University of Illinois Chicago
PA-7: Support for Future Faculty Diversity

UIC supports a range of diversity initiatives that help build a diverse faculty. These are consistent with its Diversity Strategic Thinking Document and Mosaic for UIC Transformation (Diversity Strategic Plan Document), many of which include faculty in implicit and explicit ways. UIC stands apart from many of its peers in that we house an independently collaborative Office for Diversity. This office partners with faculty and staff from administrative offices, colleges, and departments to deliver a number of programs and supports. In conjunction with the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Vice Provost and Senior Assistant to the Chancellor for Diversity convenes a Diversity Advisory Committee. Additionally, the Vice Provost and Senior Assistant to the Chancellor for Diversity convenes a Diversity Executive Committee that consists of Diversity Representatives for each of the line colleges on campus. With support from the Office for Diversity, the Chancellor’s office convenes six Chancellor’s Status Committees, each with faculty subcommittees. Faculty Diversity is also supported through the UIC Office for Access and Equity, which upholds related regulations and academic hiring policies and provides diversity-related resources, discrimination and harassment-related resources, and disability-related resources, all of which pertain to faculty. Additionally, the Vice Provosts support the Provost and Chancellor in administering the Underrepresented Faculty Recruitment Program, the Cluster Hiring Initiative, an annual meeting of Underrepresented faculty, and specialized mentoring workshops for junior underrepresented faculty that focus on the promotion and tenure process. The Underrepresented Faculty Recruitment Program helps increase the diversity of higher education faculty. The aim of the Underrepresented Faculty Recruitment Program is to attract and retain a faculty that more closely resembles the UIC student population. The UFRP is designed to encourage and assist colleges and departments that have selected underrepresented candidates for hire by providing funds toward salary and research. The Diversity Strategic Plan and Mosaic for UIC Transformation promote the cumulative thinking of faculty, staff, and students toward diversity strategic thinking and planning. They contain existing and future goals and initiatives, reflected in the description of programs, policies, creative action committees, and current and future aspirations that support diversity. The Diversity Advisory Committee and the Diversity Executive Committee both set goals, report on existing activities, and advise key administrators on the progress of campus towards its diversity strategic plan. The Clustering Hiring Initiative is a faculty recruitment program to increase diversity and the interdisciplinary culture of UIC. It was designed to cultivate diverse academic leadership and enhance the educational experience of students and the work of faculty by broadening the array of backgrounds, ideas, and disciplines of faculty on campus. There are also six Chancellor's Status Committees, each of which has a faculty subcommittee that supports the diversity of faculty. Faculty are nominated by existing committee members to serve campus in ways that support faculty diversity, such as attending faculty mentoring and orientation events held in conjunction with the Office for Faculty Affairs. The six committees include the Committee on the Status of Asian Americans, the Committee on the Status of Blacks, the Committee on the Status of Latinos, the Committee on the Status of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer People, and Allies, the Committee on the Status of Persons with Disabilities, and the Committee on the Status of Women. The Office of Access and Equity also helps to increase the diversity of higher education faculty by striving to increase access to employment, programs, and services in an environment free of unlawful discrimination and harassment.

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