U-Mich. STRIDE group shares recruitment techniques

Vice presidents, deans, faculty members and administrators spent Friday, Oct. 31 with faculty members from the University of Michigan who have developed Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Improve Diversity and Excellence.

STRIDE members from Michigan met with the Chicago group to discuss new ideas to help diversify Chicago’s faculty community.

“We’re here today to learn from people who do this extraordinarily well,” said Kenneth Warren, Deputy Provost for Research & Minority Issues, during a STRIDE-run workshop. “We come with open minds to ask the question: ‘How can we do what we do even better?’”

The STRIDE group has seen great success at Michigan, providing guidance, information and research on a variety of practices that increase diversity among potential faculty members, in addition to tactics for recruitment, retention and promotions. STRIDE leads workshops and exercises at Michigan and visits other universities around the country.

While at Chicago in October, the group met with University vice presidents and deans before a lunch with Mary Harvey, Associate Provost for Program Development, and members of campus diversity groups, including the Women’s Leadership Council, the Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture, the Center for Gender Studies and Women in the Physical Sciences.

“STRIDE’s visit was an experiment on our part in assisting search committee members to attract a more diverse applicant pool and recruit the finest candidates,” said Harvey. “Part of finding the most outstanding faculty candidates is developing proactive search techniques—STRIDE’s day at the University was the first step toward just that.”