College of Engineering >> Administration >> Planning and Assessment >> Minority Faculty Recruiting and Retention Plan

Minority Faculty Recruiting and Retention Plan

The objectives of the College of Engineering include providing instruction of the highest quality, research with the greatest impact, and outreach activities of the maximum utility. In order to achieve these objectives the College and its departments believe that the faculty is the crucial element. We believe that a college with a diversity of faculty; representing different perspectives, different approaches, different backgrounds, and different experiences; is best able to achieve our objectives. We are committed to recruiting and retaining minority faculty in order to assist us in achieving our objectives. This document describes the activities the College and its departments will pursue in our efforts to recruit and retain minority faculty. It is our goal that for at least the next three years, minority candidates will comprise roughly 10% of all new hires (note that in recent years African-Americans have typically received less than 2% of all engineering doctorates awarded annually in the United States).

The College of Engineering and each of its departments are committed to continuous improvement in our efforts to recruit and retain minority faculty. The College and the departments will work together to see that every effort is made to recruit and retain minority faculty. To that end the proposed plans will be continuously refined in order to be as effective as possible. The Associate Dean for Academics and the department heads/chairs will meet quarterly to discuss minority faculty recruiting and retention. Activities underway and planned will be discussed and reviewed. Recruiting and retention plans will be revised as appropriate. We believe that this coordinated approach will prove very effective. In addition to the departmental efforts described in the aforementioned plans, a number of activities will be pursued on the College level.

It should be noted that the retention strategies identified above are broadly useful and to the extent possible will be generally applied.