The Association for Computers and the Humanities is an international scholarly society in operation since 1978 (more info and history). ACH recently issued a statement on Black Lives Matter, structural racism, and the measures the organization intends to take in order to further its anti-racist goals. Chief among those goals is engaging a paid external consultant to conduct a systematic review of ACH policies and procedures and to guide us toward a more just future for the ACH conference, publications, governance, and leadership.
We now seek proposals from qualified consultants interested in undertaking this project. In such proposals, we ask you to address:
- Your vision for racial justice within academic organizations.
- Your experience in conducting consultations such as this one, including examples of resulting outcomes.
- Your plan for reviewing our policies and procedures.
- Your proposed structure and timeline for the consultation process. (Please note that our own timeline for this project is flexible, though we do hope to move forward with implementation of your recommendations by Spring 2021.)
- Your budget for this engagement, including a brief narrative justification of that budget.
Please submit proposals of no more than five pages to secretary@ach.org by September 25, 2020. The ACH officers and executive committee will review these proposals based on the compelling nature of the vision, the feasibility and thoroughness of the plan, the actionable nature of the outcomes proposed, and the cost expectations involved. We will respond to submissions by October 2, 2020. We hope to begin working with a consultant in earnest by October 15th, but can accommodate other timelines.
We very much look forward to working with you to build the future of our organization.