As universities across the country consider hiring freezes, how can they continue to recruit and retain diverse faculty amid the coronavirus?
Diverse posed this question to panelists in a Diverse Talk Live! webinar moderated by editor-at-large Dr. Jamal Watson on Wednesday. Experts highlighted the challenges to faculty diversity posed by the pandemic, as well as new opportunities and best practices to employ amid the crisis.
For many universities, whether hiring searches will happen at all remains an open question.
“I think we all don’t know if we’re going to be hiring in the fall,” said Dr. Menah Pratt-Clarke, vice president for strategic affairs and diversity at Virginia Tech. Plus, looming budget cuts are already leading to layoffs and furloughs for instructors and staff.
As universities prepare for financial strain, “the most scary component is that universities’ budgets are largely people,” she added, “because it’s people we hire to work with our students, to teach them, to educate them, to expose them to the world.”
Even so, she hopes universities will take this time as an opportunity to identify talent to form relationships with future hires. And in turn, candidates can think about their “brand” and use online platforms like academic Facebook groups to network.
For universities that are moving ahead with hiring, panelists offered some suggestions for reaching diverse candidates and ensuring a smooth hiring process, despite the current uncertainty.
