University of Pennsylvania
PAE-9: Support Programs for Future Faculty

Penn's Action Plan for Faculty Diversity and Excellence has helped Penn to move towards two goals: that of building a more diverse faculty, whose composition reflects the pool of exceptional, qualified applicants nationally in all fields; and creating a more inclusive campus community, where all feel welcomed, supported, and have equal access to networks for mentoring and research. The Plan's three-pronged approach involves increasing diversity recruitment, creating programs to foster faculty development, and expanding the pipeline of existing diversity programs.

Recruitment

The principal responsibility for faculty recruitment rests with each of Penn’s 12 Schools. The Office of the Provost works in partnership with the departments and Deans to make the University’s standing faculty even more excellent and diverse.

Numerous programs and initiatives support diversity throughout the University. Both the Perelman School of Medicine and the Wharton School offer a variety of resources to search committees to help them broaden applicant pools. The Target of Opportunity Committee of the School of Arts and Sciences identifies excellent scholars from underrepresented populations and brings them to the attention of appropriate departments. The Office of the Provost provides, through the Faculty Opportunity Fund, a partial two-year subsidy to individuals who enhance the academic strength and diversity of the faculty. In the last five years, this program has supported 88 such candidates. The Dual Career Program has offered substantial help to departments that need to find a position for the spouse or partner of a desired recruit. When the first and second proposed hires are located in different Schools, Deans can request cost sharing from the Office of the Provost to supplement support from the two sponsoring Schools. Since the majority of Penn faculty have an employed partner, many of whom are academics, this program offers an important resource for hiring and retaining faculty. Additionally, the Vice Provost for Faculty educates search committees about best practices.

Faculty Development

Recruitment of a broadly inclusive faculty must be combined with effective measures to retain them and to provide a campus environment in which all can thrive throughout their careers. Retention depends on building and maintaining an inclusive campus community that allows faculty, students, and staff to feel valued and supported.

In recent years, Penn has implemented a variety of programs designed to help faculty reach their full potential. Penn’s family-friendly policies include reduction in teaching duties after the birth or adoption of a child, extension of the tenure probationary period for primary caregivers, adoption assistance, and back-up childcare. These policies help faculty combine their professional and personal obligations, and we will maintain and expand them.

In 2006, Penn also established guidelines to help ensure that all junior faculty receive effective mentoring. These programs, which have been established in all 12 Schools, link junior faculty to senior colleagues who can provide guidance. In addition, the Penn Fellows Program provides leadership training to a small group of outstanding mid-career faculty, while building a cross-campus, interdisciplinary network to help support and advance their development. Other community-building programs, such as the Forum for Women Faculty and the Perelman School of Medicine’s FOCUS Initiative, provide networking, mentoring, and leadership training for female faculty. For faculty of color, this function has been fulfilled largely by cultural studies programs and by initiatives such as the Minority Faculty Development Program in the Perelman School of Medicine.

Expanding the Pipeline

Multiple programs overseen by the Vice Provost for University Life encourage students from underrepresented populations to consider graduate education and careers in the professoriate. Initiatives such as Advancing Women in Engineering, the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program, and the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program provide mentoring, research support, and networking opportunities for talented young people at Penn. In 2008, Penn recruited an Associate Vice Provost for Access and Equity to further strengthen existing programs and to recommend new strategies and partnerships.

At the graduate level, the Fontaine Fellowship Program provides financial support and mentoring for approximately 200 students each year from groups underrepresented in the academy. Recently, additional funding support has enabled Penn to increase the number of Fontaine Fellows, who have gone on to faculty positions at leading universities across the country, including Penn. The Office of the Provost will work with the Deans to enhance Penn’s support of this successful initiative and to recruit more of these excellent emerging scholars to Penn’s faculty.

A new program of Postdoctoral Fellowships seeks to attract promising scholars and educators whose life experience, research projects, and employment background will contribute significantly to our academic excellence. The Fellowships, available for three years of postdoctoral training in all areas of study at the University, are designed to attract outstanding graduate students to Penn who have completed or will complete the requirements for the Ph.D. before their fellowship begins. Each Fellow receives a stipend, University benefits, and funds for conference attendance, with financing shared between the University and the Schools. We aim to double the number of fellowships over the next five years and will urge departments and Schools to work to retain the very best of these fellows to increase the diversity of Penn’s faculty.

Biomedical Graduate Studies, founded in 1985, served this year as the academic home for 700 Ph.D. candidates in the basic biomedical fields—52% of whom are female and 12% of whom are underrepresented minorities. Housed in the Perelman School of Medicine, BGS is a collaboration of more than 600 faculty members across seven Schools and several associated institutes that provides centralized support for admissions, student fellowships, curricular oversight, recordkeeping, and other operations. BGS students receive an annual stipend, tuition, fees, and health insurance.

Penn Almanac Article about the Diversity Plan
http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v58/n02/diversityplan.html