As part of an effort to hire a more diverse group of faculty within the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) department, the University of California, Irvine (UCI) created the Building Our Own Pipeline to the Professoriate program.
In 2016-17, 25 percent of STEM faculty members at UCI were women and 6 percent were underrepresented minorities. The new pilot program aims to bring in more women and historically underrepresented minorities.
Building Our Own Pipeline is described as a “locally funded provost-hiring incentive to recruit eight former postdoctoral scholars associated with the University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP) or the system-wide partner Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship programs (CPF).”
The three elements of the program include the utilization of the hiring incentive, creating more transparency and a greater sense of career support within the recruitment process and creating a sense of community, according to vice provost Dr. Douglas Haynes.
Last fall, the University of California Office of the President Advancing Faculty Diversity program gave UCI $450,000 to pilot the pipeline project, which is part of a broader plan to hire 250 additional faculty members by 2021-22 for teaching, research and public service goals, according to UCI officials.
As part of the hiring process, deans, chair members and faculty were informed about matching hiring-incentive program opportunities. Then, departmental faculty reviewed the resumes of the former scholars and identified equity advisers to serve as resources for the candidates. Last, the candidates were provided with career resources, according to Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Dr. Enrique J. Lavernia.
During the nine-month process, seven former postdoctoral fellows were formally hired. An offer has been extended to one more person in order to reach the target goal of eight faculty hires.
