Steps for Tenure-Track and Tenured Faculty Recruiting in the College of Arts & Sciences

From Incoming Applications to the Offer

To reach a broad array of excellent and diverse applicants, successful search committees need to implement active recruitment strategies. Successful hiring often depends not only on short-term recruitment strategies but also on long-term strategies for building and developing a diverse professional network that will assist with future recruiting efforts.

  1. Establishing the major criteria for evaluating candidates up-front, before finalizing the wording of the ad – well in advance of the application deadline, is a best-practice for reducing implicit biases in evaluating candidates throughout the process, including selecting a long short-list of candidates, arriving at the list of candidates for interview, and in ranking the finalists. Before reviewing applicant files at any level, the search committee and department should agree on the processes for reviewing files and for selecting semi-finalists and finalists. All members of every search committee should also familiarize themselves with the principles and practices found in the Faculty Search Manual.
  2. When the deadline for application has passed, ask the Office of Faculty Actions to request the demographic description of the candidate pool from the Office of the Provost. These data should be used to evaluate the potential for increasing the gender and racial diversity of our faculty. The College will also prepare other data that help you evaluate the profile of your department in comparison with the larger discipline.
  3. Follow the department process to select the candidates to be proposed to the Associate Deans for campus interviews. In some departments, departmental approval for choice of the interview list is left to the search committee. Departments are encouraged to engage the entire department faculty in the selection process. It is the department as a whole that recommends the appointment to the Dean and is responsible for the quality of the faculty, and the new colleague is responsible to the department as a whole rather than just a subfield, it is important for the faculty as a whole to be able to raise questions of interest to the department, broadly considered.
  4. Prior to inviting candidates to campus, forward the proposed list of candidates for interview and the three alternates with a copy of each dossier, electronically to the Office of Faculty Actions. The Associate Dean of the Faculty will review the candidates and alternates, and then respond to the department Chair with questions/comments and/or approval to invite candidates to campus.
  5. Work with Faculty Actions to schedule interviews with the appropriate Associate Dean. Candidates for Assistant Professor positions or Professors of the Practice will be interviewed by the appropriate Associate Dean with the department Chair also present. Dean Sclaroff will also participate in interviews of candidates for tenured positions.
  6. The department Chair should schedule a meeting with the appropriate Associate Dean of the Faculty after the final interview and before the department meeting at which the candidates will be discussed for possible recommendation for appointment. The Associate Dean and Chair will discuss the candidates and any issues that the Dean believes should be addressed in the department discussion. At this meeting the Associate Dean and Chair will also begin to discuss strategies and tactics for the recruitment phase of the process. This meeting will allow the Office of the Dean to move quickly after the departmental decision.
  7. The department must take a formal vote on the decision to recommend any candidate for hiring to the Dean. The department can frame the decision in a number of ways, such as (a) recommend extending an offer to one candidate and leaving further decisions to later discussions; (b) agree on a prioritized list of candidates to recommend for hiring in case the first candidate does not accept our offer; (c) agree on any short-listed candidate/s who will not be given further consideration. There is no benefit in recommending a candidate who does not reach the appropriate standards. If a search “fails” during one recruitment season and the position remains the department’s highest priority, it will remain a high priority for recruitment at the College level the next year as well.
  8. The department Chair must seek approval from the Associate Dean to make an offer of a position to a candidate. The Chair must work out the terms of the offer with the Office of the Dean before promising any terms to the candidate. The Chair should inform the candidate that the College is preparing an offer as soon as the department receives authorization to do so, and before the terms are completed. The Chair should immediately forward an updated CV (preferably a URL, but an electronic copy of the CV will do) and a paragraph explaining the rationale for the recommendation of the candidate to the Associate Dean. The paragraph should include: (a) a brief description of the candidate’s credentials (education, previous professional appointments), and (b) a description of the research and teaching expertise and experience of the candidate, including other major credentials or accomplishments of the candidate. The paragraph should make clear how this person fits into the research and teaching needs of the department and university. It should be a description of the candidate (which will be used as the basis for public documents, press releases, etc.) and not of the departmental decision process, vote or level of enthusiasm.
  9. The department should develop and pursue an active recruitment plan – a strategy for getting a positive answer from the candidate you are trying to hire. This plan should include faculty from other BU departments and programs in which the candidate has interests.
  10. As soon as the candidate has accepted the offer, the department should communicate with all candidates, thanking them for their interest and informing them that the search has concluded. In the case of any candidate who was interviewed on campus, the communication should be personally addressed and should thank them for taking the time to come to campus.
  11. For senior (tenured hires), the process is slightly different:  Candidates for tenured positions must meet with the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences before an offer can be extended. Appointments at the tenured level must go through the full tenured appointment process, including the collection of 10-12 evaluator letters and consideration by the department, CAS APT, Dean, UAPT and Provost.  The offer and candidate’s acceptance are contingent on successful completion of the tenure process. Note that the formal appointment process must begin (an evaluator list must be in hand) by March 1 in order to assure that the final appointment can be made in time for the fall semester.
  12. Please be in contact with the appropriate Associate Dean of the Faculty and/or Alex Bellan and/or Richard Wright for help and advice in carrying out a successful search, screening, and recruitment process.