Recruitment

Boston University is committed to searching broadly and hiring well. While search committees are charged with leading the effort to identify the best individual for a faculty opening, many more faculty participate in the screening and recruitment process by attending job talks, interacting with the candidates and contributing to the selection discussion.

Diversity in Searching and Hiring

Search committees are urged to consider applicants holistically. Candidates bring a variety of different life experiences that shape their work as faculty members and that contribute to the quality of the intellectual exchange that characterizes a vibrant university. Diversity among individuals contributes to collective excellence through this exchange of ideas and Boston University is proactive in seeking to increase and support the diversity among our faculty. Annual training is provided for search committee chairs by the Deans or by the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs. Please contact her at any time with questions: Julie Sandell, 617-358-5846.

Resources

Faculty Search Manual: This describes some of the best practices for faculty searches and provides practical advice for conducting a faculty search at Boston University. It was compiled by the Council on Faculty Diversity and Inclusion, and is adapted, with permission, from a similar manual developed by the Women in Science & Engineering Leadership Institute at the University of Wisconsin Madison with support from their NSF ADVANCE grant.

Dual Career Resources: At Boston University, we understand that the decision to join our faculty often involves two careers. This website provides information on dual-career employment, relocating to Boston, and work/life resources for prospective faculty.

AAAS Diversity and the Law:  This extensive handbook describes the legal landscape surrounding the recruitment of faculty and students.

Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC): HERC is a national organization with a mission “to advance the efforts of our member institutions to recruit and retain outstanding and diverse faculty and staff and to assist dual-career couples.” Boston University is a member of the New England HERC. At the HERC website you can search for job openings for faculty and staff at member institutions in New England. Boston University lists our faculty openings in the HERC database, and we recommend HERC as one resource to identify employment opportunities for partners of the faculty that we recruit. Suzanne Brown in the Provost’s Office is an active participant in the New England HERC. Please feel free to contact her with any questions.

CIC Doctoral Directory: Searchable database of URM alumni with earned doctorates from Big Ten schools, plus the University of Chicago.

Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity: Search Proposals must include a plan to ensure that women and minorities are made aware of the position and receive appropriate consideration. Proposals are reviewed by the Provost’s staff before a search is approved. Information can be provided about the availability of women and minority candidates in specific disciplines, as well as information about advertising venues and other mechanisms to attract a diverse pool of candidates. We must document our efforts in an annual Affirmative Action plan, and we are required to collect data on the diversity of the pool of applicants that we attract for each position.  The way we collect these data is through the Affirmative Action Report Form (AARF) database. Search committee chairs must make sure that each applicant’s e-mail address is entered into the database.  An e-mail to the applicant is then generated automatically, asking them to voluntarily self-identify their gender and race/ethnicity.  This information is collected completely separately from any other information from the applicant, and used for the annual affirmative action report and internally to track how well we are reaching out to a wide variety of potential faculty members. When a search committee has identified finalists for a position, there is additional information that must be entered into the database under the “Candidates” tab. Please contact our Faculty Actions Research Specialist, Suzanne Brown, at 617-358-5119 if you have any questions about affirmative action or the database. She can point you to the people in your school and college who have experience with this system. There is also a short video that you can watch here.