A Summer 2022 Update: Leadership Searches, Recruiting, ABOR Approvals, and a Time of Celebration

Fri Jun 17 17:03:55 MST 2022

Dear Colleagues,

Three leadership searches are actively underway. The School of Natural Resources and the Environment search committee recently brought three finalists to Tucson. The School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences committee is planning logistics for a series of campus visits. The Cooperative Extension System committee is identifying a short list for interviews. I am very grateful to everyone involved for dedicating their time, energy, and commitment to these searches.

One thing that has become clear from research in the last two decades is that we can do much better on our searches to ensure they are not biased towards or against particular groups of people. Provost Folks is very aware of the issues, and the actions needed to resolve them, and I am in lock step with her. To help us all proactively and consciously achieve diverse candidate pools, I sent all administrators and business officers, and copied our faculty, a memo outlining additional measures required in our division to ensure diverse pools in faculty searches (attached). I want to thank everyone for taking this important work in stride and in the spirit in which it is meant.

Research also shows that potential applicants from some backgrounds are less likely to apply for specific positions when the position descriptions/postings/advertisements do not provide specific salary ranges because they believe they will be discriminated against by being offered the lowest amount possible. Conversely, position descriptions/postings/advertisements that include a salary range can allow applicants to know they will be offered a salary they are comfortable accepting. Historically most UA job descriptions/postings/advertisements have not provided specific salary ranges and instead used "depends on experience". Wherever possible unless there is a rationale why not, all ALVSCE descriptions/postings/advertisements will now have specific salary ranges (attached).

We will track whether or not each of these changes has had the hypothesized effect.

We have a large, complex statewide organization and it is often hard to follow what is going on, where and when. For this reason, by July 15 we will add a listing of all active faculty searches to COMPASS<https://compass.arizona.edu/> and the CALS and CES websites - https://cals.arizona.edu/ and https://extension.arizona.edu/. These will link to CALS and CES unit websites where you, and anyone else, will see all information about the search as it progresses, including committee members and all public material. The unit websites will also include contact information for Jeannie McLain and the committee chair for the use of applicants, nominees, and recruits.

Recruiting is, of course, only one side of the coin. Retention is the other. What makes us the most sought-after place to stay at? Please email me your specific ideas.

Really great news -- on June 9, the Arizona Board of Regents approved the School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness’ new B.S. in Nutrition and Human Performance, to be offered beginning in Fall 2023. Regent Pacheco called it "a terrific addition." Regent Penley complimented the additional assessment measures included in the program, including job placement statistics and graduate program enrollment to be sourced from surveys at graduation and alumni surveys. "You've gone beyond just the tests and grading of case studies to whole program assessment." Well done and thank you to everyone involved! I look forward to seeing the email from Curricular Affairs making it official.

Paired with this item on the ABOR agenda was a UA request to establish a Department of Africana Studies<https://africana.arizona.edu/> in place of the Africana Studies Program formed in 1971. With 13 faculty, an interdisciplinary major introduced in 2005, and two minors (Africana Studies, Hip Hop Cultures), this is already a flourishing academic program. Congratulations to our colleagues in the College of Humanities on this formal recognition as a department. The College of Humanities has become an exceptional partner and I fully expect if you are in a CALS academic unit you will be hearing a lot more from them. As an aside, if you are ever able to experience what the "digital humanities" is, it will take your breath away.

Over the next two weeks, we will be celebrating three milestones in freedom and liberty -- Juneteenth on Sunday, June 19, Pride Day on Tuesday, June 28, and Independence Day on Monday, July 4. When I became a US citizen I was only expected to learn about July 4. I hope that has changed now for those choosing to become US citizens. Regardless, this is a time of celebration, a chance to look back and reflect on all we have gained, what it has cost, and to look forward to where we need to get to and renew our commitments to making our dreamed future a reality.

Though we are a year-round enterprise, I entreat each of you also to take the opportunity this summer to invest in yourselves. Please do all you can to take the breaks from the workplace we all need.

Best wishes,
Shane

Shane C. Burgess
Vice President for the Division of Agriculture, Life & Veterinary Sciences, and
Cooperative Extension

Charles-Sander Dean of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
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territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally
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Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build
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