In the case of a tenured/tenure-track faculty recruitment, the Dean and/or Chair will designate a committee to conduct the search for the position. When constituting the search committee, attention should be given to the composition of its membership with respect to academic discipline, research area and rank. It is essential that committee members bring a variety of perspectives to the recruitment process.

The Professional Standards Committee joins the Provost's Office in suggesting that the hiring unit consider all relevant units and constituencies as it determines search committee membership. Suggestions for increased communication among units with regard to tenure-track recruitment are included in the Guidelines for Recruiting Tenure-Track Faculty.

Membership

The appropriate composition of a search committee depends, in part, on the nature of the position under recruitment. Positions with a transdisciplinary focus need transdisciplinary search committees. Other more discipline-specific positions may or may not require transdisciplinary representation.

The search committee:

  • Should include one member from either outside the recruiting department or outside the recruiting college or school*;
  • Should include 4 - 6 members;
  • Should not be Chaired by the recruiting department Chairperson; and
  • Must share in the campus-wide commitment to recruiting a diverse workforce;

*External committee membership will not be possible or appropriate in all cases. To the extent possible, external members of the committee should be fully involved in the search process. There may be aspects of the process, such as attendance at professional meetings, in which they might not participate.

If the composition of a proposed search committee varies from the above guidelines, please attach an explanatory memo in the Supplemental Documentation Tab in PeopleAdmin as "FACULTY - Other Document 1."

Approval

In the case of all tenure-track recruitments, Search Committee membership requires the approval of the Office of the Provost before the recruitment is submitted in PeopleAdmin. Please submit proposed membership via e-mail to the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs (with a copy to the Vice Provost's support person).

  • Name
  • Rank
  • Home department
  • Academic discipline
  • Brief statement of research activity and search committee relevance
  • Name of the committee Chair
  • Date of last AAEO training completion or anticipated future date

Once approved this information should be included in the "Position Details" tab in your PeopleAdmin recruitment request.

Revised for clarity, 11/07/2022