Centering belonging, identity, and equity in our hiring practices requires potentially profound changes within the profession and across our institutions. Undoubtedly, departments, service-based offices, and institutions may struggle to identify the kinds of changes that can be made and may meet resistance to these changes. This collection aims to identify key points in Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing Studies’ (RCWS) hiring practices that can be adjusted or revised to enhance the inclusivity and equity of the job market experience for both applicants and hiring committee members. From preparing graduate students for the job market to actively being on the market (as a graduate student or transitioning professional) to serving or leading hiring committees at your institution, this collection seeks to address current practices and offer possible paths forward for the field. 

Key questions guiding this collection include:

• How do we meaningfully integrate DEI in the job market experiences both for the applicant and for those on the hiring committee?

• How do we meaningfully advocate for ourselves before, during, and after the hiring process, either as an applicant/candidate or as a hiring committee member/leader?

• How does technology impact or inform DEI in our job market and hiring experiences (e.g., access to and circulation of media-based materials, video/conference calls, remote campus visits, AI, etc.)?

• What’s missing from RCWS’s best practices statements (e.g., CCCC, CWPA, local institutions, etc.)?

• What can we learn from best practices in industry or professional markets?

• How can the field proliferate inclusive best practices for our hiring processes?

• What actions are we (RCWS organizations, institutions, departments, professionals) taking in our hiring committees to ensure an equitable job market experience?

• What can RCWS faculty serving on hiring committees outside our field specifically bring to the table that can ensure inclusive practices throughout the hiring process?

Possible chapter topics could include but are not limited to the following: 

• Strategies or approaches to issues with specific stages of the hiring process from the candidate, committee, or administrative perspective (e.g., forming hiring committees, writing position advertisements, submitting application materials, conducting or completing campus visits, interviewing, etc.)

• Strategies for using organizations’ recommendations related to hiring and job market practices (e.g., departmental, institutional, CCCC, CWPA, Doctoral Consortium, etc.)

• Strategies for using tools and technologies relevant to different stages of the job market experience (e.g., video conferencing platforms, application portals, job ad databases and websites, AI, etc.)

• Approaches to addressing or resolving labor issues relevant to different roles and expectations embedded in the job market experience (e.g., hiring committees, applicants, graduate faculty/professionalization, preparing/submitting/reviewing application materials, implementing or participating in camp visits, etc.)

• Approaches to conflict resolution and ethical considerations throughout communities engaged in the job market experience (e.g., within committees, among committees and administration, between committees and candidates, etc.)

The collection seeks to include scholarship applicable to the following audiences:

• Graduate students preparing for the academic job market

• Working professionals [re]entering the academic job market

• Hiring committee members and leaders/chairs (faculty)

• Institutional leaders (department, college, or university administration)

This collection welcomes contributions that include content relevant or related to:

• Hiring practices, experiences, and policies at institutions of higher education (e.g., 2-year, 4-year, graduate, specialty, and/or professional, etc.)

• Hiring practices, experiences, and policies related to contingent, adjunct, part-time, or full-time faculty/instructor positions 

• Hiring practices, experiences, and policies related to remote, hybrid, and in-person positions 

• Hiring practices, experiences, and policies related to alternative academic positions held by RCWS practitioners (e.g., writing centers; grant, research, or academic affairs offices; etc.)

Please submit a proposal (max. 500 words) by June 28, 2024, for consideration. Included with the chapter proposal, provide a working title; primary audience; and contributor name(s), email address(es), and current institution/independent scholar. Proposals should be submitted to RCWShiringpractices@gmail.com. Claire Lutkewitte and Juliette Kitchens, editors, will provide invitations by July 15, 2024, for a complete chapter manuscript of 6000-7000 words (draft deadline anticipated as Sep 9, 2024).