Requesting Faculty Positions
At the beginning of the spring semester proposals for faculty positions for two different time frames will be due with deadlines published in the Faculty and Chairs Calendar. These two deadlines are for the following:
- Adjunct and Term Requests: The first deadline in January will be for Adjunct and Term positions that will be hired in that spring to work the following academic year. Typically these positions are linked with needs for sabbatical leaves that were approved by CoF in the fall; however there are other circumstances, such as Family Leaves or resignations that may also cause departments to request adjunct or term positions for the following year. Departments that have faculty in term positions for which they wish to have an extension should make the request at this deadline.
- Tenure Track and Term Requests: The second deadline in March will be for Tenure Track and Term position for which the searches would take place the following fall with the successful candidate starting the position in the subsequent academic year (for example, a search for a tenure position in English would take place in the fall or early spring of 2021-2022 and start the fall of 2022).
For both types of requests, CoF reviews all submitted proposals while taking into account a comprehensive review of the college's needs for staffing. CoF makes a recommendation to the President and the Board of Trustees, who make the final decisions about faculty staffing.
Proposals must include the following items to assist CoF in their evaluation:
1. An Executive Summary
2. Rationale for the Position. This section should include at minimum the items from the following list as needed to provide evidence for the position:
- enrollment demands for courses;
- course loads and faculty schedules;
- number of majors and minors in the department;
- curricular needs that would be met by the position and why these curricular needs are critical to the college's liberal arts tradition;
- how the position would contribute to departmental courses and general education courses.
Departments need to keep in mind that there are no permanent lines in departments and that every request made, even if it results from a resignation or a retirement, needs to be carefully weighed with the overall needs of the college.
3. Position Description. This section explains the specifics of the position including (but not limited to):
- area of speciality and why is it critical to the department;
- courses the proposed faculty member would teach;
- how the position would fit with the rest of the department members' teaching and professional development areas of expertise.
4. Diversity Recruiting. This section should detail any special efforts the department can make to enhance the recruitment of diverse candidates for the applicant pool. You may find it useful to consult with the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion for suggestions.
Detailed Search Procedures for Full-Time Faculty Positions
2021-2022
A. Obtain permission to search
- Submit position request information through e-mail in the spring as requested by the Provost's call for position requests.
- Requests are reviewed by CoF and the President. Positions are then recommended to the Board of Trustees which makes final decisions. The Department chair is notified of results by the Provost and approved positions can begin by forming a Search Committee.
B. Form Search Committee
The department chair in consultation with the department forwards to CoF a slate of committee members following the guidelines below. For the members outside the department and for the students, there should be at least three names provided in order of preference. CoF responds to the department chair with the approved committee membership.
- For tenure track searches, the committee usually consists of the Area Chair, the department chair (who usually serves as chair), continuing full time faculty members, a faculty member from a different department in the same area, a faculty member from outside the area, and two students Large departments may select a subcommittee of the department to serve on the search committee as long as appropriate representation is preserved.
- For non-tenure track searches, the committee composition is the same as for tenure track searches except there are no outside department faculty members required. For search committees for Murphy Visiting Fellows, the department works with the Murphy Foundation to have one student from the department and one Murphy Scholar on the committee. Murphy Visiting Fellows committees also include the Director of the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation.
- Once the Search Committee members have been approved, they receive an appointment memo from the Provost.
C. Search Committee chair submits materials to Academic Affairs and Human Resources
- The Committee Chair uses the job ad template provided by the Provost, adds the job specific criteria, and proposes any other changes for approval to the Provost.
- The approved job ad is sent to Shawn Goicoechea in Human Resources. Shawn adds the search to the jobs portion of the website and has the software set-up for the committee members and for submission of applications.
- A list of websites, publications and list serves for the ad along with costs are submitted to the Provost for approval. Shawn Goicoechea can consulted for help with determining the best sites for placing ads. Normally searches have two paid ads (one major site and one professional association in the field). Costs for ads are paid through Academic Affairs. Please note that it is VERY IMPORTANT that no ads are placed prior to receiving approval from Shawn Goicoechea. He provides tracking links to help us determine which sites give us the best return and he also helps us with ad packages for venues like The Chronicle of Higher Education.
- A recruiting plan should be submitted to the Provost, which is shared with the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, that addresses steps the committee is taking to help obtain a diverse applicant pool, including a list of targeted placements or letters to be sent and contacts to be made to attract candidates from under-represented groups. Human Resources can also provide assistance with this as needed.
D. Search Committee meets with Provost and HR to review search procedures
- The full Search Committee meets with the Provost, a representative from Human Resources and the Vice President for Inclusion and Diversity to review search procedures, including procedures for dealing with internal candidates, appropriate and inappropriate questions, and diversity and equity guidelines and procedures. This step must be completed before the Search Committee begins its review of applications.
- Internal Candidates
- To the extent possible, the interview schedule for an internal candidate must be the same as the schedule for external candidates.
- The Search Committee should ask for course evaluations from any internal candidates so that we can assess their teaching at Hendrix.
E. Search Committee reviews application materials
- At a minimum, each application should include: a cover letter, graduate and undergraduate transcripts (unofficial transcripts are sufficient), a curriculum vita, a statement of teaching interests, a statement of scholarly or creative interests, and three letters of reference. Evidence of teaching accomplishments (syllabi, assignments, exams, evaluations, etc.) may also be desirable.
- Specify the criteria the Search Committee uses when evaluating applications before the committee begins its work reviewing individual applications. The search committee may assign applications to categories, such as Yes, No, or Maybe. However, please note that committee members should not use numerical scoring of applications as part of the process. The Committee may also consider using the following methods:
- preliminary sorting of applications by department members;
- initial recruiting conversations with selected candidates at professional meetings attended by members of the Search Committee must be approved in advance by the Provost (Note that these conversations are not part of the formal interview process). If approval is granted, the Committee may also request funds for a two-person team, which will be granted pending the availability of funds. Recruiting meetings may not be held in hotel bedrooms.
- telephone, Teams, or e-mail contact by the Search Committee chair to answer specific questions about candidates;
- telephone or Teams interviews of semi-finalists by a subcommittee of the Search Committee.
- Prepare a short note on the reasons for actions taken at each step. Limit all notes and comments on applications to specified criteria. All phone interviews and e-mail communications should be documented to help with the selection process.
- It is recommended that committee members provide confidential and independent assessments without influence from early readers. For this reason, if search committee members wish to annotate the materials in the application software, they should use "mark private" for their comments.
- If the Search Committee conducts preliminary interviews of candidates, by phone or Teams, it should prepare a consistent strategy for questioning each candidate.
- Search Committee chairs should remind committee members (including students) that all deliberations from the search committee meetings are confidential and should not be discussed outside of committee meetings at anytime.
F. Search Committee recommends to the Provost candidates for on-campus interviews
The Search Committee must obtain permission from the Provost before inviting candidates to campus for an interview. The Search Committee should:
- Contact the references for the two (or three – see the next item in the list) candidates they would like to recommend
- Submit to the Provost information about the two candidates for an interview (although in some cases three candidates may be requested and approved) including
- strengths and weaknesses,
- the information gained from contacting the candidates’ references,
- and an explanation of how these candidates address the issue of diversity for this position.
It is not necessary to rank order the candidates at this point.
G. Search Committee chair makes plans for on-campus interviews
- After receiving authorization to proceed with interviews, plan the campus visits for the finalists. Plan the one-day schedule that serves both the need to recruit the candidates to Hendrix and to allow the Search Committee to assess the candidates. Plan a uniform set of activities and questions for all candidates. Each candidate must meet with:
- CoF,
- a representative of Human Resources,
- the President for all tenure track positions (make sure to check with Donna about his availability). He would like to meet with candidates for term positions if he is available so these interviews are not dependent on his availability,
- For Murphy Fellows Searches, the Director of the Murphy Foundation should be included for an individual meeting,
- and members of the Search Committee.
- On-campus interviews should also include some type of public presentation and/or teaching session as well as direct contact with students. The Search Committee should make sure to get feedback from the students who attend the public event.
- In most cases there is the opportunity for some members of the Search Committee to have an evening meal with the candidate. To facilitate conversation while controlling expenses, the college will cover the expenses for the candidate and no more than four members of the Search Committee. Please note that only one alcoholic drink per person is covered for such meals.
- Approved search expenses are budgeted in and paid through the Academic Affairs Office. The Search Committee chair or the area administrative assistant makes housing and meal reservations. Flight arrangements are made by the candidate and the expenses for travel (including parking and meals during travel) are reimbursed by the college from receipts. Any expenses, including airfare, borne by the candidates are reimbursed after the visit. Note that the Business Office requires that candidates provide a completed IRS Form W-9 with reimbursement requests.
- Refer all questions regarding salary, faculty development, and instruction/research support to the Provost, and all questions regarding Hendrix College benefits to Human Resources.
8. Search Committee makes its hiring recommendation to CoF
- After each candidate’s visit to campus, the Search Committee should:
- Gather opinions from persons who interviewed or observed the candidate. This should include students who have lunch with candidates and students who attended presentations. Please remember that opinions from any individuals who met confidentially with the candidate to discuss campus or community life outside of the search/interview process, such as Human Resources, should not be included.
- Determine the strengths and weaknesses of the finalists, including how they address the issue of diversity, identify if each is acceptable or not, and consider relative rankings
- Present the information on strengths and weaknesses in writing via e-mail to the Provost for review by CoF.
- The Provost takes the recommendations from CoF and the Search Committee to the President. The Provost makes the offer of appointment to approved candidate. The amount of time given for the candidate to make a decision may vary but typically would be a week to 10 days.
- After verbal acceptance of the position, the Provost sends an appointment letter. Once the signed letter is received by the Provost, the Search Committee chair should notify by telephone call the other candidate(s) who visited campus who were not given the offer. All other candidates are notified of the search conclusion by Human Resources.
9. Chair of search committee makes arrangements to archive search materials
- All electronic materials submitted by all candidates are archived by Human Resources.
- Any notes from meetings or individual committee members should be destroyed once the search is completed.