Office of the Provost

Faculty and Unclassified Staff Handbook Chapter 3 -- Faculty: Employment, Tenure, Promotion, and Merit

Recruitment for Vacant Positions

Search Committee Checklist for Unclassified Vacancies

1. Department chairs or directors present and discuss vacant positions with the appropriate faculty dean or vice president. The faculty dean then meets and confers with the provost with regard to rank and salary range applicable to positions to be filled. The search process report shall be signed by the appropriate chair, dean, or vice president before the search process begins.

2. The search committee and its chair shall be duly appointed by the president or designate (vice president, dean, or department chair).

3. Develop a position description listing both necessary and preferred qualifications. These qualifications must relate directly to the work to be performed. (Should a discrimination complaint be filed subsequent to the filling of the position, the search committee will be required to demonstrate that stated qualifications are relevant.)

4. The position description and the recruitment sources that will be used shall be reviewed by the affirmative action officer prior to its distribution.

Openly publicize the vacancy by whatever means necessary to reach the entire applicant pool, including minorities, women, and handicapped persons. With a few exceptions, professional positions are recruited for nationally. These should be advertised in professional journals and listed with placement services within the discipline as well as nationally with college and university placement offices. University Relations lists the vacancy. Recommendations may also be solicited from graduate schools known to excel in turning out well-qualified people in the specific areas of specialization required.

The Chronicle for Higher Education is a widely circulated publication and is used increasingly to advertise administrative and faculty positions.

5. All publicity must include the phrase "Fort Hays State University is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.”

6. When publicizing a vacancy, specify a reasonable application deadline. Always allow sufficient time for persons to apply. When possible, 60 days are recommended.

7. The recruitment effort will include methods to encourage application from minorities, women, and handicapped persons, as well as other qualified candidates. If personal contacts are used, make particular efforts to identify and contact minorities and women in the discipline.

8. Minorities, women, and handicapped persons shall be included on the search committee when possible. Committee members shall be informed about the search process.

9. The chair of the search committee will notify the Equal Employment Opportunity Officer of the starting date of the search and the composition of the search committee. The EEO Oofficer shall attend the first meeting of the search committee to answer questions.

10. If a last-minute resignation precludes normal equal employment opportunity requirement methods, the EEO Officer shall be contacted to work out a satisfactory alternative procedure. When it is impossible to meet equal employment opportunity recruitment requirements in filling a vacancy, a temporary appointment for a maximum one-year appointment may be one solution.

A full search increases the pool of qualified candidates, but such a search is not mandated for instructional faculty positions which are temporary (one-year appointments).

Normally, full-time administrative appointments (nine-month and twelve-month) require equal employment opportunity recruitment.

11. Make every attempt to eliminate subjective judgment from the evaluation process. Both initial screening and subsequent evaluation of applicants should be based to the greatest extent possible on an objective evaluation of requisite qualifications as specified in the written position description. Criteria should be clearly delineated and used in the process. Check criteria for factors that could have an adverse impact. Should there be two or more equally qualified candidates, choose the person who will fulfill the Equal Employment Opportunity Policy of the University as outlined in Chapter 2.

12. When an application is submitted, the chair of the search committee will send the applicant the demographic data form to solicit equal employment opportunity information. This form will be returned to the EEO Officer.

13. Prior to arranging interviews, submit a copy of the "Search Process Report" to the EEO Officer with the designated pre-interview items completed for a pre-interview review. Following the administrative and equal employment opportunity approval, the interview process may begin.

14. After the interview process has been completed and the selected candidate has been offered and accepts the position, complete the "Search Process Report" and submit the original to the EEO Officer.

15. Compile and maintain a file for each position filled. Include the following:

a. Copies of recruitment letters and notices. (Indicate where notices were sent.)

b. Copies of or information on notices and ads placed in professional publications or job registries in addition to clippings with dates and names of the publication and how many times it ran.

c. All information submitted by or in support of each applicant.

d. All correspondence with applicants.

e. Written memoranda on telephone and other verbal communications.

f. Any other materials used in or resulting from the recruitment effort. Keep complete notes on the reasons why candidates are eliminated, reasons that will meet equal employment opportunity requirements.

g. Minutes of committee meetings.

h. Rejections of offers and withdrawals from consideration.

i. Complaints, post-hiring inquiries, or comments of applicants.

j. A copy of the "Search Process Report" after sending the original to the EEO Officer. Should the need arise for information on recruitment for a particular position beyond that supplied by the report, the EEO Officer may request that a file be submitted for review.

16. Files should be retained for a minimum of three years after the position is filled.

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