Proactive Initiatives for Pool Excellence in Searches (PIPES)

Eligibility

This initiative is restricted to competitive searches for tenured and tenure-track faculty. In order for a PIPES proposal to be eligible for consideration:

• the search committee must be comprised of a set of diverse members with different perspectives, backgrounds, and expertise who have a commitment to diversity and excellence; and
• all search committee members and its chair must have completed as a team the Faculty Search Committee workshop that is offered by the Vice Provost for Diversity Office.

Searches will be expected to run through Interfolio or another university-approved search software system that systematically gathers Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) information. One advantage to using Interfolio is that all UT positions posted through that venue are also automatically advertised on these other major academic job posting board venues: Chronicle of Higher Education, HigherEdJobs, and DiverseJobs.

Applications

Efforts that will be prioritized for funding include those submitted as part of a comprehensive plan to increase the diversity of high-quality applicants through approaches that the search committee considers appropriate and effective for their particular discipline.

To apply, please submit a proposal of no more than 1 page in length, with an attached budget to outline the associated expenses. Applications may be uploaded here.

Applications are open and will be accepted on a rolling basis. 

As part of this initiative, staff in our office will work with search committee chairs to conduct intensive pool research and compile lists of top scholars in the field.

In addition, as part of their proposal, committees may apply for up to $5,000 in additional funds to conduct any activities that will help to proactively broaden their applicant pool.

Examples might include:

• Proactive targeted and personalized candidate recruitment
  • Funding to support staff/GRA time to identify and personally contact top scholars in the open position’s discipline to encourage them to apply.
  • Support for committee members to attend conferences or other professional organization meetings in order to recruit top scholars in the relevant discipline.
  • Resources to allow faculty to more easily interact with groups of diverse scholars during existing travel (for conferences, seminars, other university visits, etc.).
• Inclusive targeted advertisement
  • Budget for Social Media advertising on various platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) to target populations with diverse demographics, proactively engage excellent candidates, and encourage them to apply.
  • Funds to design inclusive recruitment material to attract excellent candidates.
  • Funding to support staff/GRA time to assemble lists of excellent rising graduate students and post-docs in the open position’s discipline who would be eligible for recruitment into a faculty position within the next 2 or 3 years and with whom the relevant departments could develop relationships and cultivate future interest.
  • Support for open houses, information session, and/or other recruitment activities.
  • Resources to work with LAITS to produce short inclusive recruitment videos for the open position.
  • Assistance with advertising the open position in venues traditionally un- or under-utilized that have the potential to reach a more diverse applicant pool.
  • Advertising support service to simplify the process, including by recommending relevant advertising venues, providing quotes, and creating and placing ad postings. These services are free for all UT Austin recruitment efforts. One such example is JobElephant, which specializes in online position postings and promotions. (Contact: Andy Boom, andy@jobelephant.com)