DEI Hiring: Illinois Math and Science Academy

Illinois Math and Science Academy states in its E₂: Equity and Excellence Framework that it will implement “strategies based on the Equity and Excellence Model to recruit, support and retain staff, including faculty, as well as board members and external partners.” Interventions to achieve the plan’s outcomes includes the implementation of a modified version of the “Rooney Rule, in that every faculty opening requires interviewing at least two candidates who identify as a Black, Indigenous Person of Color.” It also states that the school will engage in a process of “‘cluster hiring’ to recruit diverse candidates with interdisciplinary backgrounds.”

According to the school’s E₂ framework, it states that when it comes to recruitment it will “provide ongoing professional learning for search committee members, for incorporating best practices (implicit bias, critical race theory, cultural competence) on diversity, equity and inclusion in the hiring and advancement of staff, including faculty.“