New report says cluster hiring can lead to increased faculty diversity

Cluster hiring — or hiring multiple scholars into one or more departments based on shared, interdisciplinary research interests — is growing in popularity. Increasingly it’s also seen as a way to advance faculty diversity or other aspects of the college or university mission, such as teaching or community engagement. But how effective is cluster hiring generally, and specifically in promoting diversity and creating a positive institutional climate? And what are some established best practices to those ends?

A new report from the Coalition for Urban Serving Universities, the Association of Public and Land- grant Universities, and the Association of American Medical Colleges, which have partnered as Urban Universities for HEALTH, tackles those questions and concludes that cluster hiring — when done right — is a powerful way to build both institutional excellence and faculty diversity.