Dear WashU Medicine community,
Our efforts to strengthen the WashU Medicine community continue as we work to build and sustain an environment where everyone is safe, supported and welcome. We’d like to update you on our progress. The Implementation Task Force on Climate & Culture has met monthly since January to begin prioritizing and implementing the recommendations of the WashU Medicine Executive Faculty Task Force on Climate & Culture, which were shared with you in December.
Many of the recommendations are aimed at enhancing the leadership skills of faculty leaders to encourage behaviors that foster an inclusive culture across WashU Medicine. Improving leadership behaviors is critical to making improvements in our overall climate and culture. Such improvements in leadership will benefit all of us — learners, staff and faculty.
To date, we have implemented three of the recommendations:
- Modernized the promotion criteria for faculty, to reward the full range of careers in academic medicine.
- Provided input and assisted in the development of exit surveys for staff, faculty, clinical fellows and postdocs, to gather data on the experiences of those who have decided to leave the University. These data can be used to better understand the employee experience and proactively address any issues with climate and culture. Email invitations to complete the exit surveys will be initiated via Workday after an employee’s last day. However, the surveys will be conducted in a de-identified manner utilizing Qualtrics. Implementation is planned for mid-May.
- Hired two assistant deans to accelerate development of faculty leadership and coaching programs.
Several additional recommendations are in process:
- Simplifying the reporting of unprofessional/inappropriate behavior.
- Updating the faculty parental leave policy so it is consistently applied across WashU Medicine.
You can track our progress on the Climate & Culture website.
In addition, we want to share with you information about a half-day symposium — Reframing: A Call to Inclusion — which will be held May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m in the Eric P. Newman Education Center on the Medical Campus. The symposium aims to uplift voices and celebrate the diversity of experiences among people with genetic, physical, behavioral or intellectual differences. It is open to anyone at WashU Medicine, and you can find more information and register online.
Finally, we continue to welcome your feedback on the work underway on the Medical Campus. You can share your concerns and solutions with us anonymously. We also want to remind you of resources on workplace inclusivity available through Catalyst, our external consultant.
Each of us plays an important role in improving our climate and culture, and we’re grateful for your support. The work ahead of us is not quick or easy, but it is essential to making meaningful changes. We remain fully committed to building a more inclusive environment at WashU Medicine to benefit our entire community.
Sincerely,
Michael Avidan, MBBCh, Implementation Task force co-chair
Dr. Seymour and Rose T. Brown Professor and head of the Department of Anesthesiology
Linda Richards, AO, FAA, FAHMS, PhD, Implementation Task Force co-chair
Edison Professor of Neurobiology and head of the Department of Neuroscience
Renée Shellhaas, MD, MS, Implementation Task Force administrative director
David T. Blasingame Professor of Neurology and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Promotions & Career Development