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Cornell University

Office of Faculty Development and Diversity

Recruitment

The Office of Faculty Development and Diversity offers Department Chairs, Search Committee Chairs, and any faculty member participating in faculty searches specific tools and ideas for planning, conducting, and evaluating searches for faculty candidates.

Compositional data on Cornell populations, including student and faculty, can be found on the Institutional Research & Planning at Cornell’s diversity dashboard.

The following resources are based on research and on institutional data; they highlight best practices in academic recruitment.  Each fall, OFDD holds training sessions on how to conduct an effective search. If your department would like a tailored workshop, please contact ofdd@cornell.edu.

  • Faculty Search Guidelines

    In 2013, the academic deans and the Provost’s Office agreed that all colleges and schools put in place search accountability guidelines.

    Consistent with the need for individual academic units to adopt practices that work effectively within their own context and culture, the Provost’s Office requires all colleges and schools to put in place formal search accountability measures that actively engage the dean’s office (or an equivalent college-level oversight function, such as a faculty committee) at key junctures in the faculty search process. These measures include the authority to pause searches or modify search efforts if necessary.

    The critical interface points include the following:

    1. Initiation of the search process – discussion of search goals and recruitment plans.
    2. Before inviting candidates to interview, review the quality and diversity of the pool.
    3. Before and offer is made,  hold a conversation about the success of the search effort.

    The goal of the policy is to ensure that search committees make a concerted effort to diversify pools and shortlists, and bring the best and most diverse faculty to Cornell. Deans are empowered to halt faculty searches that are not yielding sufficiently diverse candidate pools consistent with the Belonging at Cornell framework. Deans are tasked with achieving measurable progress in diversifying their faculties and supporting the success of recruited faculty.

  • Faculty Fellows Program

    The goal of the Cornell Provost New Faculty Fellows Program is to support high-potential academics who can diversify the faculty ranks at Cornell who are receiving an offer at the rank of assistant professor. Such candidates include, but are not limited to:

    • Those who are historically or currently underrepresented within the department or school, and/or
    • Those whose research, scholarship, or classroom skills and focus will uniquely support diversity and inclusion within the unit

    The program is aimed at enabling units to offer extra research time (1-2 years) to the candidate before starting or right at the start of their tenure-track position. Faculty Fellows are encouraged to take the Fellowship at Cornell, but it can be taken at another university.

    Application materials are available from your senior associate dean who can submit a recommendation on behalf of your unit.

  • Faculty Pipeline Report

    The Faculty Pipeline Report shows the top 50 higher education institutions graduating the most number of Ph.Ds in the United States. In addition to displaying awards by discipline and department, the report delineates Ph.Ds awarded to women and minorities. The report was prepared by Institutional Research and Planning using data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Read Best Practices in Faculty Recruitment

Read Statement Supporting Diverse Community