Faculty Hiring Procedures

TO:                     All Faculty Hiring Committees      

FROM:             Maurice A. Lee, Dean, College of Liberal Arts

DATE:              April 9, 2007

SUBJECT:       Policy for Hiring of Faculty

In forwarding your requests to the dean’s office for the hiring of new faculty, in particular those faculty on

tenure-track lines, I now require the following information to accompany or be part of that request.

              1.           The top three candidates ranked, including their complete folders.

              2.           The second three candidates ranked, should there be enough candidates (including their

                            complete folders)

              3.           A full report signed by the committee chair and all participating members. This report

                            should include the following: (Note: This report will normally be only for the top three

                            candidates initially; should these candidates not be available, then the reports will be made

                            for the next three.)

                            A.          Strengths and weaknesses of the candidate (as viewed by all of those recommending

                                          the candidate)

                            B.           Strengths and weaknesses of the candidate (as viewed by the committee)

                            C.          How this candidate fits into the mission of the department first of all, and the college

                                          secondly. Of interest is the area of expertise that the candidate brings which will

                                          enhance the offerings in the department as well as the impact on the majors, if at all.

                            D.          Summation of teaching experience, if any.

A few additional guidelines, suggestions, concerns, etc.

              1.           If the candidate is a new (present year) Ph.D. or one who has received his/her degree within

                            the past three years, the dissertation director must be interviewed, whether or not this

                            person is listed as one of the references.

              2.           All references must be checked and the committee has the right to do “cold calls” if the

                            answers from the references are not sufficient or are somewhat contradictory.

              3.           To ensure consistency of examination of both references and candidate, a set of prepared

                            questions should be asked of each candidate and references. Other questions may be posed,

                           but at least all candidates should be asked a set of the same questions for comparison and for

                           some sense of unity. One question should be if the referee knows of any relevant reason why

                           we should not hire this candidate?

              4.          Since the chair of the department forwards the letter to the dean from the committee, the

                           chair must review the top candidates and indicate to both the committee and their chair if

                           his/her ranking differs from the committee’s, and that ranking must be submitted with the

                           final report with reasons for the differences in ranking spelled out by the department chair.

              5.         The committee should first invite its top two candidates to campus and then a third (and so on)

                           if necessary.

After an offer is accepted, please remember to use our “official letter of appointment” and forward a copy to this office.