rewarded in the review process” for tenure and promotions. 

On July 11, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) petitioned IUSM to “eliminate or revise this mandate.”

FIRE expressed its concern about mandates “compel[ling] faculty to voice or demonstrate commitments to prescribed views on contested questions of politics or morality to avoid adverse consequences in tenure and promotion.”

Aaron Terr, Senior Program Officer of Campus Rights Advocacy at FIRE, told Campus Reform that IUSM’s policy “carries assumptions about ideas like equity, microaggressions, and unconscious bias that some faculty members may not share.”

Terr further expressed his particular concern that a medical school and an important research institution has “abandon[ed] its critical role as a knowledge-producing institution.”

[Related: ‘Binding for Beginners’: University spends over $200k on LGBTQ+ initiatives]

Campus Reform has covered other universities implementing DEI requirements for students and faculty. 

In April 2022, the Governing Board of California Community Colleges implemented DEI standards for faculty to be considered for tenure. 

Students attending California’s Community Colleges also must fulfill an “ethnic studies” requirement in order to graduate. 

One job posting at Bard College asked applicants to “commit” to “furthering your own independent journey with anti-racism.”

IUSM has not responded to FIRE’s July 11 petition.

Campus Reform has contacted IUSM and IUPUI. This article will be updated accordingly.