Academic Affairs

New faculty bridge program

As a key component of UW’s Faculty Diversity Initiative (FDI), the Chancellor and I have allocated temporary funds of $700,000 to support the UW Bothell campus in successfully recruiting and retaining faculty who have a demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Recruitment

Bridge Funding for up to two years of salary and benefits (or four years of partial salary and benefits) are available on a competitive basis starting with FY22. All funding is expected to be committed by the end of FY23. Please note that annual funding limits (inclusive of salary and benefit costs) are as follows: $156K per year for Assistant Professors, $200K per year for Associate Professors, and $250K per year for Professors. These apply to both tenure-track and teaching-track faculty.

Bridge Funding may be employed in multiple ways, including facilitating 1) junior faculty cluster hires, 2) expedited hiring of distinguished and uniquely qualified senior scholars (search waiver candidates), 3) recruitment of junior scholars at the pre-faculty level (e.g., postdocs, visiting faculty) who may in time be recruited in the normal fashion to join the UW faculty after gaining more experience, and 4) hiring a second candidate from an exceptionally diverse finalist pool for an existing faculty search. Other strategies may be discussed with the VCAA to determine if they apply.

Bridge Funding is not meant to substitute in any way for a School’s regular search procedures to ensure diverse search pools as per UW Bothell expectations, but are intended instead to allow Schools to initiate recruitments or act upon unique hiring opportunities that would not otherwise be affordable to the unit in the short term.

Deans should have initial discussions directly with me regarding preliminary plans to request FDI Bridge Funding. Formal requests for FDI Bridge Funding should then be sent to the Office of the VCAA (uwbvcaa@uw.edu). Formal requests should be sent as an email attachment and should include:

  • Details of the position for which bridge funding is requested including for example, appointment rank/title, appointing unit, hiring plan position number (if available at that time), and search waiver approval (if applicable and available at that time);
  • Statement explaining why the School cannot afford to make the hire without temporary campus funding;
  • Brief written description of how a search or a particular candidate would contribute to the demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion that is expected;
  • Brief written description of why this is a priority, how it fits into the School’s overall hiring plan, the resources available to support the position (e.g., School contributions, start-up package, etc.), the mentoring plan, and the financial feasibility of the position after the period of bridge funding;
  • The specific funding request including anticipated hire date, base salary and associated benefit costs, and FTE/duration of funding;
  • Copy of the candidate’s curriculum vitae, if available; and
  • Any other relevant supporting documentation.

Retention

One-time funds may be requested for a specified number of years on a cost-sharing basis with units, colleges, schools, and/or campuses. Funds may be used for purposes including but not limited to summer salary support or supplemental research support (including research assistance support, staff support, professional travel, supplies and equipment, publication support, etc.). These funds cannot be used for regular salary.
All requests for support should be made during the retention negotiation process and sent to the VCAA.
Requests should be sent as an email and/or email attachment and should include:

  1. Brief written case for the need for retention efforts (e.g., an existing or potential competitive outside offer);
  2. Outline of the full terms of the retention package—unit contribution; college, school, or campus contribution; and what is being requested from the VCAA;
  3. Copy of the faculty member’s curriculum vitae;
  4. Any other relevant supporting documentation (e.g., outside letters of offer, terms of any prior retention offers, etc.).

Approved Requests

Requests that are approved will receive written confirmation. Upon receipt of approval of bridge funding, the School’s finance lead will need to contact their IPB liaison to coordinate the funding. Please note that committed funds will be transferred in a lump-sum, temporary allocation after confirmation of a successful recruitment and completion of the hiring process.

The approval of bridge funding does not substitute for any other hiring process requirements (e.g., approval of a position on a hiring plan, eligible faculty vote, approval to extend an offer, etc.).

At the conclusion of this temporary opportunity (expected at the end of FY23), we will evaluate the impact and determine any subsequent measures.