Tips for Faculty Job Postings

Faculty job postings serve as the first point of contact between institutions and potential candidates, making them crucial in attracting qualified applicants. A well-crafted posting does much more than simply list requirements—it serves multiple essential functions for candidates evaluating their next career move. Position postings matter to candidates. An ideal posting includes:

Showcase of institutional values and culture
Details on the career development pathway
Details on the decision-making framework
Transparency for the expectations of workload, responsibilities, and performance
Signals to our the institutional commitment to faculty success

Suggested Language and Examples

In creating text for the vacancy announcement in PeopleAdmin, be sure to include the following:

Statement on the campus's welcoming environment:
- As the state’s premier urban research institution, IU Indianapolis is committed to being a welcoming campus community and we seek candidates whose research, teaching, and community engagement efforts contribute to robust learning and working environments for all students, staff, and faculty.
Details on the campus location, context, mission, vision, and values.
- Examples:
  - Indiana University Indianapolis is an urban R1 research and health sciences campus with 15 degree-granting schools and more than 375 degree and certificate programs. Located in downtown Indianapolis, a multicultural and affordable mid-sized city, the campus serves more than 22,000 students.
  - IU Indianapolis is Indiana’s premier urban public research university and holds R1 research and Community Engagement Carnegie Classifications. It is home to more than 22,000 students pursuing degrees across 15 distinct schools, including the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Unique, attractive features of the program, department, school, campus, or university
- Examples:
  - Campus: IU Indianapolis has earned national recognition for its innovative health and life sciences initiatives, providing extensive opportunities for collaborative, interdisciplinary research. The university is making significant investments in research, including the launch of two new institutes: the Convergent Bioscience and Technology Institute (CBATI) and the Institute for Human Health and Wellbeing (H2W). Additionally, a $138 million grant from the Lilly Endowment will support the IU LAB, a state-of-the-art facility at 16 Tech site designed to position Indiana as a national leader in bioscience discovery, commercialization, and talent development.
  - School: The Indiana University School of Social Work (IUSSW), founded in 1911, is a university-wide system school with CSWE-accredited MSW and BSW Programs since 1923 and 1975, respectively, and most recently reaffirmed in 2021. The School is a founding member of the University’s health sciences Interprofessional Practice and Education Center, creating opportunities for students and faculty.
  - Program, School, and Campus: The Nutrition and Dietetics program is part of a dynamic academic and research community in the School of Health and Human Sciences (SHHS), 15 research labs and institutes, and over 400 clinical and community partnerships. IU Indianapolis is Indiana’s premier urban public R1 research university and holds a Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement. It is home to more than 22,000 students pursuing degrees across 15 distinct schools, including the Indiana University School of Medicine, the largest medical school in the United States. IU Indianapolis’s innovative practices for health and life science have earned national recognition and offer numerous opportunities for collaborative, interdisciplinary research efforts such as the newly established IU Institute for Human Health and Wellbeing (H2W) at IU Indianapolis.

Overall:

Use gender neutral language (http://gender-decoder.katmatfield.com/)

Avoid descriptions that include narrowly defined qualifications, which limit a range of interests, backgrounds and experiences

Reviewed and revised: 05/2025