Administrative appointments directly affect the ability of faculty, staff and students to complete their work successfully. Therefore, it is important that the selection process be open; involve maximum participation of faculty, staff and students, generate deliberate and considered discussion of all issues; and allow the search to be wide-ranging to attract highly qualified candidates, with special attention to including qualified women and minority candidates.
The Board of Control reserves the right to modify the search procedure for the selection of the President, and/or be involved in any search as they see fit. It will be the responsibility of the chair to provide regular updates on the progress of the searches to the Board of Control.
In this document, procedures for selecting university administrators shall specifically apply to the President, the Provost, the Vice Provost(s), and the Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Furthermore, these procedures shall be applied as appropriate to other administrative searches initiated by the President or Provost. For other positions, such as the Secretary of the Board and Vice President for Advancement, the administrator who convenes the Search Committee will inform the committee of the role of the Board of Control in that search. The search procedure for deans of colleges and university administrators shall be as described in this proposal.
This procedure defines:
1) Search committee
2) Process for selecting the search committee
3)
Formulating college goals
4) Process for defining candidate attributes
5) Mechanism for identifying candidates
6) Short list of candidates
7) Interview process
8) Selecting the final candidate
9) Guidelines
for negotiating salary
10) Closure
1.Search committee
1.1a For deans, the search committee consists of one faculty member (can be department chair) elected by each department in the college, one member (faculty, staff or administrator) appointed by the Provost from outside the college, and one member elected by the staff council. The faculty committee members are elected from tenure-track faculty. The voting body is described in each departmental charter. Search committees for deans of schools shall be constituted as enumerated by the departmental charters but they must contain one member (faculty, staff or administrator) appointed by the Provost from outside the school, and one member elected by the staff council.
The committee also contains, as voting members, an undergraduate student representative, a graduate student representative, and an alumnus representative. In addition to selecting a representative, these three constituencies should each also identify an alternate member.
1.1b For university administrators, the search committee will contain fourteen (14) elected (nine for CFO) and two (2) appointed members from the following university constituencies:
NUMBER NUMBER CONSTITUENCY ELECTING BODY FOR CFO FOR OTHERS Faculty/Senate Constituents University Senate 3 7 Deans/Chairs/Directors of Deans, Chairs, & Research Institutes Directors 1 1 Staff Staff Council 3 4 Graduate Students GSC 1 1 Undergraduate Students USG 1 1 Alumni Appointed by President 1 1 Community Appointed by President 1 1 TOTAL 11 16
The Affirmative Action Officer or other designee will provide an orientation for the Search Committee at the onset of the search and thereafter be available for consultation as needed. The Committee should discuss legal issues involved in record keeping and be informed of their legal responsibilities and liabilities. As of the writing of this document, notes must be kept for three years.
1.2 A Human Resources representative will be available to the Search Committee to organize paperwork, document activities, advertise the position, and provide search/screening guidelines.
2. Process for selecting the search committee
2.1 For deans, the Provost will initiate the search. For university administrators, the President or President's designee will initiate the search. For president, the Board of Control will initiate the search.
2.2a The Provost will request the Undergraduate Student Government and the Graduate Student Council to nominate their representatives and alternates. Names of committee members shall be published in Tech Topics. The Provost shall appoint his/her representative and give a copy of these procedures to the representative. The Provost's representative will call the first meeting.
2.2b For deans, the departmental Senator and a representative appointed by the Department Chair will conduct the election of the departmental representative. Nominations shall be solicited from the tenure-track and tenured faculty. Balloting shall be conducted according to departmental governance procedures or by using the University Senate standard balloting procedures (sealed envelope with signature on flap). The Senator and the appointed individual will tabulate the results. Ties shall be resolved by random selection. The Provost will also request that the faculty and alumni group(s) of that unit nominate the alumni representative and alternate to be selected by the Provost. The Senator of the department shall give the departmental representative a copy of these procedures. Each department senator shall report the name of the departmental representative at the next University Senate meeting.
2.2c For university administrators, the University Senate will organize and oversee the selection of members who represent the Senate constituency on Search Committee.
The University Senate should strive for balance of gender, race and disciplinary focus in its elected committee members. To ensure disciplinary balance, the University Senate will elect its seven (7) (3 for CFO) faculty in the following sequence, by written ballot, and by majority vote:
* Elect two representatives from Engineering (one for CFO)
* Elect two
representatives from Sciences and Arts (one for CFO)
* Elect one
representative outside Engineering and Sciences and Arts
* Elect two
at-large representatives (one for CFO)
2.3 The Search Committee shall elect a chair and associate chair by written ballot, in closed session, at its first meeting. Ordinarily, the chair and associate chair will be tenured faculty members.
2.4 Searches will proceed under the principle of openness. Committee meetings will be open to members of the university community unless a closed meeting is necessary to maintain confidentiality. The Search Committee will schedule regular public meetings including an open public meeting to meet each semi-finalist candidate.
3.Formulating college or university goals
In order to select an appropriate administrator, the Search Committee must consider the published goals of the unit.
4. Process for defining candidate attributes
4.1 The Committee, with input from the Provost and other appropriate administrators, the Affirmative Action Officer, and a Human Resources representative will produce the first draft of the position description (e.g., qualifications, expectations of college or department growth, etc.) that is in accordance with the college or university goals and guidelines.
4.2 Before soliciting candidates, and in consultation with the President and Provost, the Committee will write a job description, establish criteria and desired attributes (inter-personal skills, management style, etc.) to be applied to candidates, and group (weight) these criteria by major and minor importance. The Committee will then distribute the position description and the ordered list of desired attributes to all faculty and staff of the college (or university) and publish them in Tech Topics and the Lode. Written comments from the faculty, staff and students will be sent to the Committee for its consideration. For university administrators, a public meeting of faculty, staff and students shall be called to discuss and if necessary revise the job description and criteria. The final description and criteria should be published in Tech Topics and the Lode and submitted to applicants. Copies of the comments submitted to the Search Committee will be kept in the University library.
5. Mechanism for identifying candidates
5.1 The "Request for Posting" memo should be completed and sent to the Human Resources Office.
5.2 To ensure a diverse, well-qualified applicant pool that meets EEO requirements, the Committee should solicit applicants according to procedures established by the Affirmative Action Office and work with the Affirmative Action Officer.
5.3 A budget for advertising, interviewing, etc. should be agreed upon with the Provost, or in the case of a presidential search, with the Board of Control. Major deviations from this should be agreed upon by the appropriate university administrator.
5.4 In the case of an open search, the position will be advertised in appropriate professional journals and publications. Faculty should be invited to nominate both internal and external candidates. Faculty are encouraged to contact colleagues and send them position descriptions.
5.5 The Committee will screen applicants according to its published criteria. If an applicant appears to be a strong contender for the position, the Committee will check applicant information (e.g., degrees, positions held) and references. Referees will be informed of the process and the availability of reference letters to the university community when the reference letters are requested by the Committee.
6. Short list of candidates
6.1 For Deans, the Committee, in collaboration with the Provost, shall agree on a target date for the final selection of the candidate. For university administrators, the University Senate, in collaboration with the President (and Board of Control in the case of selection of the President), will agree on a target date for the final selection of the candidate. (It typically takes 10-15 months to complete the search and selection process.)
6.2 For university administrators, when the Committee is prepared to select a pool of semifinalists, it will schedule a second open meeting for faculty, staff and students at which a statistical profile of the total applicant pool and semi-finalist pool as well as other information will be presented. Statistics shall include pool size, gender and racial diversity, and level of experience; other information will include areas of scholarly interest and research, managerial and educational philosophies.
6.3a For university administrators, the Committee will hold screening interviews with a pool (usually 6-20) of acceptable candidates. The identity of the candidates will remain confidential until the Committee is ready to publish the short list of semifinalist candidates.
6.3b The Committee, after reviewing vitae, reference letters, and other relevant material, will produce a short list of candidates. After clearance by the Affirmative Action Officer, these candidates will be invited for on-campus interviews. The Committee will obtain independent assessments from references not listed by the candidates. The Committee should solicit faculty help for identifying appropriate reference persons, but identity of candidates must be kept confidential until they accept a campus interview (semifinalist) invitation.
7. Interview process
7.1 The short vita of each candidate on the short list should be sent to all faculty and staff of the college for dean searches and to all departments and units of the University for University Administrator searches. The reference letters will be accessible (e.g., kept with a secretary in the Dean's office or Board of Control Office) to any member of the University community who would like to look at these letters. No copies of these letters can be made. Each candidate and referee must be informed of this process.
7.2 The interview process will include, among other strategies, responding to a hypothetical job situation that reveals how the candidate approaches problem-solving, decision-making, and ethics.
7.3a During the interview for deans, each candidate will be asked to make two presentations.
1) A presentation addressed to the department in which the Dean is likely to be given a tenured position. Provisions should be made to ensure any member of the University community can attend the seminar. The presentation might include but not be limited to the following topics:
(a) Trends, directions, and opportunities for research in the field of the candidate's expertise.
(b) The course(s) the candidate would like to teach, if time permitted.
(c) Direction of education in the department (e.g., what should and will be the attributes of the college's graduates ten years from now).
2) A presentation addressed to the college that includes but is not limited to the following issues:
(a) A candidate's administrative philosophy and a plan for meeting the short- and long-term goals of the college.
(b) The direction of education in the college and the role of the college in the intellectual life of the University (e.g., will the engineering education component be more general; will the B.S. degree program extend from its current four to five years, etc.).
(c) The debates and trends at the national and state level that may affect research funding opportunities for the college.
(d) The resources needed to attain the goals of the college.
(e) Questions from the audience.
7.3b During the on-campus interview period for university administrators, the Committee will provide a variety of opportunities, including two open forums, for faculty, staff and students to meet and talk with each candidate. An abbreviated resume for each candidate to be interviewed will be provided to the university community two (2) days prior to the candidate's arrival; a full resume will be available at the Library. Faculty, staff, and students will be invited to provide written feedback on each candidate to the Committee based on the established criteria.
7.4 The Search Committee will make appointments for the candidate to meet the Provost, the President, Department Chairs (for deans, only within that college), Deans of Colleges and Schools, the Human Resources Director, and other appropriate personnel. The Board of Control may also request an interview.
7.5 For university administrators, after all candidates have been interviewed, the Committee will schedule a third open meeting to discuss the candidates.
7.6 Faculty, staff, and students will be invited to provide oral and written feedback to the Committee, based on the established criteria, and on the entire slate of semifinalist candidates. The Committee will share these comments with the Provost.
8. Selecting the Final Candidate
8.1 The selection process will begin only after the semifinalist interview process for all candidates is complete. The Search Committee should inquire whether the Board of Control or a subcommittee thereof wishes to meet with the top two or three candidates.
8.2a For deans and university administrators, after considering the feedback from the university community, the Committee, following deliberation in a closed session, will develop a list of at most three acceptable candidates from the list of semi-finalists. The President or Provost (except when a president is being selected) will also develop a list of acceptable candidates from the list of semi-finalists.
The Committee and President or Provost (or Board of Control if the search is for a president) will meet and agree on a short list of mutually acceptable candidates. If no agreement can be reached, the search will be reopened; if the search is for a president, the Committee will negotiate with the Board of Control to re-open the search.
The Committee and President or Provost (except for presidential searches) will each, separately, prepare a list of strengths and weaknesses of the candidates on the short list (either party may choose to rank the candidates as well). Then the Committee and President or Provost (or Board of Control in the case of a presidential search) will meet to reach a consensual decision on the selection of a final candidate from the short list. In the case of a presidential search, the Board of Control reserves the right to select the candidate from the short list without consultation with the Committee.
8.2b In the case of selection of a President, the Committee alone will present the short list, with ranks and identification of acceptable candidates, to the Board of Control. This list should be accompanied by arguments, based on the published criteria, supporting the candidates of choice. Before this list is presented to the Board, the Affirmative Action Officer should review the process and guide the Committee in preparing the statements regarding each candidate.
9. Guidelines for negotiating salary and tenure
9.1 The Provost (or President or Board of Control) will negotiate tenure with the appropriate academic department.
9.2 The Provost (or President or Board of Control) will enter into negotiations with the chosen candidate. Should negotiations with the candidate be unsuccessful, the Committee and President or Provost will meet to reach a consensual decision on the selection of a new finalist from the short list. The search will be reopened if no acceptable candidate is found.
9.3 The basis of a nine-month faculty salary, should the administrator assume a faculty position, must be determined during the hiring negotiations. The administrative salary will consist of four components:
B The nine-month Base faculty salary at start of administrative appointment N The Number of months defined for the administrative position per year; N will usually be "11" for a 12-month appointment because one month is vacation time S The fixed-sum administrative Supplement set at time of hiring R The accrued annual Raises during administrative tenure
The first three of these components must be specified at the time of hiring. The administrator's salary at the end of his/her administrative tenure = B + S + R. Upon assuming a faculty position, the administrator should be guaranteed a salary of B + (9/N)R, (i.e., base salary + accrued raises prorated for 9 months).
Exception to the above salary computation will be negotiated by the candidate with the appropriate administrative officer(s) at the time of hiring. In such cases, the formula used if the administrator returns to a faculty position must be described.
Other professional benefits will be negotiated between the candidate and the appropriate administrative officer(s). The Search Committee will be informed of the final offer and reasons for any exceptions.
9.4 For the President, the Board of Control will undertake the final salary and position negotiations with that candidate. The Board should negotiate the basis for a nine-month faculty salary, should the President assume a faculty position, following a model similar to the one for other administrators.
10. Closure
The Search Committee should inform the Senate of any changes it deems necessary in the search procedure.
Adopted by Senate: January 18, 1995
Approved by President: March 16, 1995
Amended with Proposal 2-00