Hiring underrepresented faculty and staff does not end with a signed letter of offer. The effort that went into a search is only realized if the new faculty and staff member is retained and has a successful career. An environment that retains underrepresented faculty and staff builds the institution’s reputation, which can position the University to attract more top talent.
Many of the strategies in the search process require a deliberate consideration of equity across applicants. Once a candidate is hired, the landscape changes and strategies can be more customized to the needs of the faculty and staff. The equity objective is now about creating comparable opportunities across similar employee job categories in the department or unit.
Comparable opportunities include creating a network of mentoring and support that may extend beyond the unit and give new faculty members every opportunity to become familiar with new faculty orientation programs. Also, encourage current faculty and staff members to connect with new-faculty with the Center for Transformative Teaching and any departmental resources to help them successfully navigate the UNL Teaching and Learning environment. This is especially important for faculty who are rarely (or never) on campus.