COE Procedures for Hiring New Faculty

Procedures, forms, & deadlines:

The process of hiring new faculty requires the cooperation of staff from several offices in the College of Education and The University in order to insure that legal and Board of Regents (BOR) policy requirements are met. The (COE Faculty Appointment Checklist) has been designed to communicate and facilitate that process. The steps in the hiring process are explained below and abbreviations of each step appears on the checklist.

Initiating a Faculty Search

Departmental faculty will develop a written proposal for each new position which includes rank for the position, main responsibilities, and how the position fits with the Department's strategic plan. The Department Head takes the written proposal to the Dean for approval.

If the Dean agrees that a position is justified and fits within the department strategic plan, then the request to fill a position is completed and sent to the Associate Dean for Faculty and Administrative Services who will forward it to the provost for approval.

When the Dean obtains permission to search from the Office of the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs/Provost (SVPAA/P) then departmental faculty draft the announcement/advertisement. The Associate Dean assigned to the search reviews the announcement before the Department Head sends it to the EEO office for approval.

Once EEO approval is received, departmental staff place advertisement and send out the announcement as directed by the Department Head.

A system is set up within the department to collect application materials as they are received.

Identifying the Candidate

Departmental faculty review the applications and identify the top applicants.

Top applicants are invited to the campus. Travel arrangements are handled by the department and agreed upon costs borne by the Dean's Office unless otherwise arranged.

After all of the interviews, departmental faculty select the applicant who will be recommended for the position. At this time the faculty should also take a vote on Graduate Faculty status. A vote for tenure may also be taken at this time. The department head communicates this information to the Dean's Office and obtains approval. Once the Dean's approval is obtained then the Department Head notifies the candidate by phone of the impending offer.

Developing the Official Offer

Assistant professor: Departmental Head drafts the offer letter for the Dean's signature.

The Department Head approves salary and other negotiated agreements in writing to the Dean.

Associate professor & professor: departmental staff assemble packet for approving rank and/or Graduate Faculty status (CV, position announcement, cover letter with rank vote, cover letter with graduate faculty vote, letters of recommendation; if this will be a promotion for the candidate the letters should address the requirements for rank or additional external letters should be obtained). The packet is taken to Faculty Services with the transmittal form.

Graduate Faculty status is requested at the time of hire for a 3 year period. In rare cases tenure at hire may be requested. Department Head should draft a letter requesting each along with a department vote.

Faculty Services obtains the Dean's signature and sends the offer letter when the draft letter and transmittal form are received. The offer letter can be sent via standard mail, overnight mail or FAX depending on the urgency.

Faculty Services notifies the Department when the candidate has returned the signed offer letter.

The chair of the departmental search committee notifies unsuccessful applicants in writing that the position has been filled.

Obtaining BOR or Campus Approval

The departmental staff prepares the packet for the final approval. This can be started while waiting for the candidate to sign and return the offer letter. Note that the Recommendation for Faculty Appointment form can be printed from the FIRST database.

The Department staff sends the completed packet to Faculty Services in G4 Aderhold.

The Faculty Services Office completes the packet with a cover letter from the Dean, and sends the packet to the SVPAA/P.

Staff in the office of the SVPAA/P checks the packet and sends it to the President for approval. All documents in the packet should have an effective date which falls after the approval. If the faculty member's responsibilities require a start date before the approval, then the appointment packet must also include a letter justifying the early start date. Typically the office of the VPAA/P requires one month in advance of the next BOR or campus approval in order to get the approval for hire on the agenda.

When the new faculty member arrives on campus, the departmental staff needs to notify the Graduate School that the person actually came. This will activate the Graduate Faculty status, if approved, that was requested during the hiring process.