Goal: To provide incentives to departments and programs which hire and retain faculty of racial and ethnic backgrounds under represented in medicine.
Races and ethnicities under represented in medicine will be defined in accordance with the AAMC criteria as modified by the WUSM Faculty Diversity Committee (FDC) – see full Faculty Diversity Subcommittee Plan, dated October 31, 2005.
When departments or programs are recruiting faculty who may be appropriate candidates for this program, they will contact the Office of Faculty Affairs (OFA) early in the recruitment process. The OFA will provide an application packet to be completed and returned. Beginning in 2010 for FY2011, all applications will be evaluated contemporaneously. The deadline for submission of applications will be 5:00 PM March 15. The Dean and the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, with input from the Faculty Diversity Committee (FDC), will then determine the eligibility for these faculty members under recruitment to become Diversity Scholars and thus eligible for this funding mechanism. It is expected that members of the FDC will be actively participating in the recruitment process for each of these candidates. Funding decisions will be finalized by April 15 and notice to departments that submit applications will occur by April 20.
The expectation is for departments or programs to provide full disclosure to the candidate while in the recruitment process. Department and program heads are encouraged to discuss the program with the candidate in terms of value added for the recruitment package, additional mentoring, and oversight of career progress by the committee. Candidates should agree to participate before departments/programs apply for the funding.
Note: No disbursement of these funds will occur if WUSM Central Administration and the FDC have not approved eligibility for said faculty members.
Key Components of the Proposal
The Dean is currently contributing $250,000.00 annually from the Central Administration budget. Departments and major programs contribute an additional $250,000.00. The Dean’s and departmental/programmatic contributions have increased from the original $150,000 at the inception of this program.
Suggested distribution of funds per scholar are:
- Individual salary support will represent 25% of salary to a maximum of $50,000.00/year for three years.
- Start up costs to be contributed will be 25% of the total start-up package to a maximum of $100,000.00 per candidate
- Any unused funds at the end of the fiscal year would roll over to be available for the next year.
- Departments/programs may use these funds to support the new faculty member in the manner they believe to be optimal. However, medical education debt repayment in lieu of salary support or research start-up support is not allowed due to tax liability and other issues involved in loan repayment.
The Faculty Diversity Scholars program will be evaluated for effectiveness by the FDC, Academic Affairs Committee and Administration and Finance Committee every three years beginning in FY’10.