Hiring Faculty Members in Groups Can Improve Diversity and Campus Climate

By Chronicle Staff. Report: “Faculty Cluster Hiring for Diversity and Institutional Climate”
Organization: Urban Universities for Health Equity Through Alignment, Leadership, and Transformation of the Health Workforce
Summary: Hiring faculty members in clusters into multiple departments or colleges was originally designed to expand interdisciplinary research. But faculty clusters also have the potential to help diversify a college’s faculty and improve institutional climate. According to the report, the University of Wisconsin at Madison pioneered the practice and has hired nearly 150 faculty members in 48 clusters since 1998. In more recent years, institutions such as North Carolina State University and the University of Illinois at Chicago have followed suit. More...