N.C. State’s cluster system is expanding research opportunities, but not without changes to fundamental University practices 

Clusters, or groups of interdisciplinary faculty working together to achieve similar goals, have the potential to make large impacts in challenging societal problems. However, they have to adjust areas such as faculty hiring, departmental autonomy and tenure to meet the needs of a new, integrated system. 

Randy Avent, Associate Vice Chancellor of Research Development for the Office of Research, Innovation & Economic Development, said federally funded research was not as interdisciplinary 20 years ago as it is today. 

“More funding agencies these days are going after grand challenge problems, such as the environment, energy, clean water, climate, national security,” Avent said. “These are really large complex problems that are multi-dimensional, and that’s driving a very multidisciplinary approach to try and solve them.” 

The emphasis on interdisciplinary perspectives is changing the way cluster faculty members function at the University, beginning before they are even hired. 

Avent said a traditional hire begins with the department putting together a search committee, and it identifies candidates the department likes and hires them. But with the cluster hires, there’s an external committee, sometimes outside the department but often with departmental representation, that finds the candidates, and both the cluster and the department vote on whether they want to hire him or her. 

“Normally, the candidates come in through the departments, and now they are coming in through a cluster,” Avent said. “There isn’t necessarily a departmental committee that is overseeing it.” 

For some departmental faculty members, this system has taken some getting used to. Original faculty members sometimes feel as if the new candidates are being “thrust” upon the department for a departmental vote, according to Avent. 

“Many faculty don’t like the fact that they didn’t have a say in the original choice, and we’ve seen that translate into no votes,” Avent said. 

Terri Lomax, Vice Chancellor for Research in ORIED, said in some cases, it’–s abnormal for the people in the departments to let go of control and let other people get involved with searching for candidates that are going to be in their departments. 

“It’s new for some of them,” Lomax said. 

Unlike when traditional faculty members from one department are being hired, cluster faculty members are being judged on their diverse skill set instead of only their departmental track record, Avent said. 

Clusters are looking to bring in faculty members who have entrepreneurial qualities, which would help them be aggressive going after grants. Educational experience, teamwork and strong leadership skills are also necessary qualities that are looked for during the hiring process, according to Avent. 

“I don’t think anyone expects that the cluster will be a closed group of faculty,” Avent said. “It’s meant to be a catalyst for incorporating a larger number of faculty to do something big.” 

Clusters aren’t only starting to change University hiring processes and faculty skill sets. The tenure system is also beginning to shift to meet the needs of a new breed of faculty. 

Lomax said cluster faculty will now be allowed to have an interdisciplinary tenure committee during the evaluation process, instead of the single department being the one that does the first evaluation of tenure. 

Adjusting the tenure process will allow cluster hires to fully participate in cluster activities without having to worry about impressing the department for tenure purposes. 

“There’s always a tendency within a department to ask ‘What have you done for me today?’ and so if the cluster is off working on cluster activities, they may not be getting credit within the department,” Avent said. 

Although cluster systems are altering familiar practices and introducing new ones, the benefits outweigh the initial tensions that come with change, Avent said. 

“Anytime you try to do something a little bit different, which is a good thing, by the way, you are trying to bring in people that are not necessarily like the people in the department, so you are going to be met with frictions and challenges,” Avent said. “It’s healthy to have a little bit of tension.” 

Avent said he noticed when people talk about clusters, they seem to concentrate on the problems with them, but in reality, the cluster system is a huge opportunity for the University. 

“It is something that we really need to do or we are going to find ourselves in trouble,”Avent said.