LEADERSHIP AT UIC: Recruiting, Retaining, and Mentoring Faculty

1. LEADERSHIP AT UIC:Recruiting, Retaining, and Mentoring Faculty Robin Mermelstein, Ph.D. Professor, Psychology Department Director, Institute for Health Research and Policy Faculty Affairs Forum, August 18, 2014

2. Disclaimers • Not an academic department head or dean • Perspective from different roles • Not all departments are the same • Universal and unique “best practices”

3. Developmental Milestones with Faculty • Recruiting faculty • Mentoring and developing faculty • Retaining Faculty • Succession Planning

4. Faculty Decisions Are the Core of a Department • Faculty decisions are the most important ones a unit can make • Faculty are potentially here for a long time • Your investment in the future and your legacy • When a department makes a faculty hire, it has invested one of its most valued resources – faculty line (tenure track) • If a department doesn’t nurture faculty, it reduces probability of good return on investment • If a faculty member is successful, everyone beneftis

5. Role of Department Head • Architect and leader • Someone who keeps department relevant and responsive • Places bets on when to make a play and grab and when to miss • Continually balancing 3 primary buckets: • Managing the present • Selectively abandoning the past • Creating the future

6. Approaches to Building and Maintaining Faculty • Independent agents that are aggregated to fill slots and specific needs • Fantasy Football team building • Find the best player for a position • Synergistic elements that are integrated to create clusters of emphasis • Ice dance team building • Individual partners need to be strong, but the points go to the whole unit • Success depends on trust and integration

7. Approach Depends on Vision • Vision for department and balance of mission elements • Broad coverage of a discipline to ensure balance and breadth, but may not have depth • Selective coverage to provide more depth and spires of excellence, but may not have breadth • Vision or strategy may change over time and determines how you allocate resources today ($, people) to ensure a better tomorrow – but may be a different tomorrow

8. Recruiting and Hiring Faculty – Some Lessons Learned • Have a clear understanding of the type of faculty needed • What are the mandatory skills • What can be developed • Look for a values match • Importance of culture • Shared values are non-negotiable • Be attuned to non-technical skills • “soft skills” matter • Mental toughness • Handling frustrations and disappointments • People and team skills • Discover their motives • Involve others in hiring process • Be open to “internal” hires • Devote the time!

9. Recruiting and Hiring – Closing the Deal • View recruitment process as a PR opportunity for the department • Closing the deal starts with first impressions of applicant –from both sides • Make your best offer • Be swift • Be transparent • Avoid potential bad feelings from negotiation process

10. Mentoring, Developing, and Nurturing Faculty – Helping them to Succeed • Matters at all levels; not just for junior faculty • Needs vary by level, but at each level there are often decision points, career choices, and need for reflective feedback • Career commitment and satisfaction enhanced with supportive environment • Important for attracting and retaining best faculty

11. Mentoring and Supporting Faculty– Some Lessons Learned • When you have great faculty, do what you need to do to encourage and support them. • Provide opportunities to excel and succeed • “Loan out” faculty to provide new experiences; provide introductions • Provide “air cover” if they fail • Take some personal “risks” for the faculty • Light the fire and clear the path • Make sure passions are aligned with unit mission • Give high level boundaries • Remember they’re human

12. Retaining Faculty – Some Lessons Learned • Understand what it means to have faculty consider leaving • Diverse set of reasons faculty may prompt faculty to consider leaving • Signs of success • Personal/family • Poor professional fit • Dissatisfaction • Consider your own reaction to a potential loss • Dread – Relief • Anticipate potential “pick off” targets and be proactive with retention • Consider developmental and professional triggers

13. Retaining Faculty – con’t • Responding to initial news from faculty • Listen well without annoyance • Ask questions not to defend yourself/department or to refute the person’s thoughts, but to understand his/her perspective more clearly • Motives and needs • Support success and have conversation about value and role • Decision point – what is best for the future of the department and this particular faculty • Consider options for new roles for individual • Act quickly with counteroffers • Stay in frequent contact • Know when to let people go • Managing faculty “left behind” when someone leaves

14. Planning for Succession • Survival of Fittest – not necessarily strongest, smartest, but those best at adapting to change • Develop and encourage leadership skills • Provide opportunities for empowerment and responsibility at multiple organizational levels • Expose select faculty to breadth of responsibilities • Identify and motivate others for leadership roles • Evaluate current performers • Understand relationship value of individuals • Need to selectively forget the past as you help to invent the future – don’t just replace, but allow strategy and vision to guide • Importance of input from most junior faculty who have least invested in history and most invested in future • Importance of staying relevant and responsive as move forward

15. Final Thoughts • Faculty hiring, mentoring, retaining, and planning for the future is not just the head’s job • Significant problem if the head is the only one worried about strategy • Strategy is about adapting to change, and faculty changes are central • Faculty change – even retention as a change–provide opportunity for innovation, strengthening, and refreshing