The Site Visit Report
American Philosophical Association (APA) Committee on the Status of Women (CSW) Site Visit Program
American Philosophical Association
(APA) Committee on the Status of
Women (CSW) Site Visit Program
Site Visit Process and Expectations
Site visit program background and goals
The APA has a clear interest in and responsibility for improving the
climate for women and members of other underrepresented groups in
philosophy departments. Moreover, working to improve the climate for
women improves the climate for all. Good climate makes a difference for
job satisfaction and productivity. The Program has been created in
recognition of these goals and responsibilities.
Specific goals of the Program include the following:
• Helping departments analyze the climate issues particular to their own settings.
• Making recommendations for improving departmental climates based on proven best practices.
• Informing departments, where necessary, about
challenges women and philosophers of other underrepresented groups
face, drawing on social science and first person accounts.
• Gaining information in a systematic way about the
range and variety of women’s and minorities’ experiences in philosophy
that contribute to their ongoing underrepresentation in the field.
Site visits are normally conducted at the request of a philosophy
department chair, in consultation with the faculty. The visit will be
tailored to the specific needs of the Department. Departments may
specifically request that issues tied to certain underrepresented
groups (e.g. issues tied to Blacks in philosophy) be addressed as well
as issues tied to gender, and this request will be granted if there are
qualified Site Visit Team Members available.
Site visit process
Prior to the visit
Once visit dates are agreed upon by the chair of the Department (or the
chair’s designate) and the director of the Program, a Site Visit Team
normally comprising three philosophers, including at least two women,
will be assembled, and one of the members of the Site Visit Team will
be designated Site Visit Team Leader. Although the Department may
request that the Site Visit Team include members having certain
qualifications (e.g., experience with a large state university), such
accommodations cannot be guaranteed. The final make-up of the Site
Visit Team is determined exclusively by the director of the Program in
consultation with the associate directors.
At least 14 days prior to the visit, the Department will submit to the
Site Visit Team Leader a report providing information about the
Department, which should include the following:
• the undergraduate and graduate curriculum with sample syllabi
• demographic data for undergraduate classes, majors,
graduate student admissions graduate placement, and faculty
appointments
• the most recent visiting committee report (if applicable)
In addition, the Department’s faculty, students, and staff will be
asked to complete an online confidential survey, for the Site Visit
Team's use only.
The Department will coordinate with the Site Visit Team Leader to
arrange and schedule meetings with various departmental groups during
the visit itself.
The Department will make arrangements for local accommodations for the
members of the Site Visit Team. Site Visit Team Members will make their
own travel arrangements; the Department will reimburse Site Visit Team
Members for airfare, train fare, driving mileage, and any other
reasonable travel expenses within 60 days after the visit has taken
place.
During the visit
Members of the Site Visit Team will meet with the chair of the
Department and others in leadership positions in the Department, e.g.,
the director of graduate studies. The specific plan for meetings with
groups within the Department will vary, depending on the particular
structure and needs of the Department. However, it will be important to
provide opportunities for members of underrepresented and/or vulnerable
groups to speak confidentially to the Site Visit Team. Members of the
Site Visit Team will make it a point to speak with faculty members in
philosophy (or related areas), lecturers, office staff, graduate
students, undergraduates, and other key constituencies. Opportunities
will be available for anyone to speak to the Site Visit Team
individually, if requested. If possible, the Site Visit Team should
also meet with the dean of the school in which philosophy is located
and other administrators responsible for faculty appointments, hiring,
tenure, and promotion. The goal of these meetings is to provide the
Site Visit Team with the quantitative and qualitative information
necessary to assess the climate for women and members of other
underrepresented groups in the Department.
After the visit
The Site Visit Team will write a report for the Department, detailing
the findings of the visit and offering practical suggestions on
improving the climate for women and minorities in the Department.
Normally, the report will be delivered directly to the chair of the
Department with the expectation that the chair will share it with
faculty, staff, and students of the Department.
No fewer than 12 months and no more than 18 months after the visit
concludes, the chair of the Department will submit to the Program a
post-visit report describing actions taken since the visit to improve
the conditions for women and other underrepresented groups.
Departments wishing to publicize their participation in the Site Visit program will be included on a list on the CSW’s website.
Assessing the climate for other underrepresented groups
If requested prior to the Site Visit, the Site Visit Team will be
attentive to issues beyond gender, such as race, sexuality, and
disability, and will make an effort to collect quantitative data on
these groups. In some cases, it will be impossible to separate the ways
in which gender, race, sexuality, and other identities are playing a
role in the climate. The Site Visit Team will not make an effort to
separate out the different factors, but will offer suggestions that are
sensitive to intersectional issues.
Key personnel
• Peggy DesAutels, University of Dayton, Director of the APA Site Visit Program
• peggy.desautels@gmail.com
• Carla Fehr, University of Waterloo, Associate Director of the APA Site Visit Program
• carla.fehr@uwaterloo.ca
• Sally Haslanger, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Associate Director of the APA Site Visit Program
• shaslang@mit.edu
Site Visit Team
Members of the Site Visit Team are faculty members at their respective
institutions and during the Site Visit act solely in their capacity as
consulting faculty members. They are not lawyers nor are they legal
advisors. They are not employed by the APA nor are they representatives
of the APA.
Confidentiality
Shielding the identities of people who report concerns or problems is
critical to the success of the Program, as those who fear their
identities may be exposed will be less forthcoming about their
experiences. If institutional climates are to be honestly evaluated and
addressed, everyone, including members of underrepresented groups as
well as men and department leaders, must feel safe enough to be honest
with the Site Visit Team.
In keeping with this need, the Program and the members of the Site
Visit Team will keep confidential the names and other identifying
characteristics of those who participate in the Site Visit. In the
final report, no names will be attached to particular comments,
experiences, or events. Within these constraints, the Site Visit Team
will provide as comprehensive a report as possible.
Further, the Site Visit Team will not communicate the details of what
is learned about the Department as part of the Site Visit process to
people outside of the Department. The final report will be directly
provided only to the Department. The Team will not provide the report
to anyone outside the Department, including deans, unless the visit
request is made by a dean, in which case only that dean will be
provided the report. The Team will not provide the report to
institutional administrators, though the Site Visit Team may discuss
its initial findings in broad terms with administrators during the site
visit itself.
Confidentiality as described above will only be broken if required by
law. If a Site Visit Team Member has good reason to believe that
illegal behavior (e.g. sexual harassment or sex discrimination) is
taking place, and this behavior has not yet been reported and
addressed, the Site Visit Team will report this alleged behavior
through proper institutional channels, and may need to identify those
allegedly engaging in and victimized by this behavior. Reports
may also be subject to freedom of information requests.
Compliance with open records laws
Open records laws vary from state to state and by type of institution.
It is the responsibility of the Department to know to what degree its
Site Visit report is subject to open records laws and to comply with
such laws.
Fees and costs
The Department will pay an honorarium of $500 to each member of the
Site Visit Team plus a $250 program fee. The $250 fee must be received
by the Program at least 14 days prior to the Site Visit; it should be
made payable to the APA and sent to the APA’s national office at the
following address:
American Philosophical Association
Attn: CSW Site Visit Program
University of Delaware
31 Amstel Avenue
Newark, DE 19711
The honoraria may be presented directly to the individual Site Visit
Team Members or paid in a lump sum to the Program at the above address.
In addition, the Department will pay for all travel-related costs for
the Site Visit Team, including travel to the site, local hotel
accommodations, local transportation, and meals. The Site Visit will
normally require three nights’ accommodations.
The Department will make local arrangements (e.g., hotel
accommodations) for the Site Visit Team Members. Site Visit Team
Members will make their own travel arrangements; the Department will
reimburse Site Visit Team Members for airfare, train fare, driving
mileage, meals, and any other reasonable travel expenses. The
Department will pay all fees, honoraria, and reimbursements within 60
days after the visit has taken place.
Safety and security of Site Visit Team Members
A completed Site Visit and the creation and delivery of a final Site
Visit Report is contingent on the evaluators being treated with
appropriate professionalism. The director of the Site Visit Program
reserves the right to terminate the Site Visit if evaluators feel they
are being harassed or violated by Site Visit participants. If a site
evaluation process is terminated for this reason during or after the
visit, the Department forfeits its evaluation fees including honoraria
and travel costs.
Termination or Cancellation of the Site Visit
If the Site Visit is terminated early, cancelled, or reduced (i.e.,
going forward with one fewer Site Visit Team Member) through no fault
of the Site Visit Program or the Site Visit Team, including but not
limited to harassment as described above, weather-related travel
disruptions, illness, or the Department’s decision to terminate or
cancel, the Department is responsible for all non-refundable costs
incurred up to the time that both the director of the Program and the
chair of the Department are notified of the termination, cancelation,
or reduction. In these cases, the program fee is refundable only if the
Site Visit is cancelled at least 14 days prior to the scheduled date.
The Department will pay honoraria to all Site Visit Team Members who
participate in all or part of the Site Visit; if the site visit is
fully cancelled, no honoraria are owed.
If the Site Visit is terminated early, cancelled, or reduced as a
result of negligence or impropriety of the Site Visit Program or the
Site Visit Team, the Program will be responsible for all non-refundable
costs incurred up to the time that both the director of the Program and
the chair of the Department are notified of the termination,
cancelation, or reduction. In such cases, the program fee will be
refunded if the Site Visit is fully cancelled; if the Site Visit goes
forward on a reduced basis or if terminated, 50 percent of the program
fee ($125) will be refunded. The Department will pay honoraria to all
Site Visit Team Members who participate in all or part of the Site
Visit; if the site visit is fully cancelled, no honoraria are owed.
Unless the Site Visit is terminated or cancelled due to harassment, the
Program will, upon request by the Department, endeavor to reschedule or
complete the Site Visit at a later date.