Search Committees

A mismatched team of seven hit the road in an Econoline church van on a mission to find a new pastor. They don't agree on much other than the stops at Hardee's for coffee and a biscuit. But they stick to the call, trying to slip undetected into worship services across the Southeast—all in hopes of stealing a preacher for their congregation. Each member is wrestling to balance their own busy life and personal struggles. And they're trying to keep their issues to themselves. Forced to spend countless hours together, these very different personalities from different generations begin to bond. And their lives are profoundly changed as they love and support each other through the difficulties in each of their lives.

Finding the right candidate for administrative, professional, and faculty positions is one of the most important tasks that any institution or enterprise undertakes. However, few higher education professionals receive training on the search committee process, but are expected to serve or lead committees. This guide covers the complete cycle of hiring, starting with defining the position and forming and briefing the committee, through cultivating a rich and diverse pool of candidates and screening and evaluating candidates, to making the selection, successfully completing the search, and welcoming colleagues to campus; and includes: An expert step-by-step search model ; Dozens of templates, sample tools, and a bank of interview questions ; Diversity recruitment and selection protocols and techniques ; A resource guide with advice, case studies, examples, and training materials. (Back cover).

Finding the right candidate for administrative, professional and faculty positions is one of the most important tasks that any institution or enterprise undertakes. However, few higher education professionals receive training on the search committee process, but are expected to serve on or lead committees. This book provides advice, training, and a step-by-step guide for conducting a rigorous, thorough search. Following the expert model presented in this book will virtually guarantee successful searches. This guide furthermore provides advanced diversity selection techniques that are not commonly found in many resources inside or outside of higher education, and that have become institutional priorities in the context of demographic changes and globalization that require that higher education serve more diverse populations and compete internationally. This guide covers the complete cycle of hiring, starting with defining the position and forming and briefing the committee, through cultivating a rich and diverse pool of candidates and screening and evaluating candidates, to making the selection, successfully completing the search successfully, and welcoming colleagues to campus.This volume includes over 30 templates that are designed to be copied and used as training handouts or as handy reference and resource materials that provide guidance at various stages of the search process. The over two dozen vignettes included can be used as training case studies or as expert advice that illuminates key concepts that are helpful with improving the quality of the search process. The guide includes:1. An expert step-by-step search model.2. Dozens of templates, samples, tools, plus a bank of interview questions.3. Diversity recruitment and selection protocols and techniques.4. Resource guide with advice, case studies, examples, and training materials.Coverage includes:* How to Build a Successful Search* Recruiting Guide* How to Design a Diverse Selection Process* Minority Recruiting Resources* Interview Guide* A Bank of Interview Questions* Screening Methods * Sample Forms, Templates, Checklists* Legal, Ethical, and Regulatory IssuesThis guide serves the needs of administrators who shape hiring policy and goals, committee chairs and members. It is also a resource that human resources professionals can use to train, equip and support search committees.A complementary website at www.SearchCommittees.com offers additional resources. [Previous edition published by CUPA-HR: Search Committees: A Tool KitBy Christopher D. Lee, Ph.D., 2000]

The essential guidebook for effective faculty hiring committees Best Practices for Faculty Search Committees presents a clear, direct action plan for faculty and administration involved in hiring. Written by a veteran university administrator, this book lays out a step-by-step process for selecting the right candidate for the job. Practical guidance on application review, interviewing, and evaluation walks you through established and effective methods, while case studies and examples from a variety of institutions provide insight into real-world implementation. Whether you're serving on a faculty search committee for the first time, or simply seeking a more efficient route to the best candidate, this book provides invaluable guidance that can streamline the search and selection process. Tenure-track and long-term opportunities don't come about every day, so it's essential for hiring committees to make the correct choice. While the search process may be codified to an extent by your institution, there is still plenty of room for error or misjudgment; this book helps you keep the process on track and moving forward until the best candidate is identified. Develop criteria for efficient and informative application review Conduct in-depth interviews that provide a clear picture of fit Evaluate final candidates on the most pertinent points for the job Most faculty search resources are technical in nature, with little guidance on getting the job done properly and efficiently; best practices tend to be unwritten, and frequently verge into "habit" rather than critically evaluated method. Best Practices for Faculty Search Committees provides clear, concise, concrete guidance for a more efficient, effective, and successful candidate search.

The definitive career guide for grad students, adjuncts, post-docs and anyone else eager to get tenure or turn their Ph.D. into their ideal job Each year tens of thousands of students will, after years of hard work and enormous amounts of money, earn their Ph.D. And each year only a small percentage of them will land a job that justifies and rewards their investment. For every comfortably tenured professor or well-paid former academic, there are countless underpaid and overworked adjuncts, and many more who simply give up in frustration. Those who do make it share an important asset that separates them from the pack: they have a plan. They understand exactly what they need to do to set themselves up for success. They know what really moves the needle in academic job searches, how to avoid the all-too-common mistakes that sink so many of their peers, and how to decide when to point their Ph.D. toward other, non-academic options. Karen Kelsky has made it her mission to help readers join the select few who get the most out of their Ph.D. As a former tenured professor and department head who oversaw numerous academic job searches, she knows from experience exactly what gets an academic applicant a job. And as the creator of the popular and widely respected advice site The Professor is In, she has helped countless Ph.D.’s turn themselves into stronger applicants and land their dream careers. Now, for the first time ever, Karen has poured all her best advice into a single handy guide that addresses the most important issues facing any Ph.D., including: -When, where, and what to publish -Writing a foolproof grant application -Cultivating references and crafting the perfect CV -Acing the job talk and campus interview -Avoiding the adjunct trap -Making the leap to nonacademic work, when the time is right The Professor Is In addresses all of these issues, and many more.

* Reviews of the first edition:"Finally, higher education has an intelligent guide for recruiting administrators--an activity often taken for granted and not always thoughtfully carried out." -- Paul A. Elsner, Maricopa Community College District"The book we've needed ... the Turabian of search." -- James M. Heffernan, State University of New YorkThis >Handbook focuses on administrative searches below the level of the presidency--the searches for vice-presidents, deans, directors, and coordinators for which the appointment of a search committee is the norm. It is written for practitioners--for the institutional leaders who will plan the search, form the committee, and later make the appointment; as well as for the chair and members of the search committee itself. It is intended as a guide and a fund of ideas to promote better, more informed and more effective practice.The second edition of this acclaimed book reflects the extensive changes that have taken place in the hiring climate. Video-conferencing allows travel-free interviewing. The Web permits desktop research and has given rise to the online posting of openings. Federal and state regulations about hiring and employment have grown apace. The use of search firms has expanded from the presidency to other administrative posts. The shift in student demographics is increasing the need for faculty-staff diversity. Perhaps the most significant change is the recent sharp decline in the size of applicant pools for administrative posts. All these factors add up to a different–and more challenging–set of tasks for campus leadership and search committees. To unpack these issues the Atlantic Philanthropies provided a grant to AAHE and the Academic Search Consultation Service to fund a national advisory board, undertake extensive literature reviews, and conduct focus groups and numerous interviews with committee chairs and others. The new edition of this classic and authoritative source of advice for finding, selecting, and appointing the best people to key administrative positions is informed by this extensive research.

Recruiting, hiring, and retaining an excellent and diverse faculty is a top priority for colleges and universities nationwide. Yet faculty serving on search committees (or hiring committees) receive little or no education about the search process. Relying on both research and experience presenting hiring workshops to search committee members, the authors of this guidebook provide advice and recommendations for conducting an effective faculty search. The book includes practical suggestions for managing all stages of a faculty search as well as recommendations for ensuring that search committee members recruit women and members of underrepresented groups into their applicant pools and consciously avoid the influence of bias and assumptions in their evaluation of job candidates.