The Faculty Inclusive Excellence Fund (FIEF) is an initiative of the Office of the Provost and the Division of Inclusion, Diversity & Equity (IDE). FIEF’s primary purpose is to support colleges and departments who have actively recruited a diverse pool of tenured and tenure-track faculty. Faculty in professional programs with similar responsibilities as tenured or tenure-track faculty will also be prioritized. As a part of the funding process, the committee will review how submitted candidates increase diversity, broadly defined, both campus wide and within their units to meet university goals and other strategic priorities.
If you have any questions about the program, contact Associate Provost Alex Socarides.
Funding Proposal Process
FIEF proposals may be submitted on a rolling basis; however, the FIEF Committee conducts a monthly review of applications during the academic year. Proposals will not be reviewed during university breaks or holidays. Units may request FIEF support of up to 50% of salary and benefits, with a maximum of $50,000 per year, for up to 3 years. The academic unit may justify a funding request based on variables including:
- an established comparison-driven disparity between expected and actual numbers of women or minority faculty (e.g., annual affirmative action report of the MU campus) and/or
- an established mission-driven diversity priority (e.g., related to curriculum, advising, etc.)
Mission-driven priorities flow from the academic unit’s strategic plan and will ideally be documented in other areas such as the faculty meeting minutes or annual reports.
The unit must obtain approval to hire from the provost/provost-designee prior to making the request for FIEF funding. Additionally, the unit must comply with all the university’s recruitment and hiring procedures. This is particularly important when abridged hiring processes are used. If a unit identifies more than one potential hire from a single job posting, the unit may make multiple FIEF requests provided the provost/provost designee approves hiring multiple lines.
Funds are only transferred when the faculty member has assumed their employment. Additionally, the funds disbursed in the first year are actual expenses only, meaning if a faculty member starts after Sept. 1, the disbursed funds will be prorated.
Changes in Appointments and FIEF Funds: As a general rule, a FIEF award is attached to a person. As is usually stated in the commitment email, the award is only for so long as the person is employed in the department in that particular capacity. Should the faculty member move out of their faculty role and into a primarily administrative position, funding will be terminated for the expected term of the administrative appointment, allowing the University to reinvest the funds in our stated mission of increasing the diversity of the faculty.
Content of Proposals
Proposals must be submitted via the below form. The form will guide you in providing the following information:
- Name of the department/division and department/division chair name and contact information (or other designee)
- Confirmation of provost/provost designee approval to hire
- Name and Curriculum Vita for the candidate
- Position title, tenure-track status and rank
- Brief statement of how the candidate was recruited, including whether new means of identifying potential applicants were utilized in the search phase
- Expected salary
- Dollar amounts and sources of all other funding committed in candidate offer
- Information on the unit’s diversity priorities; and a brief paragraph about how the candidate fits the mission and priorities of the college/department
- Amount of funding requested
- Brief paragraph concerning specific efforts planned and/or in place to retain this individual once hired (including but not limited to mentoring). Provide details, including the names of designated mentors. Chairs are encouraged to meet with the Associate Provost for Faculty Success, Candace Kuby, to discuss ideas for how to support incoming faculty. This can be done before or after submitting a proposal.