TABLE 1:

Checklist to improve equity during faculty hiring.

Identify and achieve consensus on goals for increasing equity and diversity in faculty hiring: What does the department hope to accomplish by hiring and retaining more faculty who are URM? Is this best accomplished with junior, senior, or both types of hires? Is this best accomplished by performing a cluster hire?

Identify advocates among faculty who will support the hiring and retention of faculty from underrepresented groups (equity advocates).

Develop a rubric to assess diversity statements early in the evaluation process. Determine how this rubric will be used during the review and tenure processes.

Draft advertisement(s) for faculty position(s) using the identified goals for improving equity.

Identify promising postdoctoral candidates or senior faculty at other institutions and personally contact them to encourage them to apply for the faculty position(s).

Develop a mentoring plan for early career faculty: Determine how many faculty will mentor each early-career faculty member, enumerate what this mentorship will entail (reading grants, shepherding through review and promotion processes, etc.), and how often they will meet.

Assess the review and promotion processes in your department and institution. Are there opportunities to make them more transparent and consistent?