According to the 2018 EAB report Instilling Equity and Inclusion in Departmental Practices Guiding Faculty Recruitment and Retention, “The most successful institutions rely on active faculty networks to identify and create relationships with talented underrepresented candidates.” Ongoing candidate development and networking is critical. If this effort is successful, once a position becomes available, the department should have well-developed and diverse group of potential candidates to personally invite to apply. Opportunities to develop recruiting networks include:

As you attend academic conferences, meetings and other disciplinary events, faculty and staff should look for and engage promising upcoming scholars who may contribute to increasing diversity in your unit. When this responsibility is included in position descriptions or assigned along with a course release, the results are much more robust.

  • Develop a process for committee members and departmental faculty to make personal contacts with potential candidates at professional meetings and conferences.
  • Establish networks with Minority-Serving Institutions.
  • Establish partnerships with professional and student associations and organizations that serve historically underrepresented groups.
  • Build connections with emerging scholars through organizations like the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) , the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), or the wide variety of other organizations serving scholars with minoritized racial/ethnic or other identities in the academic discipline.

The Southern Regional Education Board works with states to improve public education at every level, from early childhood through doctoral education. SREB also helps policymakers, institutions and educators share scarce resources to accomplish more together than they could alone. The 16 states part of SREB are Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Nationally this organization is seen as a rich recruiting resource. Faculty and committee members should consider posting and/or participating in the following:

  • The SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program offers a scholar directory for networking and recruiting and hosts an annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring to enhance the professional development of doctoral scholars with minoritized racial/ethnic identities. Academic faculty from institutions across the country attend the Institute to recruit promising scholars.
  • Oregon State University provides funding for a limited number of students to attend the Institute every year. Please contact the Office of Institutional Diversity for additional information.

Build relationships with scholars who are nearing the completion of their programs through formal learning/development opportunities. 

  1. Career exploration weekends/Professional Development visits
    • Host professional development weekends at OSU to encourage promising candidates to visit the institution and consider career opportunities here. Topics might include research development and inclusive pedagogy.
  2. Post-doctoral transitional positions
    • Actively recruit for these positions from universities with a significant number of women and historically underrepresented Ph.D. students.
    • Contact faculty at peer institutions and ask to learn more about underrepresented (women, people of color) students at peer institutions that they are impressed with. Follow-up by calling the student’s advisor to see if they agree about the student’s potential.
    • Offer post-doctoral fellowship opportunities focusing on diversity, equity and social justice in your discipline to attract scholars with those interests. Allow fellows to experience the teaching, research and service responsibilities similar to those they would have in a tenure-track position.
  3. Build recruiting relationships through ongoing partnerships with Minority Serving Institutions

Minority serving institutions (MSIs) are a vital part of U.S. higher education, providing access to college for millions of students of color, many of whom are from low-income backgrounds and are the first in their family to attend college. Both advertising as well as pipeline development with MSIs by faculty can be very productive and rewarding. MSIs include:

  1. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
  2. Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)
  3. Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs)
  4. Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AAPISIs)

Utilize digital social networks to reach people where they are already actively conversing or subscribed. Identify specific contexts for communication in the following venues:

  1. LinkedIn professional groups specific to BIPOC communities and/or other groups underrepresented in the academy
  2. Other social media – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. using relevant hashtags and/or tagging relevant interest groups
  3. Professional societies, organizations or caucuses of scholars with minoritized identities and other relevant listservs