Cluster hiring at Waterloo

The University of Waterloo has announced it will takea step in addressing the systemic underrepresentation of Indigenous and Black faculty at our institution withthe launch of newclusterhiringinitiatives that will see the addition of 10 newIndigenous and 10Black faculty members. 

 “These initiatives arean importantstep inacceleratingtheprogression of increased representationof Indigenous and Black faculty across the University,” said James Rush, vice-president, academic & provost. “Waterloo is committed to creating a sustainable and supportive environment for our entire community, andthesehiringinitiativeswill bringuscloser to realizing this goal.” 

 As restricted hiringopportunities, the cluster hiring initiatives follow the provisions for a special program as described by the Ontario Human Rights Commission.Waterloo’s current underrepresentation ofIndigenousand Black faculty allows us to takethis action. 

 “These necessaryclusterhiring initiatives will fill important gaps in diverse ways of knowing, researching, and engaging community. There is so much for us to learn from scholars whose lived experience is rooted in First Nation, Inuit, Métis, and Black identities,” said Jean Becker,senior director, Indigenous initiatives, and interim associate vice-president Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion. “And,it is essential for young scholars to see others like them doing this importantwork.” 

Recruitmentfor these new positionsis open and will continue until all positions are successfully filled. The positions are open at the assistant professor/associate professor/professor levels, with the intention to recruit faculty at a range of career stages.Positions will be available for broad areas of research across allfaculties.Thesecluster hiringinitiativesare in addition to other equity-based hiringinitiativesand are not meant to replace other opportunities.The fundamental purpose of the cluster hiring initiatives is to increase representation of Black and Indigenous faculty across the spectrum of Waterloo’s teaching and scholarship activities; while there may be some natural synergies with the current development of academic programming in the areas of Black Studies and Indigenous Studies, the cluster initiatives are not intended to recruit solely/primarily for these areas. 

“I would like to acknowledge the leadership of all six deans in mobilizing these cluster hiring initiatives.We areworking collaborativelywitha variety ofkey stakeholders who have views and expertise that must berespectedinincreasingthe representation of Black and Indigenous faculty to ensure effective recruitment, selection and onboarding of new faculty,” said Rush. “I would like to thank all those who have been involved in this process thus farand who will be in the future.” 

For more information about this hiring initiative, please visit the cluster hiring initiatives page on the Provost’s website.