WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue University announced that it will be launching one of its largest faculty hiring initiatives as part of a $75 million Equity Task Force’s multi-year effort to diversify the racial makeup of its faculty ranks.
Over the next five years, the university plans on hiring 40 full-time faculty added through several academic clusters as part of this initiative.
The Equity Task Force was announced by Purdue earlier this year, and it was tasked to develop a plan with “specific actions to ensure all members of the university community have the opportunity to experience all Purdue has to offer equitably,” according to Purdue’s website on the task force.
More:Purdue enrollment record-breaking, just under 50,000 students
In the initial phase of the plan, the task force has determined that there is a need to expand the university’s health program.
The task force plans on hiring 14 new faculty in public health, which will focus on areas such as policy, equity, communications, nursing, pharmacy and nutrition. Although nine of the fourteen new hires are projected to be hired through the College of Health and Human Sciences.