Service in the academy, both formal and informal (across all academic disciplines in higher education), is labor that can be difficult to define and quantify. Outcomes resulting from this service can be clear, or very murky. Research shows women and underrepresented minorities conduct a disproportionate amount of service without credit or reward.  

Lehigh University's Office of the Provost and the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity are partnering to host a National Summit Nov. 6-8, 2018 to explore the definition and value of faculty service and engagement and in so doing, contribute to strategies to address equity in faculty workloads and rewards and effective integration of this work into the range of responsibilities for a fully successful and engaged faculty.

Attendees and presenters will include presidents, provosts and chief academic officers, key academic decision makers including deans, and chairs, for example, and a diverse spectrum of thought leaders representing scholars in higher ed, research funding agencies, and disciplinary professional societies.

Throughout the summit, attendees will consider:

  • What does faculty service and engagement mean within diverse spaces of higher education?
  • How can we decide what is essential faculty service?
  • Does the value proposition of service align with service-related practices and policies?
  • How do inequities in service or engagement impact careers, organizations, and the future workforce?
  • What is the role of funding bodies and professional societies in shaping the faculty service-engagement landscape?
  • What strategies exist or can be created to close real or perceived gaps in the value proposition of service compared to the alignment of service-related practices and policies?
  • Who influences what service levels and and engagement types are appropriate and expected? Do negotiation processes need a closer look?
  • How can we best support multi-level organizational change leaders in exploring their motivation for inquiry and developing tools and capacity to transform the culture of service or (re)align the systems of service.

Location: Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, Iacocca Hall

Email us: servicesummit2018@lehigh.edu