Northwestern University
PA-7: Support for Future Faculty Diversity

Since 1999, Northwestern has stressed affirmative action guidelines in searching for faculty candidates. The affirmative action program aims to serve women and minority groups in faculty searches by widely advertising faculty openings to women and minority groups and encouraging application from qualified underrepresented candidates who do not themselves formally apply. (http://www.northwestern.edu/hr/equlopp-access/affirmative-action/search_guidelines.pdf)

>>Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program
The Graduate School (TGS) partners with the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program at various colleges and universities to recruit a diverse graduate student body. The McNair Scholars Program is a federal TRIO program funded at 151 institutions across the United States and Puerto Rico by the U.S. Department of Education. It is designed to prepare undergraduate students for doctoral studies through involvement in research and other scholarly activities. McNair participants are either first-generation college students with financial need, or members of a group that is traditionally underrepresented in graduate education and have demonstrated strong academic potential. The goal of the McNair Scholars Program is to increase graduate degree awards for students from underrepresented segments of society.
https://mcnairscholars.com/about/
http://www.tgs.northwestern.edu/diversity/outreach/undergraduate-initiatives.html

>>The University Diversity Council
The University Diversity Council is made up of administrators, staff members, faculty and students, and addresses diversity and inclusion issues across the university. One of its working groups is solely focused on Faculty Recruitment and Retention. This working group “identifies, develops, and makes available the resources to support faculty search committees in the recruitment of underrepresented faculty, and identifies and implements strategies to create a more inclusive campus environment for faculty.” (http://www.northwestern.edu/diversity/diversity-at-northwestern/university-diversity-council/working-groups.html)

>>Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program
The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program (MMUF) aims to increase diversity in the faculty of higher education institutions by identifying students of great promise and helping them become scholars of the highest distinction.
http://www.northwestern.edu/president/special-projects/mellon-mays-undergraduate-fellowship/
http://www.northwestern.edu/president/special-projects/mellon-mays-undergraduate-fellowship/mmuf-at-nu.html

>>Northwestern's Participation in the Big 10 Professional Advancement Initiative
For over 30 years, the Big Ten Academic Alliance Graduate Deans have fostered pipeline programs designed to increase the number of underrepresented minority (URM) graduate student enrollments and faculty candidates. With a focus on multi-institutional and systemic change, Big Ten colleagues across the consortium are working together to create tools for transforming the hiring culture, individuals, and the academy by creating mentoring networks and programs that train search committees to recognize unconscious bias.

A key part of creating this systemic change is the Professorial Advancement initiative, funded by a $1.2 million National Science Foundation grant under the Alliance for Graduate Education and Professoriate Transformation (AGEP) program. The Professorial Advancement initiative employs a multi-layered strategy, with the goal of doubling the hiring rate of URM faculty in STEM disciplines among Big Ten campuses.

https://www.btaa.org/projects/pai/pai-home

>>Northwestern's The Graduate School has coordinated with Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) for over 30 years
The Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) is an eight-week competitive research experience at Northwestern University for sophomores and juniors from colleges and universities across the United States. All fields of research at Northwestern are open to SROP participants including the social sciences and humanities, physical sciences, chemical and biological sciences, technology, math and engineering fields.
http://www.tgs.northwestern.edu/diversity/undergraduate-summer-research/SROP-research-guidlines.html

>>Northwestern's University Diversity Council (UDC)
Purpose:
To help facilitate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across schools and units, and within the local community
Established in 2012, the UDC evolved from the former Faculty Diversity Committee (FDC). View past reports of the UDC and FDC.

Objectives:
To share ongoing work to advance diversity, equity and inclusion priorities
To receive feedback and discuss ways to better engage and support students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members
To explore partnerships among Council members and with the Office
http://www.northwestern.edu/diversity/partners/university-diversity-council/index.html

>>Northwestern University Faculty Search Guidelines
Northwestern University is committed to identifying and implementing ways to create and support a diverse and inclusive campus community. The institution strives to create an environment that fosters personal and intellectual growth by attracting to the University exemplary teachers and scholars with a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. Toward this end, it is essential and expected that a thorough search in accordance with the following Faculty Search Guidelines (“Guidelines”) will be conducted when filling any full-time faculty position, as defined below. Such a search includes not only widespread publicizing of the position but also outreach to individuals who have not formally applied for the position. The Guidelines are prepared to assist deans, department chairs, and search committee chairs in carrying out searches for qualified candidates.
http://www.northwestern.edu/provost/faculty-resources/faculty-search-committees/FacSearchGuide.pdf

>>Provost's Advisory Council on Women Faculty
Launched in fall 2016, the Provost’s Advisory Council on Women Faculty works to support our women and women-identified faculty through strengthening our community, highlighting their outstanding scholarship, creative work, and teaching, and fostering their even greater career success. The work of this Council supports our collective larger focus on improving diversity and inclusion at Northwestern. The Advisory Council has 3 working groups, one of which focuses on women faculty pipeline issues.
http://www.northwestern.edu/provost/committees/equity-and-inclusion/women-adv-council.html

http://www.tgs.northwestern.edu/documents/diversity/TGSDiversityReport2016.pdf

http://www.northwestern.edu/diversity/docs/2014-15%20Diversity%20Report_FINAL.pdf