The UW-Madison Department of English values…
Intellectual & Professional Growth
We create an environment that provides meaningful and engaging work and that fosters opportunities for research and productive exchange among faculty, instructional staff, administrative staff and students. This means that whatever our roles in the department, we are committed to deepening our understanding, generating knowledge, and encouraging curiosity, growth, and creativity.
Dynamism & Diversity
We aim to be a department whose strength comes from our varied experiences, identities, cultures, backgrounds, abilities, and ways with language, and whose energy derives from its range of disciplines, methods, and fields. This means that we aim for a faculty, instructional staff, administrative staff, and student body that represents the diversity of our world and the breadth of English studies, and we create opportunities to engage with one another–through and across differences.
Equity & Justice
We work to create departmental, university, and public structures that enable common flourishing. This means that we prioritize accessibility for students and colleagues, develop curricula that proactively address historical and ongoing injustices in our fields, and advocate for just policies in the department, campus and broader community.
Transparency & Shared Governance
We seek a truly deliberative approach to shared governance and clear mechanisms for addressing conflict and challenges. This means that we work toward equitable processes for curricular and governance decisions that involve as many stakeholders as possible. And, in that same spirit, we practice transparency in communication, administration, and policy making.
Community & Mutual Responsibility
We are committed to respecting one another’s dignity, identities, and contributions. This means that we each actively participate in the life and work of the department; seek constructive engagement with students and colleagues; make decisions attentive to reducing systemic inequities; support and mentor each other; and ensure that colleagues receive credit for their labor, visible or invisible.
As a community, we will use these values to periodically review and revise department policies, procedures, and practices, ensuring alignment between our actions and our words.
~English Department Core Values, Approved April 3, 2024