The primary administrative support structure for the Foundational Dialogues program is the Academic Administrative Assistant (AAA) affiliated with your unit. Your AAA will support the event with your chosen expert(s) as they would any other event including the arrangement of travel and lodging.

The dean of the faculty’s (DOF) office can help you and your AAA with budget codes, contract templates, and contract processing. For information from the DOF office please contact Matt Duvall.

Here are some general guidelines regarding the minimum amounts we pay outside consultants based on the information we get from our experiences in the DOF and those we know about from grant funded work. Preparation and reporting time are included in these consultant fees. The rates should serve as a starting point for conversations. It is important to keep in mind that in some circumstances they may need to be adjusted up or down. 

For a workshop

• $500 per workshop hour per convener

For a keynote address

• $1000 for a 90 minute address

For a speaker panel 

• $500 per panel hour per speaker

We are developing a template specifically for foundational dialogue consultation for departments and programs to use. Please contact Matt Duvall to receive a copy of that template. The key aspects of the contract are: the meetings with the department/program, the initial meeting with members of the DOF office, and the short final report. Once the contract has been signed by both parties, please send a copy to Matt Duvall in the DOF.

The work of engaging with race, power, privilege, and white supremacy in pedagogies, curricula, and structures is intense and often emotional. During these discussions it is important for all participants to consider how their words and actions impact the others in the room. Depending on who the other participants are, words and actions can cause trauma and / or conflict. 

We recommend that your unit work together to set guidelines for how to have these communications. The department and program chairs are working with the DOF office to develop a list of strategies that might be useful as you develop these guidelines for your unit. That list will be available in the summer of 2022.

If your unit anticipates or experiences difficult conversations as part of your foundational dialogues, please notify the DOF office. We have a variety of resources available for departments and programs to use in these instances.

The foundational dialogues program website articulates the reporting requirements. In short, units are required to submit a curriculum transformation plan at the end of their foundational dialogues. Additionally, the outside consultants will be responsible for submitting a short report of no more than 2 pages to the DOF office.

Assessment is a critical aspect of transforming student experiences with your curricula. Please reach out to Matt Duvall in the DOF to coordinate assessments and other data analyses. This work will likely involve the learning assessment specialist in Institutional Research who can help you design a customized assessment plan for your curricular transformation work.

The curricula at Bates as well as faculty roles are intertwined. While this is particularly true for the interdisciplinary programs, it is also true for many departments. When pursuing foundational dialogues, the members of the academic unit (either the department / program committee) should drive the work. If the unit wishes to extend an invitation to those faculty members who contribute to the curriculum but are not part of the department / program committee, they should do so.

It is important to keep in mind that some faculty are involved with multiple units. It is possible that they will be asked to participate in the foundational dialogues work of multiple units. We expect faculty in these positions to participate in the foundational dialogues for the units in which they are appointed or for which they serve on the program committee. If a faculty member is invited to participate in foundational dialogues by a unit with whom they have a less formal affiliation, there is no expectation that they do so. We encourage faculty to seek balance in their lives.