Best Practices for Faculty and Staff Recruitment (2024)

Here we present a wide array of information and training materials shared by universities and professional societies to support best practices in faculty and staff recruitment and professional development for the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

The Office of Inclusion and Cultural Enhancement offers assistance and resources for departments to develop outreach plans leading to the recruitment of faculty and staff underrepresented in medicine. Below we describe best practices and tactics to enrich faculty and staff applicant pools with excellent candidates from diverse backgrounds.

Job Opportunities at the Jacobs School

Advertisem*nts

The Office of Inclusion recommends in addition to all marketing efforts, to expand advertisingto specialized journals, websites, national societies, program officers at national funding agencies and foundations, and department Chairs’ national groupsin your area of interest.

Note:UB, serving as lead HERC Institution in Upstate NY automatically advertises positions with the Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC), and various other resources to assist with diverse recruiting efforts. This includes the Chronicle of Higher Education, Insight into Diversity, Higher Ed Jobs, and Clinical Science and Medicine website.

Expanded Outreach

The Office of Inclusion disseminates the Job Opportunities at the Jacobs School page, directly linked to UB Job postings using our comprehensive list serve which targets scientific societies, universities, training grant directors, national funding agencies and foundations training and/or supporting eligible individuals for available positions.

Suggested Best Hiring Practices for Faculty Recruiting

Phase 1: Attract Excellent Faculty
Start early, anticipate opening of future positions Connect and network with talented URiM and WiSTEM potential faculty candidates Facilitate campus visits (virtual) of outstanding /potential candidates /Visiting Future Faculty Program (VITAL) Networking at national conferences (eg., ITM, SACNAS, ABRCMS) and use curated databases. Directly Nominate outstanding candidates to apply for your position among UB residents and fellows, those identified by networking at national meetings and/or by conducting unbiased searches of databases and the NIH Reporter listing diverse recipients of prestigious grant awards Identify candidates thriving at less well-ranked institutions

Phase 1: Attract Excellent Faculty

Start early, anticipate opening of future positions
Connect and network with talented URiM and WiSTEM potential faculty candidates
Facilitate campus visits (virtual) of outstanding /potential candidates /Visiting Future Faculty Program (VITAL)
Networking at national conferences (eg., ITM, SACNAS, ABRCMS) and use curated databases.
Directly Nominate outstanding candidates to apply for your position among UB residents and fellows, those identified by networking at national meetings and/or by conducting unbiased searches of databases and the NIH Reporter listing diverse recipients of prestigious grant awards
Identify candidates thriving at less well-ranked institutions

NIH Implicit Bias Training

Diversity Tool Kit to Hire Excellent Faculty

Higher Education Recruitment Consortium

Phase 2 Search Committee: Strategies to Identify and Select Excellent Faculty
Standardized format of interview questions restricted to permissible questions both during the formal interview as well as for informal interactions Prepare rubrics for evaluations to remove ambiguity and minimize effects of personal bias Provide a friendly, welcoming environment for all candidates Provide and make candidate aware of our inclusive onboarding process Appoint a diverse and interdisciplinary Search Committee Establish prerequisites for position before UB Jobs posting Provide Search Committees diversity/cultural competency training to reduce impact of implicit bias Prepare a broad announcement in UB job posting to attract a large pool of applicants Provide Search Committees with diversity/cultural competency training to reduce impact of implicit bias Use School resources to enrich the pool (eg, Search Committee Diversity Dialogues; web site resources as well as UB Human Resources best practices to hire diverse faculty) Compare demographics, gender and applicants number in UB Jobs platform with published national labor pools. Searches should continue until the short lists includes appropriate numbers of URiM and Women. Use UB Human Resources review points during the selection and job offer period Review candidate evaluation formscompleted by search committee members and others meeting with the candidates.

Phase 2 Search Committee: Strategies to Identify and Select Excellent Faculty

Standardized format of interview questions restricted to permissible questions both during the formal interview as well as for informal interactions
Prepare rubrics for evaluations to remove ambiguity and minimize effects of personal bias
Provide a friendly, welcoming environment for all candidates
Provide and make candidate aware of our inclusive onboarding process
Appoint a diverse and interdisciplinary Search Committee
Establish prerequisites for position before UB Jobs posting
Provide Search Committees diversity/cultural competency training to reduce impact of implicit bias
Prepare a broad announcement in UB job posting to attract a large pool of applicants
Provide Search Committees with diversity/cultural competency training to reduce impact of implicit bias
Use School resources to enrich the pool (eg, Search Committee Diversity Dialogues; web site resources as well as UB Human Resources best practices to hire diverse faculty)
Compare demographics, gender and applicants number in UB Jobs platform with published national labor pools.
Searches should continue until the short lists includes appropriate numbers of URiM and Women.
Use UB Human Resources review points during the selection and job offer period
Review candidate evaluation formscompleted by search committee members and others meeting with the candidates.

Best Practices for Conducting Diverse Searches to Hire Faculty and Staff

UB Tool Kit: Resources for Faculty Search Committees

Phase 3: Engage and Persuade Candidates to Join our Excellent Faculty
Provide a broad overview of resources available for state of art research, excellence in education, and professional and career advancement through meetings with key leaders in these areas School and University wide Provide opportunity to meet with the Office of Inclusion and Cultural Enhancement leadership for an overview on diversity and mentoring programs, resources and funding to support summer undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, junior and clinical scientists faculty Provide opportunity to meet with the Academic Affairs Office leadership for an update on resources for career advancement and mentoring programs Mentoring academic and professional development and networking Highlight programs and initiatives to maximize candidates opportunities to achieve teaching, education, and research excellence (Research Centers, Core Facilities)

Phase 4: Develop an Excellent Cadre of Successful Faculty
Develop an inclusive environment for faculty hires to thrive at the Jacobs School by promoting opportunities for career and professional development Offer unique opportunities for career enhancement through appointments to the PRODiG faculty program, the CTSI K Scholars Programand Empire Innovation Program (SUNY EIP) Disseminate opportunities for Career and Professional Development Core Competencies in Clinical and Translational Research Workshop Series Professional Development Workshop Series

Networking

Community of Scholars

Career Enhancement and Funding

SUNY ProdiG Faculty Salary Grants

Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) K Scholars Program

Empire Innovation Program (SUNY EIP)

Core Competencies in Clinical and Translational Research

BERD Research Bootcamp in Statistics

Biomedical Informatics

Translational Teamwork

BERD Clinical Trials

Community-University Collaborations in Research

Good Clinical Practice

Health Inequities

Scientific Communication

Responsible Conduct of Research

Research Implementation

Effective Teaching

Leadership

Mentoring, Career and Professional Development Workshops

Academic Development

Mentor-Protégé Mentoring

Advance K to R Grant Writing Workshops

Professional Development

Public Speaking

Promotion and Tenure

Team Science

Others

Suggested Best Practices for Excellence in Staff Recruitment

Search Committee:Strategies to Identify and Hire Excellent Staff
Review job description to develop clear criteria and standards and to ensure education and skills requirements are appropriate and not overly restrictive Appoint a diverse search committee to review resumes and participate in candidate interviews Advertise in the Buffalo News to supplement standard community listings through UB Jobs Prepare rubrics for evaluations to remove ambiguity and minimize effects of personal bias Contact local colleges with business or technical education programs providing training in the required skills Provide a friendly, welcoming environment for all candidates Create a clear evaluation system in advance and avoid global scoring Develop a list of standard interview questions to ensure that consistent information is obtained from each candidate Obtain and evaluate candidate evaluation forms completed by each member of the search committee and other individuals who meet with the candidate Conduct anonymous voting, if the size of the pool is large enough

Search Committee:Strategies to Identify and Hire Excellent Staff

Review job description to develop clear criteria and standards and to ensure education and skills requirements are appropriate and not overly restrictive
Appoint a diverse search committee to review resumes and participate in candidate interviews
Advertise in the Buffalo News to supplement standard community listings through UB Jobs
Prepare rubrics for evaluations to remove ambiguity and minimize effects of personal bias
Contact local colleges with business or technical education programs providing training in the required skills
Provide a friendly, welcoming environment for all candidates
Create a clear evaluation system in advance and avoid global scoring
Develop a list of standard interview questions to ensure that consistent information is obtained from each candidate
Obtain and evaluate candidate evaluation forms completed by each member of the search committee and other individuals who meet with the candidate
Conduct anonymous voting, if the size of the pool is large enough

Need More Information?

Our office is always available to provide resources and advice on your faculty searches, and other important topics!