Recruiting a Diverse Faculty

Janie Fouke

Michigan State UniversityASEE Annual Conference

June 18, 2002

Truth in Advertising

Assuming you Value a Diverse Faculty The View from the Tower Informed by Experience in the Trenches Not limited to Civil Engineering

Goals/Metrics

Do you have them? Who owns (buys into) them? Write them down Disseminate them

Speaking of goals . . .

What’s your goal for a particular search? To fill a position? (your secondary goal!) The primary goal: For every single applicant to

be favorably impressed with your institution! – Communications/logistics/intellectual

opportunities/students/colleagues/support staff

And to accomplish that?

Review your written material Review your processes What about the logistics? Provide a “refresher” to avoid illegal

questions/topics (faculty/students/staff) Where is the Women’s Room?

If it’s not somebody’s problem, it’s nobody’s problem.

So whose annual review gets linked to those goals?

Composition of the Search Committee

Rate limiting element Composed solely of faculty where position will

be assigned?– Too narrow view vs. strongest vested interest

Diversity representation? Leadership

Position description

Who determines it?– Dean, Dept chair, committee/interdisciplinary group

How narrow should it be?– Balance between intellectual focus and diversity

goals

What do you sell?– Serenity of the campus/local school system/multi-

disciplinary resources/spousal hiring

After the Position is Described

Deadline or “open until filled”– Wiggle room vs teaching need

How do you disseminate it?– WEB

Who really uses the description?– Surprisingly important question

Search vs. Sort Committees

Most “search and rating” committees simply sort the applications

Sort too closely to the job description and you may miss a gem

Sort too closely against a traditional background and you may miss a gem

Searching is much harder work

Searching

Get on the WEB, the telephone Speak to people at conferences Focused effort is especially critical to meet

diversity goals Advertisements do very little to identify well

matched people

Timing of the search

Depends on the level of person (more senior:greater flexibility)

Stronger candidates typically interview earlier in the academic year

The “deadline” should mark the end (NOT the beginning) of the resume evaluations!

Certifying the pool

If the applicant pool is not diverse, it will be a challenge to build a diverse faculty

The Search Committee must defend the composition of the pool

If this is evaluated after the “deadline”, every added candidate, no matter now qualified, is tainted

Ranking the candidates?

Never! (I don’t want to see “votes” either!) Evaluate each of them

– What does s/he bring to the program?– What obstacles will s/he encounter?– How would each complement/extend previous

investments?– Who are the natural partners on campus?– Is there an obvious mentor?

Who to interview?

Best matches to the position description People who intrigue you (?) Highly accomplished people who only vaguely

match the description (?) The most accomplished of the folks from

historically underrepresented groups (?) References before interviews!

The only way to get comfortable looking at someone who looks different is to look at someone

who looks different

Candidate’s invitation to interview

Very soon after the “deadline” Another chance to sell the excitement Put the “two career“ language in the letter Tell him/her what to expect

– Teach a class, give a seminar, spend two days, only on Thursdays, reimbursement info, etc

The interview

Compose schedule from the “partners” list Have the seminar first Leave time for the candidate to make notes Be sure the “mechanics” are smooth Give everyone on the agenda a final schedule

at least a week in advance

More on interviews

Does the candidate have a request? Complete interviews in 2-4 weeks Keep people informed of the process Get feedback from the participants Look for leverage opportunities Write evaluation memo

Out of your hands!

Chairs should keep candidates informed Delays caused by things you can’t control Issues include appointment levels, start-up

packages, access to resources, cooperation from other entities, etc

Out of your hands (redoux!)

Steady state hiring (25 person department)– With a stable budget (a little humor), 1 per year?

Conclusion?– You can’t do it alone!

You must be leveraging from a larger pool of faculty slots. – Implication for the College? The University?

What is the role of climate?

If the climate is hostile, it’s difficult to hide How do you provide a setting for them to get

frank answers to questions?– A committee, a booklet?

Does someone need to be neutralized?

Set the tone by treating everyone with dignity all the time

Out of your hands (re-redoux)!

Offers made before you finish interviewing the entire pool

Serial vs parallel offers Coupled offers Spousal hiring

MSU Status

African American/Hispanic/Chicano– Every department meets (all but one EXCEEDS)

faculty “availability”– Committed for fall: 1/11 new faculty

Women– Currently 8/125 faculty– Committed for fall: 4/11 new faculty – Offers pending: 1/3 new faculty

Have we met our goals?

Almost Distribution is a concern Now for our next goals . . .

WACADAD

Words are cheap and deeds are dear!