The Strategic Oversight Committee: A Best Practice for Faculty Hiring and Diversity

Diversity of the faculty in engineering across the US remains an important prerequisite for excellence and for creating an inclusive climate that enhances the success of faculty, students and staff. There have been several suggestions for enhancing the diversity of the faculty in engineering. While some progress has been made at the rank of assistant professor, the overall representation of women and underrepresented minorities among engineering faculty remains low. This paper describes an approach which is being used at Purdue to provide oversight to the faculty hiring process and presents data to show that such an approach can be successful.  The strategic goals of the College of Engineering (CoE) at Purdue University include the important goal of increasing the diversity of the faculty. In 2004, a new process was initiated to provide a systematic approach to faculty hiring.  The Strategic Oversight Committee was formed, chaired by the dean and its membership included 2 associate deans, 3 department heads and 3 senior faculty. Initially, every faculty offer had to be submitted to the SOC for approval before it could be extended to a candidate. The criteria used by the committee were that the candidate be of high quality, be interdisciplinary and contributed to diversity and the climate of the college.  In 2009, a new process was adopted by the SOC. Instead of reviewing requests for offers, the committee started reviewing requests for interviews. The heads submit a request to interview a pool of candidates. Since candidate interviews occur earlier in the hiring process, the SOC is able to review if the pool of applicants meets the strategic priorities of the college.  The outcomes in faculty diversity over the time that the SOC has been active will be presented. Other elements in the search process which impact such outcomes will also be discussed.  Short Description:  This paper describes an approach, the Strategic Oversight Committee, being used in the College of Engineering at Purdue to provide oversight to the faculty hiring process and presents data to show that such an approach can be successful.