STEAD: Faculty Search Committee Workshop

What is the STEAD Faculty Search Committee Workshop?

The STEAD Faculty Search Committee Workshop aims to identify factors that can introduce bias into the faculty recruitment process and to provide evidence-based approaches that will maximize the likelihood that excellent and diverse scholars will be identified, selected for offers and recruited onto the UC Davis faculty.

Annual Call update for 2026/27 academic year

• No STEAD workshops are being offered in the 2026-27 academic year.

• For the 2026/27 year, faculty whose STEAD certification would have expired this year will receive one additional year of certification. Their new expiration year will be 2027/28. Example: A faculty member who participated in STEAD or SOM workshops in 2021-2022 academic year will retain certification until June 30, 2027. 

• Each search committee may include one member who is not yet STEAD certified.

• Up to two other faculty hired in the last three years (e.g., since July 1, 2023) who have not yet had the opportunity to attend STEAD training may participate in search committees as ex-officio members. 

Administrators who need access to the Faculty Search Committee Certification Finder can find guidance on this site. 

Please feel free to review the 2026-27 Annual Call. 

Who needs to be STEAD-Certified?

Anyone participating in faculty (Ladder, Academic Senate, and Professor of Teaching series)and endowed chair(both internal and external searches)recruitments must be STEAD-Certified by participating in the workshop, including:

• Faculty members
• Academic Federation members 
• Graduate students 
• Non-UCD members
• SOM/SON faculty recruitment committee chairs
  • Exception: SOM/SON faculty recruitment committee members can take the Enhanced Training for Faculty Search Committees Online Training Module.

All members of faculty and endowed chair (external searches) recruitment committees must be must complete the STEAD Faculty Recruitment Training before the evaluation of applicants ends. Non-UCD members and graduate students of a search committee must also be certified.  No other trainings are accepted to fulfill this requirement, with the exception of SOM/SON faculty recruitment committee members (please see note below). 

• Completion of this workshop must be done once every four (4) years, effective July 2024. 

HOWEVER, 

• For the 2026/27 academic year, faculty whose STEAD certification would have expired this year will receive one additional clear of certification, with their new expiration year now being 2027/28. 

   

SOM/SON faculty recruitment committees (for Academic Senate searches):

The Annual Call states that all search committee members must take the STEAD Faculty Search Training before the evaluation of applicants ends. SOM/SON faculty recruitment committees (for Academic Senate searches):

• SOM/SON Faculty search committee chairs are required to participate in STEAD workshops. It is expected that the search committee chairs will in turn provide leadership on mitigating bias in the recruitment process for their committees. NOTE: Priority for STEAD Workshops offered via Zoom will be given to SOM/SON search committee chairs.
• SOM/SON Faculty recruitment committee members may satisfy the STEAD requirement by participating in the online module “ Enhanced Training for Faculty Search Committees" Online Training Module offered by the Schools of Human Health and can register here. 

Department Chairs should ensure that all recruitment committee members who will be serving on faculty recruitment committees sign up for this training as early as possible.

Administrators who need access to the Faculty Search Committee Certification Finder can find guidance on this site. 

Resources