About the Initiative
In July 2021, the Office of the Provost launched a pilot program designed to catalyze the hiring of faculty members committed to inclusion at CWRU. The initiative entertains proposals from the dean of each of the university’s eight schools/college to help hire faculty who both meet a scholarly need, and have a strong commitment to diversifying their departments and programs. This includes new disciplinary fields that cross traditional boundaries, as well as activities that engage directly in community engagement and translation.
Support Opportunities
The initiative seeks to increase support in the following areas: To attract new faculty, the initiative will invest in new faculty startup support or salary support; and mentorship, community engagement, and other support. Additionally, as part of recruitment activities, the initiative will support bringing outside scholars to campus to share their research, as well as potential ideas around diversifying the campus community and culture.
Accessing Support
Deans from each of the eight schools/college must submit a recruitment plan to the Office of the Provost, and receive approval to proceed with the plan. For more information, please contact the dean of the appropriate school or college, or contact the Office of the Provost.
Annual Reports
North Star Faculty Program Hires will produce annual reports to the Provost each May (regardless of start date) detailing their work to diversify their departments and programs. These reports should include work that crosses traditional boundaries, as well as activities that engage directly in community engagement and translation.
To access these dollars for a North Star Faculty position, the Dean’s Office must submit a two-to-three-page plan to the Provost’s Office and receive formal approval. These proposals are accepted on a rolling basis and should be submitted to Box. Submissions to the Provost should include the following:
- A description of how the hire will contribute to diversifying our campus community.
- A description of how the department will provide and facilitate personal and professional mentoring and sponsorship.
- A description for why this hire is important to the scholarly direction of the university.
- An explanation of community-building opportunities for the recruited scholar, both within the department, across disciplines, and across the institution.
- A written demonstration of how the Department/Unit/College has been using its existing budget, resources, hiring strategies and programming to promote diversity in its faculty, staff and students as well as its culture, curriculum and climate.
This plan does not need to be part of the regular faculty recruitment timeline, but can be submitted at any point as opportunities arise. A breakdown of how funding will be applied and matched is necessary. A school/college must demonstrate its ability to carry each hire within its budget, particularly after the North Star funding is expended.
Once proposals are reviewed, discussed, and approved, an MOU will be developed to set up CASE accounts for the funding.
Process
With each of these programs, requests come from the deans as opportunities emerge, and may or may not be part of their three-year Faculty Resource Plans. The timeline is open and requests are received on a rolling basis until funds for the fiscal year (starting July 1) are expended. All standard appointment documents will be required for the opportunity hire programs. A special intake process and portal for the opportunity hire appointment process is available through Faculty Affairs. As with all faculty hiring processes, the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Engagement will be involved to provide appropriate guidance and training.
Members of the faculty should work with their chairs to identify departmental needs and strategic opportunities. Timing is unique to each school, and chairs should coordinate with their deans to fully understand the process and timelines, communicating the process back to members of the faculty.
Chairs and program directors should work with their deans to identify the timing of requests as well as the format in which to submit the information. This information should be communicated back to the faculty.
Deans should work with the Provost on their annual three-year Faculty Resource Plans and potential ideas for hires. For the targeted hires, deans should submit their prescribed proposals when ready. When all school-based processes are developed, including how deans wish to manage requests for targeted hires, these should be clearly communicated to chairs, program directors and faculty. Any requests sent directly to the Provost's Office will not be reviewed and will be sent back to the deans.