Faculty Affairs and Academic Programs
Advancing Engineering Faculty Diversity at the University of California, Riverside
UC Riverside, 2016-2017
Project Principal Investigators
Sharon Walker, Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Project Abstract
With a focus in the Bourns College of Engineering (BCOE) and related cluster hiring, the project targeted potential engineering faculty slightly earlier in their careers – senior PhD students or very recent graduates – by offering new faculty members funding for a postdoctoral research fellowship and additional early-career professional development through the new Provost’s Diversity in Engineering Fellows (PDEF) Program. The project included an enhanced recruitment process involving all searches within the engineering college, required diversity statements, splash ads, and a centralized review committee. All awarded funds would be committed to three new hires through the PDEF program. BCOE would also have additional hires through positions supported with college funds and positions funded through the UCR “cluster hiring” initiative.