Statement on the Provost’s cluster/cohort hire initiative

Dear Provost Sayrs,

Members of the Ohio University chapter of the American Association of University Professors (OU-AAUP) commend you on the creation of the Cluster/Cohort Hire Initiatives announced on December 6. We see this as a good first step in building a more diverse faculty and more inclusive curriculum at Ohio University. Noting that the initiative descriptions indicate that “up to six” tenure-track faculty members and “up to six” instructional faculty members will be hired to address the vital issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, inclusive pedagogy, and equitable outcomes in the Ohio University curriculum, we strongly urge that the full complement of twelve new faculty members be hired. This would not only go a long way toward strengthening DEI at Ohio University, it would also begin to address the low overall faculty numbers that have resulted from previous rounds of non-renewals and voluntary separations. We also recommend that a portion of the Cluster/Cohort Hires occur in currently understaffed programs—such as African American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies—that are already addressing these important issues at Ohio University. Finally, we urge that beyond simply hiring these new faculty members, the university have in place appropriate structures to support, retain, and assist these individuals to succeed in the mission of making Ohio University a more inclusive and equitable institution for all students, staff, and faculty.

On behalf of the OU-AAUP Executive Committee,

Joe McLaughlin, President