Based on its Handbook of Best Practices for Faculty Searches, the Office for Faculty Advancement has created a component-based curriculum to help units customize workshops appropriate to their specific needs. The purpose of the workshops is to review practices and offer access to resources intended to improve diversity outreach and minimize the impact of bias in the assessment process. These workshops support the University’s commitment to diversity and align with Goal 4 of the 2017-2021 UW Diversity Blueprint.
Design a Workshop or series of Workshops to meet your needs
First, consider who will attend the workshop or series of workshops. Workshops can be targeted to unit leadership (deans, directors, chairs, executive committees, diversity committees), broad groups of faculty (any colleagues who might serve on search committees or vote in hiring decisions), or specific groups of faculty (those currently or soon to be serving on search committees), administrative staff who will assist with the faculty hiring process, or some combination. Moreover, in addition to faculty and staff, it may be useful to invite senior graduate students who may be asked to serve on committees.
Second, consider which stage(s) of the search process you want to address, and thus which specific topics should be included in the workshop(s). A single workshop that covers all menu topics listed below would need to be scheduled for an estimated 5 – 6 hours in length. Many units prefer to schedule multiple focused workshops of about 2 hours each. For example, an effective series might include 1) a workshop for unit leadership focused on long-range planning and preparation for hiring, followed by 2) a workshop for search committees focused on outreach and planning for assessment, including hands-on exercises in writing strong job ads and assessment rubrics, followed by 3) a workshop for search committees focused on actual assessment and recruitment, including a hands-on exercise in writing strong interview questions.
Request a Workshop or series of Workshops to meet your schedule
Request a faculty search committee workshop OR a unit leadership workshop on faculty searches by contacting Leyla Salmassi at facadv@uw.edu.
Workshop logistics
We ask that the unit requesting the workshop reserve an appropriately-sized room with an overhead projector and computing capabilities, and arrange any desired refreshments.