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Blogging our search - the Search begins | 5 comments (5 topical, 0 hidden)

[new] Departmental Diversity (none / 0) (#4)
by brianbirgen on Mon Nov 10, 2008 at 06:45:06 AM PDT

This is certainly a question that our department has struggled with. On one hand, you want to hire a candidate who will add to the department qualities not already present. The new hire should stretch the department somehow and be different from the people already there. On the other hand, you want to hire someone who will be successful in the department and mesh well with the current personalities. We want to hire someone who will be able to get tenure and stay in the department for the thirty or so years.

There is no easy answer to finding the balance between a finding a candidate who is a good "fit" for the department, who is also adds qualities to department not already present. A few years back, we hired a Palestinian faculty member, who I thought was a good hire, but he never managed to connect with the students. He added necessary diversity to the department, but our students couldn't get past his foreign accent.

There's the question: how do you find someone who will be successful in your department while challenging and stretching the status quo?

Blogging our search - the Search begins | 5 comments (5 topical, 0 hidden)

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