Search Procedures for 2008-2009

This memo serves as a reminder of the various responsibilities, obligations, and guidelines for the conduct of a search and the subsequent hiring of a new faculty member. 

Legislation:  The Faculty has legislated some procedures for appointments, especially tenure-track appointments.  Please refer to Section Seven, II, 1. and 2., in the Handbook of Faculty Legislation.

Affirmative Action:  The College is committed to the elimination of all forms of discrimination--whether based on race, color, religion, age, sexual orientation, national origin, or disability.  We have also committed ourselves to the active recruitment to our candidate pool of women and persons of color.  At the earliest stages of a search, please consult with me and the Chair of the Faculty Affirmative Action Committee (FAAC) about ways to maximize the prospect of attracting qualified candidates of color.  We will have a meeting in early fall for search chairs and FAAC members. 

Advertising:  Prepare the advertisement describing the position for placement in appropriate professional publications and submit an advance copy for approval (an email attachment is preferred) to the Dean of Faculty and the Chair of the FAAC.  Send an electronic copy of the approved ad to dean-faculty@mtholyoke.edu.  The Dean’s staff will place the ad in the online edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education and on the Dean of Faculty’s web page.  You may then place the ad in appropriate professional and other journals.  Post the advertisement so that students will know of the position and the recruitment, and notify other relevant departments and faculty about the search.  We also encourage you to post the ad on your department or program website (if you do that, please let me know so I can put a link from the Dean of Faculty’s page).

Every ad should include the following text: Mount Holyoke is an undergraduate liberal arts college for women with 2,000 students and 200 faculty. Half the faculty are women; one fourth are persons of color.  It is located about 80 miles west of Boston in the Connecticut River valley, and is a member of the Five College Consortium consisting of Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts.  Mount Holyoke is committed to fostering multicultural diversity and awareness in its faculty, staff, and student body and is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity Employer.  Women and persons of color are especially encouraged to apply.

If the response from the advertisement does not produce a satisfactory pool of applications from persons of color and women, I ask that you consult with the FAAC about possible ways to extend the search beyond the first applicant pool, or other alternatives.

PeopleAdmin:  PeopleAdmin is a web-based way of applying for positions at Mount Holyoke.  All applicants for staff positions now use this route, and in recent years increasing numbers of faculty searches have used PeopleAdmin.  PeopleAdmin still won’t take confidential letters of reference, but those can be scanned into an ella site that HR and LITS will gladly set up.  Linda Samano in HR is available to provide information and training if you want to try this system.

One-Year Replacements:  Searches for one-year replacements need not involve consultation with the Faculty Affirmative Action Committee.  However, the FAAC chairperson would be happy to provide advice and consultation to departments as requested.  Candidates for one-year positions need not meet with me.  In some cases you may want candidates to meet with Sally or Craig.  Otherwise, the same procedures used for tenure-track searches will apply to the conduct of searches for one-year replacements.

Campus Visits:  After the departmental search committee decides to invite three or four candidates to campus, contact Amanda Butz to schedule appointments with me before extending invitations to the applicants.  One member of the Advisory Committee on Appointments, Reappointments, and Promotions will be assigned to each tenure-track search and should be given time to meet with the candidate.  Members of the FAAC are also available to meet with you and/or your candidates.  Finally, students involved in your search should be informed of prospective interviews and provided with a copy of each candidate’s curriculum vitae (not to include letters of recommendation.)

Forward a copy of the candidate’s file, including curriculum vitae and letters of recommendation to me and to the designated Advisory Committee member.  Supporting material, (e.g., manuscripts or publications) may be submitted, but need not be copied, and will be returned to the department.  I would appreciate receiving this material a week prior to the arrival of the candidate, if possible.

I will give each candidate a copy of a Benefit Summary for New Faculty during the interview.  It answers most questions about faculty grants, sabbatical leaves, travel allowances, faculty housing, etc.  This summary can be found on our office webpage at http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/dof/12567.shtml.

I will also give each candidate a copy of procedures on tenure-track appointments, reappointments, tenure, and promotion (excerpted from Faculty Legislation).

Budget:  A new accounting unit of xxxx02 will be set up for your department’s search expenses (xxxx being the department number).  For this year, I ask you to plan your search with a budget of:

$4,500 for tenure-track searches
$3,000 for three-year positions
$2,000 for two-year positions
$1,000 for one-year visitors

Departments will cover advertising in professional journals, travel to professional meetings for recruitment purposes, travel costs for candidates, Willits-Hallowell overnight charges and meals.  My office will continue to place and pay for ads in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Listed below are some account numbers you may find useful:

87010 0001    Willits-Hallowell room charges
87010 0002    Willits-Hallowell beverages & meals
87090 0001     Blanchard
80600 0001     Advertising
84200  0081    Travel -- air fare

0082    Travel -- hotel
0083    Travel -- meals
0084    Travel -- private auto mileage
0085    Travel -- other transportation
0086    Travel – other expenses

84100 0083    Business Meals (non-travel)
84250 0001    Entertainment

The current rate at Willits-Hallowell is $95 single or $110 double, including breakfast.  Check in is after 2:00 p.m. and check out is by 11:00 a.m.  If one of your candidates must cancel his or her visit, please inform Willits-Hallowell so you are not billed for an unused room.  Also, department members may be reimbursed from your recruiting budget at the rate of $0.44/mile when driving the candidates back and forth to Bradley Airport (56 miles x .44= $24.64). 

Log of Applicants:  While the recruitment process is underway, keep a Log of Applicants. If you are using PeopleAdmin for your search, this log is maintained online and can be printed out for submission once an offer has been accepted.  Send each applicant the EO/AA Voluntary Information Request Form.  One is enclosed for your information; when you begin to acknowledge applications please call our office to let us know how many we should send you.

Record-keeping:  Keep a brief record on each application and a summary of each interview so there will be documentary evidence in each case showing reasons for acceptance or rejection.  These files are essential to the College and should be kept for three years and then destroyed.

Finalist Recommendations:  After you consult students involved in the search and reach a recommendation at the department level regarding a finalist, and before proceeding any further, please call me so we can then discuss your recommendation.  Once we agree, we will discuss the terms of the offer, including salary.  Usually the chair conveys the offer.  I am happy to consult with you along the way too. 

The Acceptance:  After you have received an acceptance to your offer, my office will prepare the contract.  Please send us the following materials:

1. A letter from the department providing a brief account of the search including an explanation of the occasion for the opening, the reasons for the department’s choice of candidates including reasons for not choosing the other interviewed candidates, information on when and where the opening was announced, the student views on the candidates, and the recommended rank.

2. Log of Applicants, or a copy of your online Log of Applicants generated by PeopleAdmin

3. Curriculum Vitae

4. Letters of reference and other supporting documents

5. Transcript from graduate school(s) showing graduate degree(s) earned

6. Departmental Recommendation Summary (PDF)