Project Idea:

No. 3: Improving the Diversity of the Faculty

AQIP Component to which this primarily relates:

Valuing People

Briefly describe what you would like this project to accomplish:

This project would establish the procedures and content for chair/dean training, faculty involvement with searches, and the basic informational materials used in all searchers that are likely to improve our success in attracting a diverse faculty.  Recent efforts to increase the diversity of the pool of potential faculty have shown chair training to be essential to success.  Faculty have noted that they seem to start at “ground zero” in understanding effective faculty search processes, so this is also an aspect of faculty development.  We have a very good set of common materials/guidelines, but these seem not to be well known across campus or well connected to the hiring processes.

Where did the idea stimulus from this Action Project originate?

Recommendations from various diversity workshops for administrators, deans and department chairs; the Executive Team; Affirmative Programs officer; and the Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity as well as the Presidential Commission for Women, President’s Council of Alumnae, and Women in Science and Engineering.

Which specific needs of your students or other external stakeholders would be better met if you accomplished this project?  How?

If this project is successful, students will benefit from a richer learning environment and faculty will experience a more robust research and teaching environment.  It is also likely to increase our capacity to attract a more diverse student body, which would, in turn, make those who employ our students more satisfied.

How would doing this project allow you to better meet your employees’ needs?  Which, specifically?

Chairs and faculty would gain a stronger understanding of how to execute effective searches. Human Resources and the EEOC officer would likely work together more effectively.

How would accomplishing this Project change or affect your institution’s culture?

Accomplishing this project will support a transformation of our culture. A more diverse faculty is likely to provoke more creativity in teaching and research.  It would help us attract a more diverse student body. At the interface between the university and the external world, our faculty would better mirror national norms. It would improve our national reputation. It would improve the overall process of faculty hiring.

What leadership and employee enthusiasm and support is there for doing the project now? 

The administration, Senate, President’s Commission on Women, President’s Commission on Diversity, Women in Science and Engineering, Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity, and many on the faculty would like our faculty to reflect the diverse faces of the national population.

Then rate the project on the following three dimensions

Challenging             X             o             o             o             o             Easy

Simple              o            o            o            o             X            Complex

High Payoff             X            o            o            o            o            Low Payoff