Recruitment Toolkit

External Faculty Search Procedure

• Eligibility

  This procedure applies to faculty and other parties involved with external faculty searches at Champlain College.

• Definitions

  Applicant: An individual who applies for a current faculty position for which Champlain College is recruiting.

  Candidate: An applicant who is considered qualified for the position based on the review and is invited to the first round of interviews.

  Chair: The individual appointed by the Provost or Dean for faculty searches who is responsible for ensuring that the charge of the committee is completed successfully. The Chair must be at the same or higher level than the vacant position.

  Responsibilities of the Chair include:

  • Ensure proper record keeping.
  • Determine committee process, including voting vs. consensus for decisions.
  • Serve as liaison between hiring authority and committee.
  • Ensure committee charge is carried out.
  • Keeping hiring authority informed.
  • Work collaboratively with the committee, People Center, and the hiring authority to develop recruitment materials.

  Committee Member: Person who participates in the search committee.

  Responsibilities of Committee Members include:

  • Attend all meetings.
  • Actively engage in recruitment efforts.
  • Consistently and fairly evaluate all applicants.
  • Share responsibility to attract a diverse pool and ensure fair and equitable treatment of all applicants.
  • Maintain all confidentiality of the applicants and the process. All committee members must sign the confidentiality agreement.

  Hiring Authority: The individual in charge of the final hiring decision. In cases of faculty recruitment, the hiring authorities are the Dean, the Provost, and the President. Dean search hiring authorities are the Provost and the President. For Presidential searches, the hiring authority is the Board of Trustees.

• Procedure 1

  All new and vacant full-time regular faculty positions (excluding interim positions) must be made available to Champlain College current faculty and staff to apply for with the following exceptions:

  • Individuals named in grant applications not currently employed by Champlain College.

  Search Committees are established to review applicants’ qualifications and to make recommendations to the Division Dean, Provost and President.

• Procedure 2

  Requisitions

  A completed job requisition authorizes The People Center to begin the recruitment process and provides information needed to conduct an effective search. The Job Requisition is created by the Dean and/or Department Chair and must be approved by the Provost.

  A job description for the purpose of advertising the position should be included in the requisition or provided as an attachment. A faculty job description must include:

  • Primary job responsibilities
  • Minimum and preferred qualifications including
    • Areas of specialization
    • Education requirements
    • Teaching experience
    • Industry experience (if applicable)
    • Other relevant qualifications
  • Required application materials (resume, cover letter, etc.) and
  • Application deadline (typically 30 to 90 calendar days after the position is posted)

  The search committee chair may be asked to help draft the job posting.

  After Provost approval, the requisition is then submitted to the People Center and Finance for verification that the position is in the budget and all information is accurate.

  Recruiting Strategy

  Once the Requisition is approved, a recruiting strategy will be developed by the search committee and the Division Dean in partnership with The People Center and the Provost, as needed. A recommended list of publications, job boards, list serves and other potential recruiting sources may be included in the requisition but is optional.

  After the Recruiting Strategy is developed, the People Center will post the position on Champlain’s applicant tracking system (ATS) and will inform the College staff and faculty via email that the position has been posted.

  The People Center will also advertise positions according to the Recruiting Strategy developed with the Search Committee. Search committees are encouraged to include specific outreach strategies in their recruitment plan, as appropriate. Search committees will help source through social media sites and direct outreach in collaboration with the People Center.

  Creating the Search Committee

  Faculty positions: The Dean will establish a Search Committee comprised of:

  • A Committee Chair
  • At least two faculty members currently in the division and
  • A faculty member from another division, with permission of his/her Dean, or a member of the college staff, with permission from his/her supervisor.

  Former faculty members may act as advisors to the search committee if deemed helpful.

  Search committees should have at least four, but no more than seven members. The appointing hiring authority cannot be a search committee member.

  Assistant, Associate, and Dean positions: The Provost will establish a Search Committee composed of:

  • A Committee Chair
  • Three faculty members from within the division (representing different programs when feasible) for which a Dean is being sought and a faculty member and/or Dean from another division

  Associate and Assistant Provosts: The Provost has the prerogative to directly promote an employee to an Associate or Assistant Provost position, if approved by the President.

  He/she may also establish a search committee composed of Staff and/or Faculty representatives and external advisors if deemed helpful.

  Vice President and Provost positions: The President has the prerogative to directly promote an employee to a Vice President or the Provost position, if approved by the Board of Trustees.

  He/she may also establish a search committee composed of Staff and/or Faculty representatives and external advisors if deemed helpful.

  President and Officers of the College: The selection of the President is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees and Officers of the College. Officers of the College must also be approved by the Board of Trustees.

  Confidentiality Agreement

  Search Committee members are to be provided a confidentiality agreement and informed by the Division Dean, or the search committee chair, that any information or records contained in employment application files (letters of interest, curriculum vitae, application, publications, work samples, etc.) submitted for consideration of employment within Champlain College will be treated as confidential. Such documents can only be released pursuant to the written authorization of the applicant or a court order.

  In addition, search committee members must refrain from making any public comments pertaining to individual applicants or deliberations of the search committee without prior authorization from the Dean (the Provost in the case of a Dean search). Search Committee members will be required to sign a Search Committee Confidentiality Agreement prior to reviewing applicants’ materials.

  Applicant Review

  Once the selection criteria have been reviewed and approved by the Division Dean ( or Provost if a Dean search is being conducted), and confidentiality has been secured, the search committee will be provided access to the curricula vitae of all applicants.

  Each committee member should independently review each applicant’s materials against the requirements listed in the job description and the list of selection criteria to determine their preferred applicants before meeting to discuss and compare selections with other committee members. Note that

  • The evaluation criteria must be based on the description and advertisements.
  • The evaluation criteria must be written and available to committee members.

  In cases in which there is a large applicant pool, search committees may form sub-teams of 2-3 people and divide the applicant pool so that each sub-team need only review a subset of the applications. Any applicant that meets qualifications should be brought back to the entire committee for review and consideration.

  Members of the search committee will then meet to review all applications and document, in writing, the extent to which each of the applicants meets the pre-established criteria. The documentation of this initial selection is provided to the People Center for review and filing. It is essential to be consistent in applying the criteria against the applications. Exceptions are not to be afforded one applicant, thereby privileging or disadvantaging others.

  A list of applicants, who are deemed not qualified based on this initial review, is provided to the People Center by the search committee chair. The People Center will inform these applicants in writing (e-mail or letter) that they are no longer being considered for the position. Internal applicants who do not meet the criteria established by the search committee and therefore will not be considered for further review, are to be informed of this decision by the search committee chair or the Division Dean (the Provost in the case of a Dean search).

  Pre-Screening Interviews

  The search committee will then determine pre-screening questions to be asked of candidates who are considered qualified for the position based on the review against the selection criteria. It is recommended that a standard set of questions be asked of each candidate as well as questions specific to each candidate’s experience and qualifications.

  Representatives from the search committee will conduct the pre-screening interview by phone with each of the selected candidates. Consolidated documentation of the questions and responses must be provided to the People Center or uploaded into the applicant tracking system. Suggestions for pre-screening questions are provided in this procedure’s appendix.

  Phone screens to address matters of compensation and benefits will be performed by the People Center or an external consultant representing the People Center and the findings of this screen will be provided to the hiring dean, Provost, or President, only. The Chair will provide the Dean, (the Provost in the case of a Dean Search or the President in case of a Provost search) their committee’s recommendations. All search materials, including notes, should be treated with the utmost confidentiality and care.

  On-Campus Interview

  Once the search committee has evaluated the semi-final pool of candidates and selected a final interview pool, the Committee Chair will forward a list of interview candidates to the Division Dean (the Provost in the case of a Dean search) for approval and in turn to The People Center for information.

  The search committee will work with the Division Dean (the Provost in the case of Dean searches) to develop a list of interviewers. Members of the search committee, the Division Dean, and the Provost and the President when appropriate, are to be included on the list of interviewers.

  In addition, other individuals acting as resources for the candidates may be included in the interview schedule. A representative from the search committee, with the support of a staff member, will provide the People Center with possible interview dates based on the interviewers’ schedules.

  Division Operations Managers will contact the candidate(s) to determine which of the dates are feasible for the candidate(s) and will confirm a date for each candidate to that representative and the search committee chair. If the search committee conducts the phone interview, the People Center will follow up with an additional conversation regarding salary requirements and expectations. This information will be given to the hiring authority only – the search committee will only know that the candidate’s requirements fall within budget or not.

  The search committee and Division Dean will establish an interview schedule for each candidate, a copy of which will be provided to the People Center to be included with information on the Burlington area, the College and the Division, provided to the candidates. It is suggested that the Operations Managers in the Division for which the search is being conducted assist with this scheduling.

  Operations Managers will work with each of the out-of-town candidates to make travel arrangements, book hotels and to provide information about the College and the Burlington area. Receipts for candidate travel expenses are to be forwarded to the People Center for processing and reimbursement to the candidate.

  The People Center will reimburse Committee Chairs and Division Deans for reasonable and customary meal expenses related to interviewing candidates. Reimbursements for meals will be capped at expenses for up to ten individuals (excluding the candidate) per candidate interviewed. On-campus interview schedules should include:

  • A meeting with the search committee chair (preferably at the end of the interview schedule), the division Dean, the Provost, and the President.
  • A meeting with the search committee members both formally and informally as well as the division’s faculty.
  • The candidate presenting a public talk on a topic relevant to the post and then responding to questions. Both Faculty and Staff from across all divisions and departments are encouraged to attend the presentation.
  • Other individual meetings could include: Library, staff members that they may deal regularly with, students, etc.

  Post-Interview Evaluation

  After interviews the search committee should meet to write a summary evaluation for each of the candidates interviewed; the committee shall solicit feedback from employees that interacted with the candidate as well as attended the presentations, and to recommend all acceptable finalists to the Division Dean (the Provost in the case of a Dean search). Candidate performance should be assessed by the same committee members using job relevant criteria; what the committee wants is their consensus judgment, in writing. The Search Committee’s written recommendations will say whether the candidate is acceptable or unacceptable by explaining the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses.

  Reference Check

  The hiring authority for administrator searches, (Dean for faculty searches) should then conduct reference checks on the candidates who have been rated as acceptable by the committee.

  Reference checks should inquire into areas that may be of concern to the search committee members or answer questions which were not adequately addressed during the interview process. Verification of candidates’ credentials, such as degrees, jobs, titles, awards, etc. should be checked. Information found via social media may not be used in a discriminatory manner in any search. References should be contacted after the candidate has confirmed the College may contact his/her references.

  Let the candidate know if you are going “off the list.” Typically, this will not be an issue with a candidate; however, if the candidate says not to contact the off list references, we will respect that concern and make a note for the person’s candidacy.

  Final Recommendation

  After references are checked, the hiring authority will meet with the search committee and or search committee chair to review and discuss the finalists. The Dean (the search committee chair in the case of a Dean search) will make a final recommendation to the Provost of all acceptable candidates. In the event there are no acceptable candidates forwarded to the Provost, the search will either re-open or be declared unsuccessful. It is important for search committee members to maintain the confidentiality of these recommendations.

  Extending an Offer

  The Provost will review the recommendations with the President. Once a selection has been made, the Dean, Provost or People Center designee will contact the first choice candidate to discuss the position and extend a verbal offer The Dean ( or Provost) may contact the second choice candidate to extend an offer, if the first choice candidate declines the offer and so on. The hiring authority will share the progression of the offer process with members of the search committee and all other parties involved in the search who are bound by the confidentiality agreement.

  No discussions regarding salary should take place with the search committee during any part of the recruitment, selection and hiring process. Likewise, only the Provost and President may determine that the recommended finalists and other candidates do not meet their expectations or requirements and decide to conduct or postpone a new search.

  The People Center will work with the Provost to create and send a written offer and contract if applicable. Once an offer has been accepted the candidate must be hired into the Human Resources system with the pre-approved salary.

  Communication with non-selected Candidates

  The search committee chair, Dean, or the Provost will contact candidates who were interviewed but not selected for hire, as well as any internal applicants not selected. The People Center will contact all those not selected for interviews.

  Post-Search Debrief

  After the search is complete, it is recommended that the Committee meet to discuss and review what worked, what did not work, and make recommendations to The People Center and the Academic Affairs office on policy and procedure improvements.

• Procedure Adherence

  The Provost is the responsible official for this policy. Any exceptions to this policy must be approved by the Provost.

   

• Questions

  Questions related to the interpretation of this procedure should be directed to the Provost or the People Center.