Office of the Provost - Conducting an Equitable and Inclusive Faculty Search Process

Dear colleagues:

For the fifth year, faculty will receive inclusive search committee consultation, training, and support on conducting an equitable and inclusive faculty search process. The training and consultation services are offered by the ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Boulder Department of Human Resources.

The goals of the training are to:

  1. provide faculty search committee members with research-based tools and strategies to complete inclusive and lawful searches
  2. ensure that faculty search committee members and their colleagues are aware of the role bias plays in the evaluation and selection of candidates and can mitigate bias.

Two formats are used to deliver the training:

1. Live consultation (provided in person or via zoom). A team from the campus HR Talent Acquisition Team will meet with the search committee members. The consultation includes:

  • Introduction to campus experts available to advise on inclusive search strategies and legal considerations throughout your search process
  • Introduction to your Hiring Coordinator, who will assist with the tactical aspects of your search
  • Review of recruitment strategies, particularly those for attracting diverse applicants
  • Discussion of strategies for reducing bias in each phase of the search process
  • Affirmative action resources and tools, and review of affirmative action data regarding the current representation of women, people of color, veterans, and individuals with disabilities among faculty on campus and within your department
  • Information on applicant demographic data as compared to availability in the market

An optional orientation to Avature (the campus applicant tracking system) as needed/requested. Committee members will use Avature to provide feedback on applicants and advance them through the process. This training is useful for search committee members who are new users of Avature or who need a refresher. The training includes new features to the system to improve the experience for applicants and search committee members, including a simplified process for collecting references.

The consultation allows for questions and collaborative interaction between search committee members and campus experts on inclusive search practices. Search committee members who have already received this training may benefit from participating again to dive deeper into specific aspects of inclusive searches and reflect on prior search experiences. The goal of the consultation session is to help you increase the quality and diversity of your faculty by applying inclusive, efficient, and legally compliant methodologies.

2. Online training. The online training is a self-paced introduction or refresher on conducting inclusive search processes. The online training is appropriate as a supplement to attending the live consultation for search committee members who have attended the live training in the past three years, or for non-search committee members voting on tenure or tenure-track faculty hires.

Who should complete the training?

  • Individuals serving on tenure or tenure-track search committees must complete the live consultation training (provided in person or via zoom) if they are new to the ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Boulder faculty search process or if they have not completed the training within the last three years.
  • Individuals voting on tenure and tenure-track faculty hires must complete the live consultation or online trainingif they are new to the ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Boulder faculty search process or if the training has not been completed within the last three years.
  • Anyone participating in a non-tenure-track search is required to take the online training. The live consultation training is also available for these search committees upon request.

Time requirements

  • The live consultation training is generally 60 minutes. If Avature training is requested 90 minutes is required.
  • The online training is approximately 45 minutes.

To schedule training

To schedule the consultation training for a search committee or an academic unit, contact Teresa Hernandez, DEI Recruitment Manager, Department of Human Resources, Teresa.Hernandez@colorado.edu.

Additional resources

Additional resources can be found on the Human Resources Diversity Search & Hiring page. There you will find information on running an effective search including the Faculty Diversity Search Process Manual which contains inclusive and equitable search strategies, guidebooks, and templates. Information about and a link to the online course can also be found here.

The ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Boulder Department of Human Resources Inclusive Hiring Practices for Faculty and Staff Program received the ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉäPA-HR’s 2022 Inclusion Cultivates Excellence Award. We are confident that you will find participation in the training to be very useful.

Thank you for taking the time to serve in support of building upon our world-class faculty and please do not hesitate to contact us with questions.

Best,

Russ and Merna

Russell L. Moore, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Merna Jacobsen, Ph.D. SPHR
Interim Chief Human Resources Officer