Innovative faculty cohort hire at the university of San Diego

The University of San Diego (USD)´s NSF ADVANCE grant, AFFIRM (Advancement of Female Faculty: Institutional climate, Recruitment and Mentoring), focuses on addressing issues related to race and gender for faculty in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Although a majority of undergraduate students majoring in most STEM disciplines at USD are female, there are not nearly that many women faculty. As part of the grant proposal, the AFFIRM team was promised two new faculty positions by the Provost. In Fall 2013, the team met with the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Dean of the School of Engineering and the idea of hiring a faculty cohort to facilitate mentoring, diversity, and interdisciplinarity emerged and was approved. Over 200 candidates from diverse backgrounds applied. The candidates that came for on-campus interviews were so impressive that the Provost and Deans agreed to additional hiring opportunities, leading to a cohort of eight female faculty in the STEM fields including four women of color. In this work-in-progress, we discuss our innovative cohort hiring process, and share feedback from members of the cohort, and lessons learned. This innovative process could serve as a model for other campuses.