Faculty Search Process Steps in Accord with the Faculty Handbook
Identifying potential faculty for recruitment should be ongoing and continuous (including years in which there are no searches in a department) and responsibility rests with each faculty member at the College, not just with search committees, chairs, and deans.
The 13 process steps below occur in accord with the Faculty Handbook and contain more detail about the recruitment and applicant review process and the role of the vice provost for internationalization & equity (VPIE) who collaborates with the participants in the search process to achieve academic and inclusive excellence in hiring.
Step 1
- A faculty search is approved by the provost. A search committee is elected by the process outlined in the Faculty Handbook (section 6.1.2) at the end of the academic year preceding the search and should include “individuals with different perspectives and expertise and with a demonstrated commitment to diversity.”
Step 2
These steps occur simultaneously and in coordination with each other
- The search committee develops the position description in consultation with the chair, dean, provost, and VPIE. Past job descriptions can be used as a reference.
- The department chair provides a list of the search committee members and the position description to Academic Affairs and their respective Dean.
- The dean, department chair and an Academic Affairs representative meet with the search committee to discuss the position description, establish a common understanding of components of the description and the goal of a diverse pool, and review/update the recruitment plan. This meeting may happen before or after
the position is posted. - The search committee submits an outreach and recruitment plan to be approved by the chair and the dean in consultation with the VPIE and Academic Affairs.
Step 3
- Academic Affairs posts to various job boards, thereby initiating the passive recruitment phase of online ad placement.
- The search committee initiates the active phase of its recruitment plan.
Step 4
- Search committee members are required to attend a Faculty Search Orientation session every two years. A Workday system review (how to access materials and advance candidates) may be presented during this session or individual trainings can be set up by appointment.
- Academic Affairs adds the search committee members to the search in the Workday system once the training has been completed.
Step 5
Remote interviews
- The committee decides upon whom they would like to move forward for initial screenings.
- Search committee chair moves candidates to “Video/Phone Screening” in system workflow after committee makes decisions.
- Dean and VPIE are notified by the search chair that candidates were moved forward for screening. Dean and VPIE consult with search committee chair and assess the candidate pool. Dean and VPIE approve or make recommendations as needed.
Step 6
On-site Interviews
- Search committee either reviews recommendation letters or conducts reference
checks for potential on-site interviewees (after notifying candidates that their references may be contacted). This step is completed prior to submitting the final on-campus interview recommendations to the dean and VPIE. If conducting live reference checks, the search committee member tasked with contacting references works with a consistent list of questions and takes detailed notes. - Search committee chair moves candidates to “Recommend for On-site Interview” once the committee has decided on recommendations for finalists.
- Department chair, dean and VPIE are notified by the system.
- Dean and VPIE discuss recommendations in context of the applicant pool.
- Dean is responsible for approving on-site interviews and for moving candidate(s) in the system workflow to “On-site Interview.”
- Internal candidates who were not selected for an on-site interview are informed by the search chair that they will not be advancing to the next step at that time.
Step 7
- After on-site interviews, the search committee summarizes each candidate's strengths and weaknesses and makes a recommendation to the department along with a proposed rank ordering.
Step 8
- Department votes on each individual candidate deciding whether to move them forward to the dean; the department then votes on the ranking of those being moved forward.
Step 9
- The chair of the search committee forwards to the dean a written recommendation on the rank ordering of the remaining candidate(s), as well as the suggested rank and/or tenure transfer if applicable, with a copy to the department chair. The department chair forwards their independent written recommendation and rank ordering of the candidate(s) to the dean, with a copy to the search committee. The search committee chair, the department chair and the dean (with the possible inclusion of the search committee) meet either online or in person to discuss the recommendations.
Step 10
- Dean may consult with the VPIE before moving recommended candidate(s) to "Offer" in Workday.
- Dean recommends a candidate for appointment to the Provost; after written or verbal approval, the Dean verbally offers the position to the candidate.
- Dean forms an outline of the offer letter based on conversations with the candidate.
Step 11
- After further discussion with the Provost, the Dean submits the final offer letter through Workday to be sent to candidate for digital signing.
Step 12
- Search committee chair is required to contact finalists by phone or email (those who were video/phone-interviewed and those who were invited for campus visits) to notify them that a hire has been made and move all other applicants that were not considered in Workday.
Step 13
- Academic Affairs closes the search when the candidate digitally signs the offer letter through Workday. All applicants not considered or reviewed are notified by the system.
*Endowed-chair searches and cluster hire searches also have a different process as indicated in the Faculty Handbook.