Faculty Recruitment:
Diversifying the Faculty
David Prasse, Vice Provost
September 2015
Goals: Why Diversify the Faculty?




Diversity is integral to the success of our mission
Helps to recruit a more diverse student body
Helps to recruit and retain women and faculty of color
Expands the curriculum, adding new perspectives to the
learning environment
 It is vital to what we do, and is a promise we make to those we
serve: our students
 Persistence of faculty at the university is often an issue of
institutional fit—what a university is and aspires to be
Loyola Full-Time Faculty in 2015: Gender
Lakeside and Health Sciences Divisions
Full-Time NTT
Tenure-Track
Tenured
Total
Total
Count
331
140
458
929
Female
Count Percent
191
57.7
68
48.6
176
38.4
435
46.8
Male
Count Percent
140
42.3
72
51.4
282
61.6
494
53.2
Race/Ethnicity of Loyola Faculty in 2015
Full-Time NTT
Tenure-Track
Tenured
Total
Percent of Total
Total
Count
331
140
458
929
Internat. Hispanic
6
12
11
5
1
20
18
37
1.9%
4.0%
Nat.
Asian /
Amer. Pac. Isl.
0
19
0
17
1
29
1
65
AfrAmer
17
7
14
38
White
275
100
388
763
Two/
More
2
0
5
7
0.1%
4.1%
82.1%
0.8%
7.0%
Best Practices in National Recruitment for
Diverse Faculty
 Establish a pool of qualified minority faculty
applicants
 Attend disciplinary conferences
 Attend conferences for minority doctoral
students
 Contact department chairs at (e.g.HBCUs) to
identity potential applicants
(Source: Rose, 2010)
What helps to attract diverse candidates?
 Mission and Diversity Statement:
Loyola University Chicago is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action
employer with a strong commitment to hiring for our mission and
diversifying our faculty. As a Jesuit Catholic institution of higher
education, we seek candidates who will contribute to our mission and
strategic plan to deliver a Transformative Education in the Jesuit tradition.
Candidates are encouraged to consult our website to gain a clearer
understanding of Loyola's mission at http://www.luc.edu/mission/index.shtml and
our focus on transformative education at http://www.luc.edu/transformativeed/
Applications from women and minority candidates are especially
encouraged.
Actions that Facilitate Recruiting a
Diverse Faculty
Position Descriptions
 Include a statement on diversity opportunities
 Structure positions to increase likelihood of
attracting diverse candidates
 Language in job ads:
• Research on issues relevant to ethnic minorities
• Teach courses on diversity themes
• Specialty open, but emphasis on interdisciplinary,
multicultural topics…..
What helps to attract diverse candidates?
 Some Colleges Use Phrases Such As:
• “We are seeking candidates who have a strong
commitment to teaching undergraduate and
graduate students from diverse cultural
backgrounds”
• “We are strongly committed to achieving
excellence through cultural diversity”
(Source: Rose, 2010)
Actions that Facilitate Recruiting a
Diverse Faculty
Advertising
 Craft ads to emphasize expertise that will enhance the
attractiveness of the position
 Place ads in diverse affinity group publications of your
professional organizations
 Place ads in publications targeted to the minority academic
community: (Office of Faculty Administration will do this)
• Diverse Issues in Higher Education
• Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine
• Chronicle of Higher Education
Actions that Facilitate Recruiting a
Diverse Faculty
Search Committee Activities
 Start with a diverse committee; invite members from other
academic units, if necessary
 Develop search screening protocol to assure fairness,
consistency and uniformity
 Avoid ranking candidates at each stage
 Consider Departmental/Institutional needs broadly
Actions that Facilitate Recruiting a
Diverse Faculty
Recruit, don’t simply “search”
o Contact colleagues to request nominations of candidates
o Contact diverse faculty who have excellent reputations
o Recruit at fairs and conferences where minority faculty candidates might
be in attendance
o Mailings to academic discipline minority caucus and to other special
interest groups
o Send personal letters inviting candidates to apply and/or to refer others
o Personal approach to potential applicants at academic conferences or
professional meetings to encourage applications
o Recruiting trips to universities that have high minority PhD graduates
(Source: Rose, 2010)
Actions that Facilitate Recruiting a
Diverse Faculty
During Interview Process:
 Discuss research opportunities with specific groups or in
specific situations
 Emphasize the presence of other faculty of color
 Inform about faculty development opportunities and
mentoring
 Ask candidates how they would contribute to diverse
perspectives on campus, in curriculum
 Share campus and community demographics
Source: From VCU “Strategies for Successfully Recruiting Diverse Faculty”
Share Campus Demographics:
Loyola Students in 2015


Gender:
 Women
64.6%
 Men
35.4%
Race/Ethnicity:
 White
60.1%
 African Am.
6.3%
 Asian/P.I.
10.4%
 Hispanic
12.5%
 Native Am.
0.1%
 Multi-Racial
4.0%
 International Students: 6.6%
 First Generation College: 21%
Diverse Topics and Perspectives in the
Loyola Classroom
Activities During Current School Year
(NSSE 2015)
Activities in Current School Year
Included diverse
Never
perspectives (different
Sometimes
races, religions,
Often
genders, political
Very often
beliefs) in class
discussions or writing
Average (scale 1-4)
N
Freshman Senior
5
6
34
25
39
38
22
32
2.8
3.0
450
522
*Freshmen better than Jesuit and Carnegie Class peer group
* Seniors better than our Urban, Jesuit and Carnegie Class peer
group
Diversity Culture on Campus
(NSSE 2015)
Institutional Emphasis Freshman
Encouraging contact Very little
among students from Some
different backgrounds Quite a bit
Very much
Senior
5
25
32
38
12
22
33
34
Average (scale 1-4)
3.0
2.9
N
373
459
• Freshmen and Seniors better than our Urban, Jesuit
and Carnegie Class peer groups.
Actions that Facilitate Recruiting a
Diverse Faculty
Interview Process (continued)
 Go beyond the normal teaching/research presentations and meetings
with departmental faculty and the dean, include:
 Meeting other diverse faculty and administrators
 Meeting with diverse students
 Meeting with HR Manager or Chief Diversity Officer
 Identify Interdisciplinary Faculty who have similar scholarly interests
so candidate may follow-up
 Go beyond the normal “campus tour”: provide an itinerary that allows
candidate to get a feel for our diverse campus and
Community (Faculty/Students)
Actions that Facilitate Recruiting
a Diverse Faculty
 Committee recommendations:
 Evaluate candidates based on published criteria
 Evaluate candidates objectively—summarize strengths and
weaknesses of each
 Include information on how each candidate would add to
the diversity of the faculty
 Use the Loyola evaluation system that embraces the
elements of a successful search: mission, diversity,
scholarship, teaching, outreach, etc.
 Do not rank the finalists
Diversity Resources for Search Committees

Diverse Issues in Higher Education (www.diverseeducation.com)

Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine

Caroline Sotello Viernes Turner, Diversifying the Faculty:
(http://www.hispanicoutlook.com/)
A Guidebook for Search Committees (AAC&U, 2002).

Association of American Colleges and Universities,
resources on Diversity and Women in Higher Education (www.aacu.org)

American Council on Education, Looking Beyond the
Numbers, 2009.
References
 Moody, JoAnn, Rising Above Cognitive Errors: Guidelines for
Search, Tenure Review, and Other Evaluation Committees
(Diversity on Campus, 2007).
 Rose, John T. “Recruiting a More Diverse Faculty: Role of
Search Committee,” CUNY, April 14, 2010.
 Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU),“Strategies for
Successfully Recruiting Diverse Faculty,” undated.