University of Wisconsin-River Falls
PA-7: Support for Future Faculty Diversity

During the last year, the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee has:

1. Continued to gathered and organized research on effective recruitment/retention of a more diverse faculty/staff.
2. Built a library of information available to Search and Screen Committees to use in recruitment. Designed to highlight proximity to more diverse communities.
a. Gathered sample materials from across the region.
b. Arranged through the Provost's office to have selected information, including specifically designed with diversity in mind, available through his office at all times. This information could also be taken to conferences when faculty/staff are actively recruiting.
c. Presented at all administrators/managers/chairs meeting on usefulness and availability of materials.
3. Arranged for automatic dissemination of newly designed recruitment materials designed with diversity in mind to faculty/staff granted university funding for conferences/meetings. Presented usefulness and availability information at all administrators/managers/chairs meeting.
4. Continued to audit UWRF website for diversity/inclusivity opportunities and made recommendations for improvement.
5. Beginning work on institutionalizing valuing of diversity/inclusivity via documents designed for use in retention and promotion.
UW River Falls is a member of the higher education recruitment consortium (HERC). All of UW River Falls faculty vacancy notices are posted on the HERC website. In recent months, HERC has:
· Interacted with over 1,000 future faculty of color at the Compact for Faculty Diversity’s Institute on Teaching and Mentoring
· Established a relationship with the Ford Foundation Fellowship Program
· Shared HERC information with attendees at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, the Society for the Advancement for Chicanos and Native Americans in Science Conference, and the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity
· Advertised in the Hispanic Association for Colleges and Universities conference booklet
· Co-sponsored two webinars with the Federal Office of Disability Employment Policy
· Created a national Diversity Taskforce that is focusing on HERC’s relationship with HBCUs, HSIs, and Tribal Colleges, planning increased efforts and expenditures on diversity advertising and partnerships, and organizing additional diversity-related member webinars

UW River Falls is specifically a member of the upper Midwest HERC, and UMW HERC was responsible for organizing two national webinars on academic publishing in the sciences. Presented by Elsevier, one of the world’s largest science and health information providers, the webinars attracted scientists who indicated the webinars were their first exposure to HERC. Over 137 graduate student and postdoc scientists participated in the webinars.

http://www.uwrf.edu/Diversity/

Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (UW River Falls faculty recruitment notices are posted here)
http://www.hercjobs.org/upper_midwest

Central HERC website at
http://www.hercjobs.org/