The Symposium Implementation Initiatives are six inter-woven initiatives to improve department culture and climate on the DU campus. These are significant initiatives that will serve the institution, units, and faculty for years to come. These initiatives will train and support chairs and departments and make meaningful changes for all faculty.
Symposium Working Groups
Symposium Committees
Committee members were selected based on the following criteria:
- Representation across units
- Representation of different faculty ranks and series
- Diversity
- Expertise
- Expressed Interest in Serving

Deliberative Decision Making (DDM)
Goal: To support departments and units in deliberative decision-making by developing decision-making guidelines and practices and providing training and consultation.
Working Group Members
Annabeth Headrick, CAHSS
Darrin Hicks, CAHSS
Effley Brooks, UAP
Jack Sheinbaum, CAHSS
Kate Willink, Office of the Provost
Paul Sutton, NSM
DDM page
Inclusive Excellence Training Advocacy, Community and Toolkits (IETACT)
Goal: To build community around IE, provide hands-on experiential ideas, solutions, and best practices encouraging all to feel accepted and to have a sense of belonging to DU’s campus.
Working Group Members
Frederique Chevillot, CAHSS
Jing Sun, CAHSS
Kate Crowe, Libraries
Maik Mwosu, CAHSS
Scott Leutenegger, RSCES
IETACT page
Chair Development & Training
Goal: To better equip incoming chairs and like roles with a range of topics including deliberative decision-making and workplace conflict.
Working Group Members
Andrea Stanton, CAHSS
Erin Willer, CAHSS
Hava Gordon, CAHSS
Keith Ward, CAHSS
Lorenzo Patelli, DCB
Michelle Knowles, NSM
Rashida Banerjee, MCE
Sandra Eaton, NSM
Chair Development page
Chair Advisory Board
Goal: Support chairs through entire “life-cycle” by providing onboarding, professional development, off-boarding, and transition; as well as networking clinics. Create a feedback loop between Chairs &Directors (and people in similar roles) and the Provost’s Office.
Working Group Members
Aimee Hamilton, DCB
Annette Stott, CAHSS
Brian Gearity, GSPP
Cindy Cragg, UCOL
Davor Balzar, NSM
Joe Angleson, NSM
Mike Keables, NSM
Chair Advisory Board page
Mentoring and Onboarding Across Ranks and Series (MOARS) - Teaching & Professional Faculty
Goal: To build better on-boarding and mentoring programs for all faculty.
Working Group Members
Brad Benz, Writing Program
Nancy Sakaki, NSM
Norma Hafenstein, MC
Stacy Pinto, MCE
Theresa Conley, DCB
MOARS - Teaching and Professional Faculty page
Mentoring and Onboarding Across Ranks and Series (MOARS) - Tenure Track Faculty
Goal: To build better on-boarding and mentoring programs for all faculty.
Working Group Members
Eleanore McNees, CAHSS
Jennifer Bellamy, GSSW
Robin Tinghitella, NSM
Ryan Gildersleeve, MCW
Tracy Xu, DCB
Symposium Implementation Timeline

Symposium Implementation Updates
[cool-content-timeline layout="horizontal" items="4" autoplay="true" autoplay-speed="3000"...
The Chair Advisory Board (CAB) seeks new members for two-year terms that begin on September 1, 2020.
The CAB’s scope of work is to 1) create a clinic for collective problem solving for people in...
Peer to Peer Solution Seeking Clinic Report
In the spirit of providing a confidential and collaborative way for department chairs and academic directors across all DU academic units to share and address common challenges the Chair Advisory Board, in coordination with Kate Willink, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, piloted the Peer to Peer Solution Seeking Clinic (P2PSSC) on February 24, 2020.