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Faculty Resources

Supporting Graduate Student Inclusion & Well-being

Graduate School Office of Inclusion & Student Engagement

The Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement (OISE) is committed to supporting excellence within graduate education at Cornell, and fostering environments where all scholars can find community, experience positive mentoring relationships, and establish a sense of belonging. Our collaborative programming provides graduate students and future faculty with academic, community, and professional development opportunities critical to their success at Cornell and beyond. OISE also facilitates positive systemic change to advance access, equal opportunity, and success in graduate education for students from all backgrounds.

Workshops/Panels on Advancing Access & Inclusion in Graduate Education

Mission-Driven Holistic Review Workshops & Resources for Graduate Admissions

Since 2018, the Graduate School has been actively engaged in systemic change initiatives to promote the use of holistic review in graduate admissions. These efforts have yielded meaningful outcomes across many graduate fields, supporting mission-aligned admissions processes.

The 2023 Supreme Court rulings in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and UNC have had wide-ranging implications for admissions practices in higher education. In response, the Graduate School remains committed to supporting graduate fields in navigating this evolving legal landscape.

To that end, we continue to offer annual workshops for directors of graduate studies, graduate admissions chairs, and graduate field assistants. These sessions focus on implementing mission-driven, holistic review strategies within the context of current legal guidance. Workshops include:

  • A detailed review of the Graduate School Admissions Rubric template, which all graduate fields are required to use;

  • Guidance on adapting the rubric to meet the specific needs of individual graduate fields;

  • Strategies for recruitment, communication, and applicant selection that are aligned with both institutional goals and legal requirements.

Through these workshops, we aim to ensure that graduate admissions practices remain inclusive, rigorous, and compliant, while advancing the broader mission of the Graduate School. For more information on workshops and resources available to Cornell faculty and staff, contact Associate Dean Sara Xayarath Hernández at grad_assoc_dean@cornell.edu and Assistant Dean Anitra Douglas McCarthy at amd78@cornell.edu.

“Equity in Science” Book Talk with Author and Professor Julie Posselt

The Graduate School Offices of Inclusion & Student Engagement and Future Faculty and Academic Careers held a discussion with Julie R. Posselt, associate professor of higher education at the University of Southern California, on her book, Equity in Science: Representation, Culture and the Dynamics of Change in Graduate Education.

Equity in Science: Representation, Culture, and the Dynamics of Change in Graduate Education

Equity in Science Book Cover

“STEM disciplines are believed to be founded on the idea of meritocracy; recognition earned by the value of the data, which is objective. Such disciplinary cultures resist concerns about implicit or structural biases, and yet, year after year, scientists observe persistent gender and racial inequalities in their labs, departments, and programs. In ‘Equity in Science,’ Julie Posselt makes the case that understanding how field-specific cultures develop is a crucial step for bringing about real change. She does this by examining existing equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts across astronomy, physics, chemistry, geology, and psychology. These ethnographic case studies reveal the subtle ways that exclusion and power operate in scientific organizations and, sometimes, within change efforts themselves. Posselt argues that accelerating the movement for inclusion in science requires more effective collaboration across boundaries that typically separate people and scholars—across the social and natural sciences, across the faculty-student-administrator roles, and across race, gender, and other social identities. Ultimately this book is a call for academia to place equal value on expertise, and on those who do the work of cultural translation. Posselt closes with targeted recommendations for individuals, departments, and disciplinary societies for creating systemic, sustainable change.”

  • Cornell community members can access a free copy of the e-book.
  • Equity in Science book discussion guide
    • Chapter 1: Equity Work as Science
    • Chapter 2: Managing Complexity in Institutional Change
    • Chapter 3: Eroded Boundaries & Everyday Interactions in Geoscience Fieldwork
    • Chapter 4: Impression Management & Organizational Learning in Psychology & Chemistry
    • Chapter 5: Inclusive Design & Disciplinary Boundary Work in Applied Physics
    • Chapter 6: Advocacy and Management in Astronomy and Physics
    • Chapter 7: Retooling Science Through Cultural Translation

Tools & Strategies to Advance Inclusive Mentoring Practices

Faculty Advancing Inclusive Mentoring (FAIM) is a systemic change initiative that provides a framework for inclusive mentorship applicable across graduate education and the professoriate. Bolstering this framework are resources and tools intended to be adapted and adopted to meet the contextual needs of mentors and mentees. FAIM is a collaboration of the Cornell Graduate School and Provost Office of Faculty Development and Diversity and is informed by the work of the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership Program and the Equity in Graduate Education Consortium. 

The Graduate School provides workshops, individual faculty consultations, and hosts invited speakers and facilitated panel discussions that focus on advancing inclusive mentoring practices and cultures within graduate education and academia. For more information on inclusive mentoring resources visit the FAIM Resource Center website or contact Associate Deans Sara Xayarath Hernández at grad_assoc_dean@cornell.edu and Colleen McLinn at  cmm252@cornell.edu.

My Voice, My Story: Understanding the Untold Lived Experiences of Graduate & Professional Students

My Voice, My Story sessions pair video monologues constructed from real experiences of graduate students with facilitated discussions. The primary objectives of these sessions are to utilize the power of narratives to achieve greater understanding of the lived of experiences of graduate and professional students, and to develop and share strategies on how to create more inclusive and supportive research and learning environments. (Offered in partnership with Future Faculty and Academic Careers.)

My Voice, My Story sessions are available for faculty and staff and graduate student and postdoc audiences. To request a My Voice, My Story session, contact either Sara Xayarath Hernández at grad_assoc_dean@cornell.edu or Colleen McLinn at futurefaculty@cornell.edu.

Additional Resources 

Graduate School Office of Graduate Student Life

The Office of Graduate Student Life develops and coordinates student life focused programs on topics related to maintaining a healthy student life, including mental health and stress management, sense of community, life-academic balance, and support for students’ personal development. Faculty can utilize this office to discuss navigating difficult academic/personal situations and resources available to support students with families. To learn more, visit the Office of Graduate Student Life page. Cornell community members can access additional resources and articles in support of graduate student well-being, mental health, and persistence in Cornell Box. 

RESOURCES FOR SUPPORTING GRAD STUDENT WELLBEING. This image is a clickable link that directs to a webpage with full and additional information, including this document in its original form.
RESOURCES FOR SUPPORTING GRAD STUDENT WELLBEING

Cornell Workshops on Student Mental Health and Well-being

Promoting a Culture of Well-Being

This session is designed to encourage discussion among graduate faculty about the value of promoting a culture of well-being for the graduate student community in your graduate field. With the Graduate Student Experience data to demonstrate the strengths and areas of improvement from the perspective of your students, we discuss your community environment. We review best practices as identified by external groups and our Graduate and Professional Student Assembly. Finally, actionable strategies to promote a culture of well-being are provided to stimulate discussion. 

Promoting a Culture of Well-Being is available for faculty audiences. To request a session, please contact Janna Lamey at jsl62@cornell.edu.

An Introduction to Mental Health

This session is designed to define and normalize mental health, along with serving as an introduction on how best to support personal mental health. Key concepts of resilience are provided with an emphasis on sense of belonging, along with an opportunity to reflect on knowledge and commitment to self-care practices. Graduate Student Experience data is shared to help provide context to what peers are experiencing. Both university and local resources are provided. Perfect for first-year students, but can be modified for all levels.

An Introduction to Mental Health is for graduate student audiences. To request a session, please contact Janna Lamey at jsl62@cornell.edu.

Thrive (Don’t Just Survive!)

Managing change and the multiple demands placed on a graduate student’s time, energy, and attention can feel overwhelming at times and affect physical and mental health. This session helps students learn ways to meet academic priorities and personal and social needs with skill and confidence. Participants explore 1) strategies to manage stress and build their resilience in order to successfully navigate the ups and downs of daily life and to maintain the ability to bounce back from challenging experiences and 2) the campus resources that help students thrive (not just survive) at Cornell. Workshops can range in time from 60–90 minutes depending on the group’s needs.

Thrive (Don’t Just Survive!) is available for graduate student audiences. To request a session, please contact Janna Lamey at jsl62@cornell.edu.

Additional programming opportunities for the graduate and professional student community are available through the Graduate School Primer: Navigating Academia Workshop Series.

External Mental Health Resources 

Future Faculty and Academic Careers

Future Faculty and Academic Careers prepares graduate students and postdocs to excel as teachers, researchers, and as mentors. Through our membership in the CIRTL Network of nearly 40 institutions nationwide, graduate students and postdocs in all fields can prepare for academic careers in a wide range of settings. Future Faculty and Academic Careers programs are housed in the Cornell University Graduate School and offer both local and online professional development opportunities. To learn more, visit the Future Faculty and Academic Careers website.

Cornell Programs on Mentoring and Inclusive Teaching

Building Mentorship Skills for Academic Careers

In this series of lunchtime workshops, graduate students and postdocs will develop essential research mentoring skills, particularly in disciplines where research is conducted collaboratively in a laboratory or field setting. Effective mentoring of students is a key skill influencing everything from research productivity to personal satisfaction. Learn best practices for mentoring undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers, and develop advising and communication skills needed to lead a research team. Interested participants should apply prior to the start of the series with the expectation of attending all workshops. Building Mentoring Skills program completion certificates will be provided for fully participating in at least four of five sessions. Building Mentoring Skills is offered annually in the spring semester.

Inclusive Teaching Institute for Graduate Students and Postdocs

The Inclusive Teaching Institute is a two-day workshop offered every spring for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to explore strategies for fostering inclusive teaching and learning environments. Participants identify ways to increase accessibility and boost student engagement and belongingness, discuss inclusive course design, and create an action plan for future teaching. (Offered in Partnership with the Center for Teaching Innovation.)

Center for Teaching Innovation

The Center for Teaching Innovation (CTI) supports Cornell University teaching community members with a full complement of individualized services, programs, institutes, and campus-wide initiatives. Their vision is a Cornell teaching community that embraces the research on learning, catalyzes innovative instructional practices, and creates learning environments where every student can thrive. To learn more, visit the Center for Teaching Innovation website.

The Center for Teaching Innovation offers instructors a range of individual and small group resources and consultation services related to teaching and learning in the inclusive classroom. Examples of these opportunities include:

Consultations

CTI staff can provide faculty with confidential, formative consultations. CTI staff can also meet with your department to facilitate a discussion on a range of topics such as addressing student belongingness, increasing student engagement, creating more inclusive learning environments, and facilitating student concerns when they arise. Email cornellcti@cornell.edu to request a consultation.

“Teaching and Learning in the Diverse Classroom” Online Course

This course is open every semester and is open to any Cornell instructor, including graduate students and postdocs, with all disciplines and any level of diversity expertise welcome. “Teaching and Learning in the Diverse Classroom” explores a framework for inclusive course design centered on intersecting social identities in the learning environment, pedagogical practices that support active student engagement, curriculum design from a diversity perspective, and strategies for individual and institutional change. The course runs for four weeks. Register on the Center for Teaching Innovation website.

Any Person, Many Stories: Histories of Exclusion and Inclusion at Cornell

The Any Person, Many Stories project features stories in sketch, biography, podcast, interview, and video formats that can be used as learning resources for courses, workshops, and other meaningful purposes. The stories featured delve into powerful, sometimes painful histories, many of which are not broadly known. These stories also help to bring recognition to many of those who fought for a more inclusive Cornell and how their efforts are ever more critical to informing our ongoing and future DEI efforts at Cornell and beyond.

Office of Faculty Development and Diversity

The Office of Faculty Development and Diversity (OFDD) provides a range of resources, including training and support for deans, department chairs, and individual faculty members, in the areas of faculty development and diversity. To learn more, visit the Office of Faculty Development and Diversity website.

Resources for Understanding and Engaging in Conversations about Racism, Antisemitism and Islamophobia

This compilation of resources, adapted by the Office of Faculty Development and Diversity, provides support for educating yourself and others as you seek to engage in challenging conversations specific to racism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia.  

LGBTQ+ Resource Guide for Faculty and Staff

Developed by the Provost’s Office of Faculty Development and Diversity and the Cornell LGBT Resource Center, the LGBTQ+ Resource Guide for Faculty and Staff provides additional resources to engage and support the LGBTQ+ community, including suggestions and information on:

  • Best practices for classroom and colleague engagement
  • Inclusive and affirming curricula
  • Benefits and Human Resources policies
  • Definitions, terms and language for gender inclusive identities

Center for Dialogue and Pluralism

The Center for Dialogue and Pluralism advances intentional engagement across, and about, differences as an essential democratic practice. Leveraging the diversity of knowledge, perspectives, and experiences at the university, CDP’s educational work focuses on building capacity in four key areas: human connection, social and personal identities, intentional communication, and collaborative change. The center strives to impact the entire Cornell community and to support its ever-evolving needs by building capacity through their pedagogical frameworks and resources, educational offerings, and research. 

Workshop Program

CDP offers workshops to members of the Cornell community including groups and organizations consisting of undergraduate students, graduate students, professional students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty, and/or staff. If you are interested in having a workshop provided by IDP, please fill out the Workshop Inquiry Form on the CDP Trainings and Workshops webpage.

CDP Resources and Guides

Introduction to Community Agreements

Community agreements are ‘ground rules’ that we establish early on to set expectations for how we want to communicate with each other. These agreements help set both practical norms and broader intentions of how we want to approach the conversation. (This guide is for educators more broadly.)

Cultivating Democratic Education and Dialogue

This resource offers strategies for fostering democratic education and dialogue in university settings by equipping students with the skills and values essential for civic engagement, encouraging deep connections between course content and sociocultural or political contexts, and promoting collaborative learning environments that respect diverse perspectives. (This guide is for the Cornell community and requires a NetID to access)

Listening & Learning with “I” Statements

This guide is an accompaniment to our podcast, “I” Statements, where people with different identities come together to share their own beliefs, experiences, and perspectives, demonstrating both the power and the possibility inherent in communicating across difference. This guide is for people who would like to incorporate the podcast into their work with students and/or colleagues. (This guide is for educators more broadly.)

Using LARA

LARA stands for listen, affirm, respond, and add information. The overarching aim of this tool is to encourage communication across difference (whether of identities, perspectives, or experiences). As a communication tool, LARA can be useful in building connection and trust with others, creating space for the exploration of multiple – even conflicting – perspectives, and bringing emotions, assumptions, and social identities into the conversation. The aim of LARA is to help steer a conversation towards mutual understanding of each other’s identities, lived experiences, and positions. (This guide is for the Cornell community and requires a NetID to access)

Office of the Dean of Students, Equity and Belonging Training and Workshops

The Dean of Students Centers for Student Equity, Empowerment, and Belonging Resources include the Asian and Asian American Center, Office of Black Student Empowerment, Office for First Generation and Low-Income Student Support, Gender Equity Resource Center, Office of Latinx Student Empowerment, LGBT Resource Center, Office of Spirituality and Meaning-Making, and Office for Undocumented and DACA Student Support. The Dean of Students team offers a variety of workshops and training on topics related to identity and belonging. While these sessions are available to all Cornell community members, priority is given to student groups and student organizations. Learn more about these offerings on the Dean of the Students website.

Student Disability Services

Student Disability Services includes resources for planning for accessibility, understanding accommodations, and universal design for instruction. For more information on their resources for faculty and students, visit the Student Disability Services website.

Cornell Health

Cornell Health provides counseling and health services and training programs for students, faculty, and staff. More information on what faculty and staff can do to if you are concerned about a student can be found on the Cornell Health website.

Resources for Faculty and Staff 

At Cornell, we all have a role to play in building a caring, inclusive community of students, faculty, and staff that takes seriously its responsibility to look out for one another. As a caring community, we value and prioritize one another’s mental health and well-being. As educators, mentors, and role models, faculty and staff have a profound impact on student well-being. Research has demonstrated that students’ academic experiences and relationships with faculty and staff have a considerable impact on their mental health and – in turn – students’ mental health has a significant impact on their academic performance. The Resources for Faculty and Staff page provides provides information on training and resources available to faculty and staff. To request a program, training, or other engagement, complete this request form. 

Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX – Responsibility to Report

As part of its commitment to diversity and inclusion, Cornell makes a concerted effort to ensure that our community can identify potential acts of sexual and related misconduct and knows who to contact and consult with if they learn about or experience sexual or related misconduct. The aim of the Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX is to make sure campus remains a safe and respectful academic and workplace environment focused on education. The staff of the Office of the Title IX Coordinator, together with community partners, is available to provide in-person trainings to staff or faculty. To learn more about required and optional trainings visit their Education & Prevention page. If your department or unit is interested in a training, please complete the training request form.

Office of Postdoctoral Studies

The Office of Postdoctoral Studies monitors the status and needs of the postdoctoral campus community and serves as an advocate for postdoctoral issues to the vice provost for research and Cornell’s administration. For more information, visit the Office of Postdoctoral Studies website.