PROCESS FOR FACULTY RECRUITMENT PROPOSALS AND REQUESTS TO NEGOTIATE FOR PROSPECTIVE FACULTY HIRES IN PROVOST’S AREA SCHOOLS
Revised: August 2011
Faculty Recruitment Proposals
In order to monitor more effectively the faculty recruitment process and to understand better the relationship between faculty recruitment and an individual unit’s academic plans, the Provost’s Office has developed the process described below.These procedures apply to all full-time faculty, regardless of rank and tenure status, and faculty librarians. Faculty ranks prefixed by “Visiting” and part-time appointment stream faculty are the only positions exempt from recruitment proposals and formal search procedures. Please note that “Visiting” appointments are temporary with no expectation of renewal.
1. After receipt of the annual budget target letters and prior to October 15, individual units are to submit to the Provost a detailed and comprehensive faculty recruitment proposal, describing all searches for full-time faculty (tenured, tenure-stream, and appointment stream) that they intend to conduct for new and replacement faculty members beginning in September of the following academic year (i.e., the proposal submitted between July 30 and October 15 is to list searches that are expected to result in appointments beginning in September of the following fiscal year). Appointments that have a different anticipated beginning date are to indicate that date. Previously approved searches for which a faculty member was not hired should be listed separately, with the initial date of approval, for reaffirmation.
The faculty recruitment proposal should describe the following: (1) the field/area of appointment and the rationale for its selection in terms of its alignment with the most recent strategic directions (it is understood that more than one field/area may be listed with priority eventually given on the basis of the best qualified candidate); (2) the proposed rank and tenure status of the appointment; (3) the position number, name of the faculty member being replaced, and the source of funds if the proposed appointment is a new position or if the anticipated appointment is expected to exceed the budgeted salary on an existing position; and (4) a complete roster of the current full-time faculty by name, rank and tenure status and department/division as appropriate. The recruitment proposal must be consistent with the unit’s most recent strategic directions proposal and include an explanation of how the affirmative action plan of the unit will be advanced.
2. The recruitment proposal will be reviewed within the Provost’s Office by the contact person, who will discuss it as necessary with the unit and forward it to the Provost with a recommendation. Following approval of the proposal by the Provost, the individual unit will be notified of the faculty recruitments that may be initiated and the terms and conditions. Such approval, unless explicitly noted to the contrary, assumes the availability of funds within the unit to support the proposed appointments.
Requests to Negotiate
Approval of requested positions is not equivalent to approval to negotiate with an individual candidate or candidates. Prior to issuing a formal letter of offer to a selected candidate, units must forward appropriate documentation to support a faculty hire by submitting a request to negotiate to the Provost’s Office. Please allow a minimum of three working days for normal processing; however, if circumstances require a more rapid approval, please indicate this clearly in the transmittal letter. Please note that all requests to negotiate that require the Provost’s signature (i.e., senior appointments at the associate or full professor ranks, in the tenure-stream or with tenure) may necessitate a longer response time. The procedure and required materials for this process are outlined below.
Requests to negotiate must be accompanied by the following: transmittal letter from the dean/campus president requesting to negotiate with a specific candidate or candidates, referencing or including a copy of the Provost’s approval for the recruitment; required Affirmative Action forms (approved Pre-Audit Search Form, copy of the advertisement, and the Search Summary Form); required school/campus committee reports; and any other materials required for assessing the candidate’s or candidates’ qualifications for the position (e.g., current c.v., personal statement/letter of application, reference letters, etc.). Offers of appointment cannot be made by the unit until the Provost has granted authorization to negotiate.
In the interest of time, units may request permission to negotiate with more than one candidate; such a request should list the preferred candidates in rank order and be accompanied by complete materials on each candidate. Please be mindful that a request to negotiate must be consistent with the previously approved rank and tenure status as stated in your recruitment advertisements.
After the request to negotiate is approved, the dean/campus president will be notified and all submitted documentation will be returned to the unit. When the faculty member is formally hired, all negotiation materials and the required documentation for a new hire must be submitted to the Provost’s Office through Faculty Records for final processing.
3. Units are to notify their contact person in the Provost’s Office of the acceptance or rejection by an individual with whom approval to negotiate had been granted. This will enable the Provost’s Office to record the status of ongoing searches. Searches that do not reach a successful conclusion prior to the end of the fiscal year in which they are initiated may be continued in the following year, but the intention to continue a search must be explicitly noted in the next year’s recruitment proposal. It is essential that the annual faculty recruitment proposal be comprehensive, listing all continuing as well as new searches.