Best Practices for Faculty and Staff Recruitment

Here we present a wide array of information and training materials shared by universities and professional societies to support best practices in faculty and staff recruitment and professional development for the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

The Office of Cultural Enhancement and Inclusion offers assistance and resources for departments to develop outreach plans leading to the recruitment of faculty and staff underrepresented in medicine. Below we describe best practices and tactics to enrich faculty and staff applicant pools with excellent candidates from diverse backgrounds. 

Job Opportunities at the Jacobs School

Advertisements

The Office of Inclusion recommends in addition to all marketing efforts, to expand advertising to specialized journals, websites, national societies, program officers at national funding agencies and foundations, and department Chairs’ national groups in your area of interest.

Note: UB,  serving as lead HERC Institution in Upstate NY automatically advertises positions with the Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC), and various other resources to assist with diverse recruiting efforts. This includes  the Chronicle of Higher Education, Insight into Diversity,  Higher Ed Jobs,  and Clinical Science  and Medicine website.

Expanded Outreach

The Office of Inclusion disseminates the Job Opportunities at the Jacobs School page, directly linked to UB Job postings using our comprehensive list serve which targets scientific societies, universities, training grant directors, national funding agencies and foundations training and/or supporting eligible individuals for available positions.

Suggested Best Hiring Practices for Faculty Recruiting

Phase 1: Attract Excellent Faculty
  • Start early, anticipate opening of future positions
  • Connect and network with talented  URiM and WiSTEM potential faculty candidates 
  • Facilitate campus visits (virtual) of outstanding /potential candidates / Visiting Future Faculty Program (VITAL) 
  • Networking at national conferences (eg., ITM, SACNAS, ABRCMS) and use curated databases.
  • Directly Nominate outstanding candidates to apply for your position among UB residents and fellows, those identified by networking at national meetings and/or by conducting unbiased searches of databases and the NIH Reporter listing diverse recipients of prestigious grant awards
  • Identify candidates thriving at less well-ranked institutions

NIH Implicit Bias Training
Diversity Tool Kit to Hire Excellent Faculty
Higher Education Recruitment Consortium
Phase 2 Search Committee: Strategies to Identify and Select Excellent Faculty
  • Standardized format of interview questions restricted to permissible questions both during the formal interview as well as for informal interactions
  • Prepare rubrics for evaluations to remove ambiguity and minimize effects of personal bias 
  • Provide a friendly, welcoming environment for all candidates
  • Provide and make candidate aware of our inclusive onboarding process
  • Appoint a diverse and interdisciplinary Search Committee 
  • Establish prerequisites for position before UB Jobs posting
  • Provide Search Committees diversity/cultural competency training to reduce impact of implicit bias
  • Prepare a broad announcement in UB job posting to attract a large pool of applicants
  • Provide Search Committees with diversity/cultural competency  training to reduce impact of implicit bias
  • Use School resources to enrich the pool (eg, Search Committee Diversity Dialogues; web site resources as well as UB Human Resources best practices to hire diverse faculty)
  • Compare demographics, gender and applicants number in UB Jobs platform with published national labor pools.
  • Searches should continue until the short lists includes appropriate numbers of URiM and Women.
  • Use UB Human Resources review points during the selection and job offer period
  • Review candidate evaluation forms completed by search committee members and others meeting with the candidates.
Phase 3:  Engage and Persuade Candidates to Join our Excellent Faculty
  • Provide a broad overview of resources available for state of art research, excellence in education, and professional and career advancement through meetings with key leaders in these areas School and University wide
  • Provide opportunity to meet  with the Office of Inclusion and Cultural Enhancement leadership for an overview on diversity and mentoring programs, resources  and funding to support summer undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, junior and clinical scientists faculty
  • Provide opportunity to meet with the Academic Affairs Office leadership for an update on resources for career advancement and mentoring programs
  • Mentoring academic and professional development and networking
  • Highlight programs and initiatives to maximize candidates opportunities to achieve teaching, education, and research excellence (Research Centers, Core Facilities)

Collaborative Learning and Integrated Mentoring in the Biosciences (CLIMB) Program
The Institute for Strategic Enhancement of Educational Diversity (iSEED)
Phase 4:  Develop an Excellent Cadre of Successful Faculty
  • Develop an inclusive environment for faculty hires to thrive at the Jacobs School by promoting opportunities for career and professional development
  • Offer unique opportunities for career enhancement through appointments  to the PRODiG faculty program, the CTSI K Scholars Program and Empire Innovation Program (SUNY EIP) 
  • Disseminate opportunities for Career and Professional Development
    • Core Competencies in Clinical and Translational Research Workshop Series
    • Professional Development Workshop Series

Suggested Best Practices for Excellence in Staff Recruitment

Search Committee: Strategies to Identify and Hire Excellent Staff
  • Review job description to develop clear criteria and standards and to ensure education and skills requirements are appropriate and not overly restrictive
  • Appoint a diverse search committee to review resumes and participate in candidate interviews
  • Advertise in the Buffalo News to supplement standard community listings through UB Jobs
  • Prepare rubrics for evaluations to remove ambiguity and minimize effects of personal bias 
  • Contact local colleges with business or technical education programs providing training in the required skills
  • Provide a friendly, welcoming environment for all candidates
  • Create a clear evaluation system in advance and avoid global scoring
  • Develop a list of standard interview questions to ensure that consistent information is obtained from each candidate
  • Obtain and evaluate candidate evaluation forms completed by each member of the search committee and other individuals who meet with the candidate
  • Conduct anonymous voting, if the size of the pool is large enough 
Need More Information?

Our office is always available to provide resources and advice on your faculty searches, and other important topics!

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