Developing a Diverse Applicant Pool

One objective of the search process is to enhance workforce diversity. Diversity is a broad term that includes the common interpretation of gender, ethnic and cultural differences, but also includes philosophical and pedagogical approaches.

Search committee members should make every attempt to assure that the pool of applicants includes qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds. To that end, search committee members should develop a specific recruiting strategy to attract diverse candidates.

Increasingly, networking is viewed as one of the best methods of advertising. Search committee members must recognize that their participation in the process includes far more than screening resumes and interviewing applicants. Every member should develop his or her own personal advertising campaign, which should include personal contact with friends and colleagues outside of the University who may be of assistance in advertising our positions.

Other activities that may be considered include, but are not limited to

• Target newspapers in areas with large urban populations for release of the job advertisement
• Identify 15-25 colleagues (3-5 per committee member) from diverse backgrounds, to contact personally for the purpose of encouraging applications or soliciting nominations
• For Faculty searches, send letters to department chairpersons/center leaders and deans of the top 5 -10 universities preparing doctoral candidates in the discipline of the search
• Contact faculty at the institutions from which search committee members graduated to seek names of potential candidates
• For Faculty searches, write to women and minorities one year prior to their completion of a Ph.D program to inform them of upcoming job openings. Letters should clearly state needs and interests of the program and be followed by telephone calls.
• For Faculty searches, write to women and minorities who have just completed their Ph.D programs 
• For Faculty searches, consider women and minorities who have performed successfully as lecturers, instructors or research associates in the department and at other institutions
• Attend and encourage other individuals who will be attending conferences, particularly ones that attract large numbers of women and minority attendees, to combine your visits with recruitment efforts for present and future positions.
• Maintain contact with women and minority MUSC graduates who may go on to finish their post-graduate degrees at other universities, and desire teaching and academic careers. They may be future candidates for positions at MUSC and they may also have women and minorities among their colleagues who are potential candidates for open positions.
• Women and minority candidates must also feel that they would be truly welcome at the institution; that they will find a place in the university committee. Encourage other staff including other minority/women staff members to meet informally with candidates to give them a sense of the institutions. It also helps if the deans, other academic administrators, department heads, etc., make themselves available to meet with the minority and women candidates during the recruitment process.
• Contact nominees who have not responded, within 15 days from the date the nomination letter was sent, to encourage application.
• Do not make the following kinds of assumptions about candidates:
  • that a member of a particular racial group would not feel welcome in the community
  • that a woman who pursued her degree part-time is not a serious scholar
  • that military background would make one less acceptable in the classroom or as a colleague
  • that an individual with a long work history might be “out of touch” with current research or methodology
  • concluding that an individual who looks like an excellent candidate will be heavily recruited and therefore make no effort to recruit him/her
  • Also, do not make assumptions about a person’s willingness to move, their spouse/partner’s willingness to move, etc., or the candidate’s willingness to accept a lower salary then he/she is currently earning. Let the candidates decide these issues for themselves.
• Distribute job advertisement information to professional organizations, including diversity organizations such as the Student National Medical Association (SNMA)
• Place advertisements in journals frequently read by diverse populations
• Place your ads in some or all of the following media:
  • Higher Ed Jobs, www.higheredjobs.com/ (including the additional Affirmative Action posting)
  • The Affirmative Action Register,www.aar-eeo.com
  • Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, www.hispanicoutlook.com/
  • Women In Higher Education, www.wihe.com/
  • Minority & Women Colleges and Universities, www.president.eku.edu/EqualOp/minorwomenschools.shtml
  • Diversity Inc
  • Diverse Issues in Higher Education, http://www.diverseeducation.com/
    

Health Links

Minority Physicians Database
Minority Physicians Services
National Medical Association
Office of Minority Health Resource Center
Minority Health Network
Cross Cultural Health Care Program
Diversity Rx
Center for Cross-Cultural Health
Kaiser Family Foundation
KaiserNet
The Initiative to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health
Indian Health Service
Association of American Indian Physicians
National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Hispanic Health Link
National Hispanic Medical Association
National Alliance for Hispanic Health
Society for Advancement of Chicanos & Native Americans in Science
Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations
American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin
Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America
Chinese American Medical Society
Islamic Medical Association of North America
National Organization on Disability
Gay and Lesbian Medical Association
Women, Minorities, & Persons w/Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 1998 
Bureau of Primary Health Care: HRSA
World Health Organization
Healthy People 2010
American Medical Colleges Expanded Minority Admissions Exercise

Research Links

First Gov: Your first click to the US Government
United States Census Data
National Center for Health Statistics
Atlas of Cancer Mortality in US: 1950-1994
National Cancer Institute
National Institutes of Health
NSF Documents Online
South Carolina Department of Health and Environment
University of Michigan Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture & Health
Institute for Racial and Ethnic Health Studies, University of Maryland
Michigan State University Center of Excellence in Minority Medical Education
University of North Carolina Minority Health Project
University of North Carolina HPPI
Institute for Minority Health Research, Rollins School of Public Health of  Emory University
Collaborative HIV Prevention ResearchHealth Care Information Resource Center for Underserved Populations
(Strategic Plan:http://www.ncmhd.nih.gov/our_programs/strategic/index.asp)

Diversity and Culture Links

Diversity Web
International Decade for the Culture of Peace (2001 - 2010)
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Haskell Indian Nations University
History of Race in Science
From Swastika to Jim Crow
Women in Science: Field Museum
Access Excellence: Health and Bioscience
Anthropology, Genetic Diversity, and Ethics
Institute for Global Communications
One America in the 21st Century: The President's Initiative on Race
Southern Poverty Law Center
CrossPoint AntiRacism: Worldwide Diversity Web Sites
Interracial Voice
2007 Ernest E. Just Symposium