Ohio State’s Office of Academic Affairs announced Wednesday that it has approved four new research proposals that will contribute to the RAISE (Race, Inclusion and Social Equity) initiative by creating 10 tenure-track faculty positions. Three of those four proposals will bolster momentous research throughout the College of Arts and Sciences.

As part of Ohio State’s expansion of high-impact research, RAISE will recruit faculty members to address how race and equity issues intersect with criminal justice, STEM education, economic opportunity and engagement with urban communities.

“The College of Arts and Sciences will continue its commitment to research and scholarship in areas of diversity, equity and inclusion with these new faculty positions afforded to us by the RAISE initiative,” said David G. Horn, executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “We look forward to strengthening the college’s reputation for important, forward-thinking research as we focus on issues that will shape society.”

• Critical STEM fields: Chemistry, Math, and Physics (three faculty positions)
• Buckeye Bilingual Speech-Language Program (two faculty positions)
• Advancing Racial and Criminal Justice through Collaborative Science (cluster of four faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences, Moritz College of Law and John Glenn College of Public Affairs)

In total, the university has approved 25 RAISE positions since fall 2021 — significant progress toward the goal of attracting 50 RAISE research faculty within a decade.

“Our focus on research excellence reflects Ohio State’s land-grant commitment to serve communities,” said Executive Vice President and Provost Melissa L. Gilliam. “As we expand our faculty, Ohio State will be in an even stronger position to provide research-informed insights to address critical societal needs.”

The three interdisciplinary and community-engaged research proposals approved this week with College of Arts and Sciences ties are:

More information about the approved proposals is available on the RAISE webpage.

The Critical STEM fields: Chemistry, Math, and Physics project will address social equity and racial disparities in three core educational areas essential for all STEM students: chemistry, mathematics and physics. The proposal will enhance research into evidence-based practices to improve learning, the student experience and measures of success, such as grades and graduation, as well as career placements in these STEM fields.

The Buckeye Bilingual Speech-Language Program seeks to increase speech-language pathology services in central Ohio so that fewer bilingual Spanish-English children are erroneously diverted to special education programs as they acquire English language skills. One step to work toward this goal will be creating a graduate-level bilingual speech-language pathology program at Ohio State, which will include teaching, research and community outreach through the Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic.

Advancing Racial and Criminal Justice through Collaborative Science is a joint proposal from the College of Arts and Sciences, the Moritz College of Law and the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. By collaborating with one another and existing Ohio State faculty, the project’s cohort of new faculty will study how to improve police-citizen interactions and law-enforcement practices more generally, prosecutorial and judicial decision-making, and the effectiveness of other criminal justice institutions.

The university expects to fill the approved positions by autumn 2023.

This broader faculty hiring and retention effort includes initiatives such as the Provost’s Tenure-Track Fellow to Faculty Program, the Distinguished Early Career Scholars Program, and the creation of the Office of Dual Careers and Faculty Relocation.