Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore has announced a new five-year, $25 million initiative to increase the diversity of its faculty. In 2013, the university reported that Blacks made up 4 percent of its total full-time faculty and 1.7 percent of its full professors.
In a message to the campus community signed by provost Robert C. Lieberman and the deans of nine academic units at the university, it was stated that the new initiative “will support our firm commitment to locate, attract, and retain the best and most talented faculty, representing a broad diversity of backgrounds, thought, and experiences. Each academic division of the university will develop and execute a detailed plan, tailored to its specific academic discipline, to enhance faculty diversity and cultivate an environment that is inclusive of diverse scholars.”
The Faculty Diversity Initiative includes:
- A mandate that each academic division establish clear protocols for faculty searches that will increase diversity within its applicant pools.
- University funding up to $100,000 per appointee to support the targeted recruitment of exceptional and diverse scholars.
- A new fund that will support visiting faculty members and scholars for short visits or extended stays.
- A diversity postdoctoral fellowship program that will prepare postdocs for tenure-track faculty positions at Johns Hopkins or peer institutions, particularly in fields where there are fewer women and/or underrepresented minorities.
- A $50,000 award for excellence in diversity and inclusion research that will be given by the provost’s office to a university faculty member who advances knowledge on any issue related to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
