Table of Contents

Overview

Funded Clusters

Campus Leader Roles in the Cluster Hiring Process

Cluster Faculty Policies

Cluster Hire Enhancement Grants

Interdisciplinary: A Conference

Overview

Office of the Provost Oversight

The Cluster Hiring Initiative is managed through the University of Wisconsin-Madison Office of the Provost with the Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff, Steve Stern, taking the lead. Questions about the initiative should be directed to him at: Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Office of the Provost, Room 117 Bascom Hall, 500 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1314, phone (608) 262-5246, fax (608) 265-3353

Or, you can contact Peyton Smith , Assistant Vice Chancellor for Extended Programs, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Office of the Provost, Room 117 Bascom Hall, 500 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1314, phone (608) 262-8214, fax (608) 265-3353.

Goals and Objectives

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is one of the preeminent research universities in the world. We achieved that distinction by continually pushing the frontiers of research, scholarship and creative work. Some of the most exciting and important advances are at the borders and connections among disciplines and require multidisciplinary collaborations and the integration of concepts from many different areas. While it is important to maintain and build on our strengths in core disciplines, we also must facilitate cross-disciplinary work if we are to remain at the forefront of research, scholarship and creative activities. That is the main goal of the Cluster Hiring Initiative. The initiative also will enhance cross-disciplinary student learning and benefit our state's economy.

The Cluster Hiring Initiative was launched in 1998 and rolled out via an internal proposal process during a four-year period to provide an alternative to departmentally based hiring practices and norms. The interdisciplinary initiative was developed to support the expansion of knowledge that is arising, increasingly, from more than one discipline. In essence, the cluster initiative is an incentive plan designed to facilitate interdisciplinary strategic hiring by providing full salary support on an indefinite basis for faculty positions. The objectives of the Cluster Hiring Initiative are to:

  • enable the campus to devote a critical mass of faculty to an area of knowledge that would not be addressed through existing departmental structures;
  • provide for new research tracks and collaborative opportunities;
  • address complex societal problems;
  • advance the Wisconsin Idea by serving society’s needs through interdisciplinary research, learning and service;
  • encourage and foster cooperation within an already strong faculty and staff;
  • create new curricular offerings on the undergraduate and graduate levels; and
  • assist in fulfilling other missions of the university, particularly increasing campus diversity.

To date, the Cluster Hiring Initiative has authorized 49 clusters with 144 faculty positions in a variety of interdisciplinary areas (138 centrally funded cluster positions, matched by six positions from schools/colleges). Currently, the initiative has a majority of the cluster lines filled, with some clusters funded during the last two rounds still completing the initial hiring phase. Additionally, some clusters have also had to request and search for replacement faculty. Campus clusters that need to request replacement faculty or to reauthorize a failed search, please see the policies on replacements or reauthorizing searches .

Cluster Hiring Initiative Evaluation

Two institutional reports have been completed to evaluate the success of the Cluster Hiring Initiative. The first evaluation, the November 2003 Report of the Provost’s Ad Hoc Advisory Committee to Evaluate the Cluster Hiring Initiative concluded that while it was too early to thoroughly assess how well the cluster initiative was meeting its goals and objectives, cluster faculty were engaged in interdisciplinary teaching, research and outreach, and that campus deans, department chairs and faculty supported the continuation of the Cluster Hiring Initiative. The 2003 report called for another evaluation within five years.

The result of that recommendation is the July 2008 Report of the Cluster/Interdisciplinary Advisory Committee to Evaluate the Cluster Hiring Initiative, conducted over a two-year period. The 2008 report concluded that the CHI is a success and is meeting its objectives. In only a few years, the CHI has created or strengthened 49 areas of academic interdisciplinary inquiry that match the teaching, research and outreach productivity of departmentally-based faculty. It strongly recommended the campus continue to support the cluster interdisciplinary efforts across campus as we develop methods for ongoing evaluation of cluster programs over time. Since many of the insights gained through evaluating the clusters also apply to interdisciplinary efforts in general, the report also made a number of recommendations to foster the environment for other interdisciplinary efforts across the campus.

Cluster Hire/Interdisciplinary Advisory Committee

To ensure faculty input across campus and to provide advice and policy guidance for clusters and other interdisciplinary efforts on campus, the Provost’s Office appointed a Cluster Hire/Interdisciplinary Advisory Committee in fall 2004.

Committee members are: Nigel Boston , Professor, Mathematics, and Electrical and Computer Engineering; Laurie Beth Clark (chair), Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff Programs, and Professor, Art; Jon Foley , Professor, Environmental Studies; Camille Guerin-Gonzales , Professor, Ethnic Studies; Linda Hogle , Associate Professor Medical History and Bioethics; James Leary , Professor, Folklore and Scandinavian Studies; Anne Miner , Professor School of Business; Tejumola Olaniyan , Professor, English, and African Languages and Literature; Mike Pariza , Professor, Food Science; Dietram Scheufele, Professor, Journalism and Mass Communications; and Peyton Smith (staff), Assistant Vice Chancellor for Extended Programs.