A collective of six schools of public affairs has announced the launch of the new Public Affairs Diversity Alliance that seeks to encourage and sustain a pipeline of diverse candidates for faculty positions in criminal justice, policy, and public administration. The six participating schools are the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington, the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in New York, the Price School at the University of Southern California, the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University in North Carolina, and the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington D.C. The School of Public Affairs at American University initiated and founded the Alliance. The university will chair the Public Affairs Diversity Alliance for a two-year term.
Each participating institution will commit to supporting two Alliance postdoctoral fellows or visiting scholars annually, and will appoint both an internal and external mentor to maximize networking and professional development. The Alliance will also take an active role in helping doctoral students achieve success as faculty members through programming.
“The diversity of SPA’s student body – both graduate and undergraduate – has improved over the last decade and continues to do so,” said Vicky Wilkins, dean of the American University School of Public Affairs. “We want to ensure that we are retaining a diverse set of students who choose to stay in academia as they complete their graduate work, and that those candidates feel a sense of inclusion among their peers. The Alliance can play a role in strengthening a group of qualified and talented diverse candidates – from creating a welcoming postdoctoral experience to providing ongoing professional development and networking platforms. All member institutions and their students will benefit from increased access to a robust, inclusive candidate pool.”
