Community Impact Statement

Originally founded in 1861 to provide women an education equal to that once available only to men, Vassar College has a long history of seeking to make accessible “the means of a thorough, well-proportioned and liberal education” [from the College’s First Annual Catalogue] to those who had been previously excluded from higher education. Building on this early commitment to educational access, Vassar now welcomes students of all genders and socioeconomic backgrounds with an expanded mission to provide “a rich intellectual and cultural environment in which all members, including those from underrepresented and marginalized groups, are valued and empowered to thrive” (from Vassar’s mission statement). 

As a result of Vassar’s commitment to providing access to higher education, the student body of the College has grown increasingly diverse as measured by many widely used metrics, including race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, national origin, religious belief, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, physical abilities, and learning differences. Outside the classroom, Vassar has sought to support its diverse student body in a number of ways. For instance, in 2010, the College established the First-generation, Low Income (FLI) Program (formerly the Transitions Program) for first-generation and low income students. Shortly thereafter, it developed a program to attract and support student veterans. In 2017, it developed its Engaged Pluralism Program, which brings together faculty, students and staff to raise questions around inclusion and belonging, and to create programming to make Vassar’s campus a better place to live, learn, and work.

Because faculty members play a critical and long-term role in helping to realize Vassar’s educational mission, the College requires all applicants for faculty and coaching positions to submit a community impact statement as part of their dossiers. Its purpose is to help departments and programs identify candidates who have the pedagogical skills, professional experience, and/or ability to develop new ideas for helping the hiring departments and programs (and the College as a whole) achieve their educational mission. 

While a community impact statement can take a variety of forms, it should provide your perspective on your past and present contributions to teaching a diverse student body in a respectful manner that inclusively promotes student achievement, open inquiry, debate across social and cultural differences, and the ability to challenge academic and intellectual orthodoxies. For example, you can describe how you incorporate diverse materials, methodologies, and points of view into your teaching materials and practices, such as course design, readings, and assignments. You might also address how you engage students from a broad range of backgrounds in the classroom, such as discussion techniques that invite multiple perspectives and different political views and/or that increase participation and learning. You might offer examples of how you have taught, mentored, or collaborated with members of groups that are traditionally underrepresented or marginalized or viewpoints that differ from your own. Finally, you could articulate how your scholarship, artistic works, committee assignments, and community service address impacts to  the variety of communities from which our students hail, including a deeper understanding of and possible solutions for discrimination, social exclusion, or social inequality in the U.S, or elsewhere. Because you might not have substantial past activities in these areas, you may instead focus on future plans at Vassar as well as any pedagogical training (workshops, certifications) you have undertaken in this area.

Faculty members at Vassar are only hired on the basis of merit. Please note that, in line with the College’s Equal Opportunity Policy, there is no requirement or expectation that candidates disclose their identity or membership in any protected class or group, either in the community impact statement or in other application documents submitted to the search committee. Voluntary demographic information is solicited through the application process but remains confidential—it is not provided to members of the search committee.