Interdisciplinary Junior Faculty Initiative

President Mary Sue Coleman and Provost Teresa Sullivan have approved funding to hire 25 new junior faculty in the initial phase of a five-year, $30 million initiative to add 100 junior tenure-track positions in areas that advance interdisciplinary teaching and research.

The 25 new faculty will represent six cross-disciplinary areas. In total, academic units submitted 39 proposals requesting 120 faculty positions. Coleman said, “The enthusiastic response of our schools and colleges tells me there is a strong desire for broader and deeper collaborative work across our campus.  This new intersecting of people and ideas builds on the University’s teaching and research strengths.”

“Faculty from across the campus presented exciting ideas for  interdisciplinary research in the proposals they submitted for  funding,” Sullivan said. “The strength and diversity of these proposals augurs well for the proposals we can expect over the next four years.  Those selected for funding in this first round offer opportunities for innovative research across disciplines that will enhance educational  programs for our students.”

The proposals approved for hiring in 2008 are in the following interdisciplinary areas:

Data Mining, Learning, and Discovery with Massive Datasets
College of Engineering
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Five faculty positions

Energy Storage
College of Engineering
College of Literature, Science and the Arts
School of Natural Resources and Environment
Five faculty positions

Global Change: Cryosphere and Sea-Level Impacts
College of Engineering
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Three faculty positions

Global HIV/AIDS
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Medical School
School of Nursing Five faculty positions

Microbial Ecology: Relationships to Human and Environmental Health
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Medical School
School of Public Health
Four faculty positions

Social Science and Energy
College of Literature, Science and the Arts
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Three faculty positions

Review process

The Interdisciplinary Junior Faculty Initiative Faculty Review Committee was comprised of faculty members from across the campus. The committee, chaired by Pamela Raymond, the Steven S. Easter Collegiate Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, followed a review process similar to that used by granting agencies of the federal government.

All proposals were assigned to two reviewers and a reader. Each reviewer and reader evaluated proposals on a number of components including rationale, intellectual strength, contributions to undergraduate and graduate education, mentoring plan, promotion and tenure plan, and contribution to advancing institutional priorities. The reviewers and readers presented their evaluations of each proposal, including a ranking of Highly Recommend, Recommend, Recommend if Funding Permits, or Not Recommended, to the full committee. The committee discussed each proposal and summaries of the discussions were compiled.

President Coleman and Provost Sullivan were provided with the reviewers’ individual evaluations and rankings as well as with the discussion summaries as they reviewed the proposals and made funding decisions. President Coleman and Provost Sullivan provided all authors with feedback on the evaluation of their proposal.

Faculty Review Committee Members

Pamela A. Raymond - Chair
Steven S. Easter Collegiate Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Steven Ceccio
Associate Vice President for Research and Professor of Mechanical Engineering College of Engineering

Linda M. Chatters
Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education and Professor of Social Work
School of Public Health and School of Social Work

Michael D. Cohen
William D. Hamilton Collegiate Professor of Complex Systems, Information, and Public Policy School of Information

W. Reynolds Farley
Professor Emeritus of Sociology
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Jane F. Fulcher
Professor of Music
School of Music, Theatre, and Dance

Susan A. Gelman
Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of Psychology
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Daniel A. Herwitz
Director, Institute for the Humanities
Professor of History of Art, Philosophy, and Comparative Literature
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Barbara A. MacAdam
Associate University Librarian for Public Services

Dana M. Muir
Professor of Business Law
Stephen M. Ross School of Business

Benjamin L. Margolis
Professor of Biological Chemistry and Internal Medicine
Medical School

Ann Marie Sastry
Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering
College of Engineering

Michael D. Thouless
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Mechanical Engineering
College of Engineering

Future Rounds of Competition

The Interdisciplinary Junior Faculty Initiative will continue through 2012. Details concerning 2009 submissions will be released by the Office of the Provost in Fall 2008.