Refinement Pod Sign Up

Refinement is the phase when participating pods improve the first drafts of their anti-racist policies and resources. For pods that plan to continue through refinement, we ask that you read the following guidelines before filling out the form below.

Continuing through Refinement
URGE spent September 2021 to March 2022 identifying what Geoscientists of Color see as strategies for and barriers to developing anti-racist policies and resources collaboratively. Please see a pre-print describing the results here. During that time, URGE also asked Geoscientists of Color what they wanted to see highlighted in each anti-racist policy and resource. We will share these in the coming months.

Over the next few months, URGE aims to identify what institutional leaders see as strategies for and barriers to implementing and assessing anti-racist policies and resources. URGE will also represent the voices of pods members in these meetings. URGE will describe the findings of the discussions with workplace leaders publicly. After sharing the findings from the discussions with workplace leaders, URGE will move to the next stage of Refinement -- i.e., providing additional resources and structure to help pods improve their anti-racist policies and resources. This work takes time, and we are thankful for all your continued work.

Workplace leaders
A workplace leader is anyone who influences decision-making and supports pod initiatives. These could be the leaders who signed your Pod Agreement. Examples of workplace leaders include academic department chairs, deans, supervisors, section managers, presidents, diversity officers, etc. Please request permission from each leader before including their names and emails in the forms. Please let the leaders know to expect an email from URGE inviting them to attend a 1-hour live Zoom session with other workplace leaders. The URGE team will liaise with these leaders to help receive buy-in on behalf of URGE pods.

Please upload a .docx file with questions that you would like to ask workplace leaders and/or any concerns that you may have relating to their roles in supporting anti-racist policies and resources.

Progress made
Please describe any progress that your pod has made towards improving, implementing, and or assessing the anti-racist policies and resources that your pod created. Some examples of progress include but are not limited to your pod's work influencing the hiring of a new staff member to support belonging, accessibility, justice, equity, diversity, inclusion (BeAJEDI) initiatives, revamping a current BeAJEDI committee, or creating a BeAJEDI committee. The description of the progress made will be included on your pod page on the URGE website.

Share presentations
Please upload .pdf files of URGE-related posters or talks that any pod member has given. We will upload these to your pod's webpage on the URGE website.