Faculty Search Policy to Create Excellence and Diversity

To Whom this Policy Applies

The policy applies to all members of search committees and to the hiring authority in searches for faculty and senior administrative staff.

Who Needs to Know This Policy

All faculty, staff, senior administrative staff, search committee members, search coordinators and community partners.

Purpose/Background

The University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) recognizes that diversity promotes excellence in education, research, and clinical care. UNR Med is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and this policy will ensure that faculty and senior administrative staff searches are conducted in a manner that is in alignment with our commitment to institutional diversity and inclusion as well as the UNR Med missions. The School of Medicine engages in systematic and focused recruitment activities to achieve mission-based diversity outcomes in addition to merit and qualification goals. The Council for Diversity Initiatives (CDI) will periodically review the definitions for Mission-Based Diversity Groups for recruitment and route for approval through the UNR Med Executive Committee.

Policy

UNR Med will adhere to the University of Nevada, Reno's administrative manual policy (UAM 2,520: Faculty Search Rules) for searches, with the exception that the Council on Diversity Initiatives will define UNR Med's diversity categories.

Definations (as needed)

Diversity: A collective mixture of differences (e.g., background, perspectives, experiences, goals, beliefs, characteristics, preferences, and behaviors) and group/social differences (e.g., race/ethnicity, class, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, or other affiliations) that can be engaged to achieve excellence in teaching, learning, research, scholarship, and administrative and support services. 
Inclusion: The achievement of a learning or work environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully, have equal access to opportunities and resources, and can contribute fully.  

Responsibilities & Procedures (as needed)

I. Responsibilities:

A. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion will:

  1. In collaboration with the Office for Continuous Institutional Assessment, perform ongoing assessments no less frequently than every year and measure the progress of these efforts on the diversity of our faculty and senior administrative staff annually.

B. The Office of Professional Recruitment will:

  1. Guide, support and oversee the procedures of this policy, as well as provide summary data regarding the diversity of the candidate pool, accepted and declined offers, and hires to the Hiring Authority or the chair of the Search Committee, the CDI, and the Dean.
  2. Collaborate and align processes with clinical affiliates for relevant searches.

II. Procedures:

A. Academic and Administrative Faculty Searches

  1. The CDI will survey institutional constituents periodically to ensure that UNR Med's mission-based diversity categories are current and consistent with its mission.
  2. Every search committee should be comprised of a diverse group of faculty with the potential addition of students, staff, or residents. When possible, committees should include two or more members of each gender and two or more members representing school-identified diversity categories. Search committee members will be asked, with the choice to opt out, to indicate the number of categories they identify with when completing the confidentiality agreement.
  3. The composition of each search committee and candidate pool will be reported to The Office of Professional Recruitment, which will monitor search committee composition.

B. Training

  1. With the assistance of the Standing Search Committee and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Office of Professional Recruitment will offer training in identifying best practices for an inclusive search process. Practices drawn from the AAMC toolkit on Faculty Holistic Review will be highly recommended to all search committees, and materials from the toolkit will be made available to all search chairs and coordinators.
  2. All search committee members are responsible for promoting diversity and inclusivity throughout the search process, using the Diversity Checklist to inform and guide best practices.
  3. UNR Med requires each search committee member, as well as the Hiring Authority, to participate in Implicit Bias/Search Committee training.

C. Recruitment and Outreach

  1. Active recruitment and outreach to candidates from school-identified diversity categories will be pursued by committee members and a dedicated recruiter from the Office of Professional Recruitment. Search committees will recruit from resources that support mission-based diversity groups, such as the diversity related posting resources provided on the Office of Professional Recruitment website.
  2. The Office of Professional Recruitment will utilize external pipelines and partnerships with peer institutions and organizations in addition to internal pipelines such as residency, internship, and fellowship programs to actively recruit and track a diverse and excellent pool of candidates.
  3. If an affirmative action placement goal exists, the Office of Professional Recruitment will function as a consultant to the Search Committee regarding the goal.
  4. Advertisements will include a statement regarding UNR Med's commitment to diversity and inclusion.
  5. All positions must be posted in a minimum of two recruitment resources that target candidates from mission-based diversity groups. The Office of Professional Recruitment will monitor these postings and consult on resources.
  6. The chair of the Search Committee and the Office of Professional Recruitment will prepare a strategic hiring and advertising plan related to the recruitment of each faculty position starting at the first Search Committee meeting with follow-up at 90 and 180 days or until filled.

D. Analysis of the Candidate Pool:

  1. EEO data must be submitted to the Search Committee and to OPR for review prior to interviews being conducted.
  2. The hiring authority and the Office of Professional Recruitment will review and approve the scheduling of candidates for phone/video interviews. The Office of Professional Recruitment may require additional recruitment efforts to further diversify the candidate pool prior to closing the position.
  3. Remote and in-person interviews will include standardized questions, including questions to assess candidate experience and/or competencies related to diversity and inclusion. Questions should include scoring for consistency and increased validity. It is highly recommended that search committees utilize the Experiences, Attributes, Competencies, and Metrics (EACM) Model and the AAMC Faculty Holistic Review toolkit to guide development of standardized questions and rubrics to evaluate candidates' responses.
  4. All evaluations of candidates in the pool will be related to how candidates can contribute towards the mission, vision, and values of UNR Med, including candidate merit and qualifications.

E. Mission-Based Diversity Groups

The Council on Diversity Initiatives (CDI) has identified mission-based diversity groups for faculty and senior administrative staff, based on an assessment of groups that bring particular value to the educational experience of our learners and have the potential to address healthcare inequities in our community. These categories will be periodically reviewed (no less than every accreditation cycle) and updated by the Council on Diversity Initiatives based on adjustments to the mission of the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, changes in the demographics of our school and our community and shifts in the health care needs of the community we serve. Categories will be approved by the UNR Med Executive Committee. Please refer to the CDI website for a list of current mission-based diversity groups.