Georgia Southern University

Faculty Search Procedures
2005-2006

Preface
The following procedures guide the search process and inform search chairs about the procedural and legal issues central to the hiring process. Recruiting new faculty is a critical and time-consuming task. To achieve optimal results and ensure the search committee’s time is well spent, search committees and university administrators must be aware of and sensitive to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and University System guidelines. In addition to these faculty search procedures, major administrative officer searches (i.e., chaired professors, provosts, vice presidents) require that a letter describing the recommended applicant’s qualifications for service in the position be submitted along with the recommendation for appointment to the Board of Regents (Board of Regents Policy Manual, § 803.02). In major administrative officer searches, the person-in-charge is usually either a vice president or president of the university. 1

1. Initiating the Search Process
The Provost and Associate Provost annually meet with each dean during the spring semester to consider a list of faculty searches for the forthcoming academic year. Special attention is given to data furnished by the Associate Vice President for Institutional Compliance on availability of minority and women applicants in the discipline as well as the race and gender composition of the unit.

The actual search process commences with the appointment of a search chair and search committee by the department chair. After departmental consensus has been reached on the required qualifications for the position, the search chair, working with the department chair, completes the search position data form and submits it electronically with the draft advertising copy (see step 2 below) and the recruitment strategy, through the dean’s office,to the Provost’s Office and to the Office of Institutional Compliance (OIC). [Submissions to the Provost’s Office are emailed to: candaceg@georgiasouthern.edu. Submissions to the OIC are emailed to: mjones@georgiasouthern.edu.]

No position is advertised until the search chair receives approval for the advertising copy and recruitment strategy back from the Associate Provost. This approval takes the form of a memorandum and is accompanied by a signed copy of the search position data form, a redlined version of the advertising copy indicating recommended changes, the recruitment strategy with comments from the Associate Vice President for Institutional Compliance, and a copy of the position vacancy announcement submitted to the University System Applicant Clearinghouse (ACH). Copies are also sent to the dean, department chair, and Associate Vice President for Institutional Compliance.

AA/EEO Data Request Cards

Each applicant should be directed to complete an AA/EEO data request card directly online (see sample letter D) when acknowledging the application. The Provost’s Office maintains a database of all AA/EEO cards returned by applicants and reports these data to the search chair at the conclusion of the search. The online version of the card is available at: http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/provost/searches/search_eeoaacard.html.

2. Advertisements
Each college is responsible for placing a college-wide group ad in The Chronicle of Higher Education in an issue of their choosing. Departments are responsible for placing all other ads. When placing ads, always ask the journal to send an invoice and tear sheet to the search chair. Advertising costs should be paid with departmental credit cards. In those cases where journals do not accept credit card payments, prepare a fund request and forward it with the original invoice and tear sheet to Accounts Payable. Electronic listings of approved advertising should not be overlooked as they often reach a broader audience than some print sources, but it is still advisable to have at least one print version of the ad published. Copies of all submitted advertisements must be retained for the administrative search file.

Advertising

Advertising copy varies according to the position, discipline, and the publication for which it is written, but there are certain required elements which must appear in all ads and position announcements. It is strongly recommended that search chairs use the sample ad templates provided on the Provost’s Office web site in drafting advertising copy.

Required elements:
  • title of position
  • discipline or sub-discipline
  • rank and salary ("commensurate with qualifications and experience")
  • required qualifications (list separately from preferred qualifications)
  • preferred qualifications (list separately from required qualifications)
  • required degree (may be as general as “master’s,” meaning any master’s degree, or “doctorate,” meaning any doctoral degree, or as specific as the abbreviation for a particular degree: M.F.A., Ed.D., Ph.D.)
  • if experience is required or preferred, state what kind of experience is sought and the number of years experience
  • when rank is open, include a clear differentiation between qualifications required for each rank
  • the application materials required for a complete application package
  • name of the search chair and contact information
  • application deadline or screening begins date
  • starting date of the position
  • compliance statements (see below)
Three statements are used in all advertising to emphasize Georgia Southern's compliance with state and federal regulations.
  • Georgia Southern is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity institution.
  • The names of applicants and nominees, résumés, and other general non-evaluative information may be subject to public inspection under the Georgia Open Records Act. (A shorter version: Georgia is an Open Records state.)
  • Persons who need reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act in order to participate in the search process should notify the search chair.

3. Applicant Clearinghouse
The Applicant Clearinghouse of the University System of Georgia (ACH) maintains a database of potential applicants in various academic fields. The 34 institutions of the University System are required to list all teaching and administrative vacancies with the Clearinghouse. At Georgia Southern, the Provost’s Office performs this function for faculty and administrative searches, and shortly thereafter, the search chair receives a list of names and a set of address labels of potential applicants. These labels should be used to mail position announcements to each individual identified by the ACH. (See sample letter A.) The five-digit position vacancy number assigned to the search should be used as the unique identifier for each search.

4. Affirmative Action
At the initial stages of the search, affirmative action consists of proactive efforts to build the pool of qualified minority and female applicants through any number of methods recorded on the recruitment plan. Assistance from the OIC has traditionally included identifying any minority or female prospects on file, providing lists of institutions that regularly graduate minority and female applicants, posting the position vacancy announcement to various electronic job banks, and maintaining availability data for the various academic fields in which searches are conducted.

Search chairs are responsible for pursuing all referrals from the OIC, making personal contacts with minority and female associates in the discipline who might apply or who might nominate minority and female prospects, listing positions with minority and female caucuses within professional associations, requesting archived files of previous departmental searches from the Provost’s Office, and requesting assistance from minority and female colleagues on campus. All affirmative action efforts should be documented on the initial screening review form completed prior to the search committee’s review of applicant files.

Building the Pool

PLEASE ALSO READ BUILDING DIVERSE APPLICANT POOLS.

Search chairs must build the applicant pool by mining various sources of potential applicants. While the specific sources vary by discipline, they usually include professional organizations—many of which offer job placement opportunities through their publications and annual meetings; discipline-specific electronic bulletin boards; personal contacts within the discipline; graduate programs known to produce viable applicants; and national directories such as the Minority and Women Doctoral Directory, the National Minority Faculty Identification Program, and the University System’s ACH. Generally, the University does not use commercial referral services to identify potential applicants. If in your search you decide to use an applicant referral service, please obtain from them a written statement that they do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, veteran status, political affiliation, or disability in their recruitment or referral of applicants.

5. Receipt of Applications and Nominations
Date stamp and log nominations and applications as they arrive and promptly acknowledge each with the appropriate letter. (See sample letters B, C, and D.) The search chair also solicits applications from any individuals who have been nominated for the position.

Accommodations in the Application Process

PLEASE ALSO READ COMPLYING WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT IN THE EMPLOYMENT PROCESS.

Under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers must respond to requests for reasonable accommodations from qualified persons with disabling conditions to enable them to have full consideration in the search process. A potential applicant may call and request a large-print version of the ad or position announcement. Another may ask to receive telephone calls over a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD). If invited to the campus for an interview, an applicant may ask to be transported from the airport in a wheelchair-accessible vehicle or may ask for a ground-floor motel room. All of these may be reasonable accommodations that the institution could make. Search chairs who have questions about accommodations under the ADA should contact the Associate Provost at 871-1408. (See for more complete information about the ADA and its implications for interviewing and hiring.)

6. Recruitment Deadline
Following receipt of applications, efforts to obtain completed applications are concluded as soon as possible so that the eligible applicants may be identified.

Postmark deadline: As long as a letter of application or a curriculum vitae has been postmarked by the application deadline, the applicant is considered to have met the deadline and every attempt is made to encourage the individual to complete the application file by sending sample letter F. Nominations and applications postmarked after the deadline are not eligible for consideration, and the search chair should inform the individuals in writing of this fact by sending sample letter E.

Screening date: When a screening date is advertised, applications and nominations that arrive after the posted screening date are still eligible for consideration and every attempt is made to encourage the individual to complete the application file by sending sample letter F. Only those applicants who submit all of the application materials requested in the ad and who meet the required minimum qualifications stated in the ad are considered qualified applicants in the search. If an applicant does not submit all of the application materials required in the ad by a given deadline—even after repeated efforts have been made to obtain this information from the applicant—the applicant is considered to be non-qualified.

7. Initial Screening
The initial screening consists of the search chair separating applicants into one of two categories—qualified or not qualified—according to the advertised required criteria. “Qualified applicants” are defined as persons who have complete applicant files as required by the ad (e.g., letter of application, résumé, and names and addresses of references or letters of reference) and who meet the minimum qualifications as stated in the ad. Qualified applicants are not ranked at this stage.

Once the candidates have been categorized, the search chair completes the initial screening review form articulating:

√   the recruitment efforts made—especially those directed toward expanding the minority and female pool (essentially these efforts should mirror what has been indicated on the recruitment plan; efforts differing from the recruitment plan should be highlighted);
√   the total number of applications received;
√   the number of applicants who meet the minimum qualifications according to the advertised required criteria;
√   an explanation of the basis on which “not qualified” candidates were screened out of the pool;
√   if known, demographic information specific to the discipline [if this information is not provided, race and gender data from the Office of Institutional Compliance will be used to decide if the demographics of the pool are representative of the discipline];
√   the number of qualified internal candidates (see Special Categories of Finalists);
√   the number of qualified University System of Georgia candidates (see Special Categories of Finalists);
√   the number of qualified foreign national candidates (see Special Categories of Finalists); and
√   the search chair’s assessment of whether to:
(a) proceed with the pool;
(b) extend recruitment efforts; or
(c) cancel the search.
This assessment includes some reference to the overall qualith of the pool (i.e., taking into account the position advertisement, the University’s and department’s strategic vision, and the “desired attributes of Georgia Southern faculty”).

The initial screening review materials are emailed to the department chair who adds his or her recommendation for continued action and emails to the dean. The dean likewise adds comments concerning continued action and forwards electronically to the Provost’s Office (candaceg@georgiasouthern.edu) and to the OIC (mjones@georgiasouthern.edu). These two offices will review the materials and reach consensus with the various parties on further action for the search.

8. Letters to Applicants
If it is decided to proceed with the search, the search chair sends sample letter H to the qualified applicants, informing them that they are still under consideration, and sends sample letter I to the not qualified applicants, informing them that they will not be considered further. At the same time, the search chair sends sample letter G to acknowledge receipt of all reference letters for the applicants.

9. Intensive Screening of Qualified Applicants
This step results in the identification of semi-finalists and involves a more careful screening than the one previously carried out by the search chair to identify qualified applicants. Using the materials provided by qualified applicants and their references (e.g., letter of application, résumé, and letters of recommendation and/or nomination), the search committee evaluates each qualified applicant against the advertised criteria for the position. The resulting group of semi-finalists advances to the next level of screening.

10. Final Evaluation of Semi-Finalists
During this stage, comprehensive reference checks are conducted for each semi-finalist as well as telephone interviews with the applicants. When conducting telephone inquiries, search committees develop a common set of questions to gather comparable information on all applicants. It is recommended that the entire search committee participate in the telephone inquiries simultaneously using speaker telephones, but at a minimum, at least two members of the search committee participate in each call.

Evaluation is carried out by comparing each applicant against the advertised criteria, rather than in comparison to other applicants. If a scale is used, the scale should indicate the degree to which the applicant meets the advertised criteria. The committee then recommends applicants to be invited to campus. The search chair meets with the department chair to determine the number of applicants to be invited to campus. Following this determination, the committee makes a final recommendation to the department chair regarding those applicants to be invited to campus, including a supporting statement articulating the rationale for each interview. The department chair signs the recommendation for campus interview form and submits it with this supporting statement articulating the rationale for each interview to the dean who must approve the group of applicants. The dean then submits the form to the Provost for final approval after indicating his or her support.

If notified by the Provost’s Office that the list of applicants does not include any women and/or underrepresented minorities, a written explanation will be requested of how such applicants were screened out based upon job-related criteria. The search chair includes a copy of this memorandum in the administrative search file.

Note that the total number of applicants and the number of qualified applicants recorded on the recommendation for campus interview form must match the screening review form completed earlier. If additional applications have been received since submitting the screening review form, please attach an updated screening review form to the recommendation for campus interview form.

11. Approval to Invite Applicants to Campus
Approval to invite applicants to campus is granted when the Provost returns a signed copy of the recommendation for campus interview form to the search chair, the department chair, the dean, and to the Associate Vice President for Institutional Compliance.

Special Categories of Finalists

• Applicants Employed by Sister Institutions in the University System of Georgia
Regents’ policies require that prior to contacting a faculty member from another University System institution our President must secure authorization from that institution’s president. In practice, this means that search committees may evaluate the applications of such individuals and may contact their references; but cannot extend an invitation to interview on campus without first securing written authorization to contact the individual. To initiate such a request, call the Associate Provost at ext. 1408. Because the response from the other institution may take several weeks, search chairs should notify the Associate Provost as soon as a decision is reached to interview a University System candidate. In addition, professional courtesy demands that the search chair notify the candidate of this action in case the applicant has not yet apprised individuals on the home campus of the application.

• Foreign Nationals
Georgia Southern University does not discriminate in hiring on the basis of citizenship or national origin although each person offered employment must, as a matter of federal immigration law, verify their employment eligibility prior to commencing employment. Non-citizen foreign nationals with employment authorization documents issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are eligible for employment. It is the policy of Georgia Southern University to petition the USCIS for employment authorization documents, generally nonimmigrant visa status, for non-citizen foreign nationals who accept employment offers. The Office of Legal Affairs and the Center for International Studies are the only two campus offices that are authorized to submit such petitions.

It is imperative that search committees refrain from asking pre-employment questions of an applicant which may be construed as seeking the citizenship or national origin of an applicant. However, the search chair or department chair should ask all applicants who will be interviewed on campus (those identified on the recommendation for campus interview form) the following question: “If you are offered a position at Georgia Southern, will you be eligible to work in the U.S. or should I advise the Office of Legal Affairs to prepare to petition the USCIS for an employment-based visa on your behalf?” If an applicant indicates a need for a visa in response to that question, the chair must arrange for that foreign national applicant to meet with the University attorney to discuss how the University will assist them in gaining employment eligibility if hired.

• Internal Candidates
Search committees should review and evaluate the applications of internal applicants consistent with all other applications, and internal applicants should receive the same notice of the progress of the search as other applicants. At the same time, internal applicants do not receive privileged information about the search that is not available to other applicants. For example, internal applicants are not invited to presentations made by other applicants who are invited to campus, since this opportunity would not be extended to all applicants; likewise, internal applicants would not be allowed to attend meetings in which the department, as a committee of the whole, discusses the search.

Making the Final Cut

It is at this point in the search process that the search committee considers additional factors such as the affirmative action goals of the department, additional subspecialties that each applicant brings to the position, and preferences stated in the position announcement. The committee also considers the University’s “desired attributes of Georgia Southern faculty.”

12. Visits to Campus
When the finalists have been determined, the interview itinerary is developed by the search chair in consultation with the search committee. The search chair assumes responsibility for invitations and orchestration of the interviews. (See sample letter J and Appendix 2, “Travel Information.”)

13. Initial Finalist Evaluations
After the finalists have been brought to campus, the department chair obtains evaluations from appropriate groups and individuals other than the search committee. At this time, the search chair sends sample letter K to those applicants who interviewed for the position.

14. Final Evaluations and Recommended Applicant
The search committee submits names of acceptable and unacceptable finalists to the department chair in alphabetical order. When the decision has been made to offer the position to a finalist, the department chair completes the faculty employment approval form and submits it with a draft offer letter and the applicant’s vitae, through the dean’s office to the Provost’s Office. Upon securing Provost approval, the department chair is free to proceed with verbal and written offers of the position (see offer letters M, N, O, or P). All offers are made contingent upon Regents’ approval of the faculty appointment. It is customary for the department chair to secure a verbal acceptance of the position from the applicant before mailing the written offer.

15. Appointment Package and Request to the Board of Regents
Within two weeks of receipt of a written acceptance from the applicant, the department chair completes the appointment forms and forwards them through the dean’s office to the Provost’s Office. The appointment package includes the following information: personnel action form, faculty information data form (FID), curriculum vitae, and official transcripts of all graduate degrees. The information is then prepared for the President’s review and approval, after which it is forwarded to the Chancellor for Board of Regents’ action. The department chair notifies the finalists who were not selected for the position by sending them sample letter L.

16. Archiving Search Materials
Archiving search materials is an important step in establishing the University’s legal record of the conduct of the search. All search files must be sent to the Provost’s Office. The file should include all applicant files (including a copy of the successful applicant’s file), an alphabetical list of the files, the search chair’s administrative file (correspondence with the Provost’s Office, evaluative materials used in the selection process, names of those considered for campus interview, copies of advertising, form letters sent to applicants, and other relevant material), and a completed applicant flow report.2

Search chairs and department chairs may consult their archived search files at any time by calling the Provost’s Office. Evaluative material is protected from open records requests during the selection process.

1 Internal staff searches that carry faculty rank (defined as FTE=1.00) are conducted through the Division of Human Resources in compliance with the Internal Search Procedures.

2 To accurately complete the applicant flow report, search chairs first contact the Provost’s Office for an AA/EEO report that lists all applicants who have elected to self-identify race and gender (request this report by calling 681-0692).