The University Senate of Michigan Tech University
Proposal 12-13
(Voting Units:
Full Senate)
“Modification to Search Procedures for College Deans”
Background/Rationale:
Senate Procedures 801.1.1 section 11.0 Closure
states that the Search Committee should inform the Senate of any changes it
deems necessary in the search procedures.
Feedback has been received from the 2011-2012 College of Engineering
Dean Search Committee and the suggestions submitted have been considered.
Proposal:
To modify Senate Procedures 802.1.1 Search
Procedures for College Deans
The
following procedure is for searches for deans of the College of Engineering and
the College of Sciences and Arts. Searches for deans of schools are described
in the school charters.
1.0 Initiation Inception
1.1 The
Initiator person to initiate the of a search for a Ccollege
Ddean will be the President, or
the Provost as the President's designee.
2.0 Search Committee
2.1 Departmental
Representatives: The Initiator person initiating the search will ask each
department in the college to elect one departmental
representative to the Search Committee. The representative must be a member of
the faculty of the department, and may be the department Chair. The
departmental Senator and a person appointed by the department Chair will
conduct the election. Balloting will follow departmental charter procedure or
standard University Senate procedure. The Senator and the appointed individual
will count the ballots and announce the results. Ties will be resolved by a
random process. The Senator will report the name of the departmental
representative to the Initiator person initiating the search and to the
President of the University Senate, who will announce the membership of the
Committee at the next meeting of the Senate.
2.2 Student
Representatives: The Initiator person initiating the search will ask the
Undergraduate Student Government and the Graduate Student Council each to elect
one Committee representative and one alternate, who should be enrolled in the
college.
2.3 Staff
Representative: The Initiator person initiating the search will ask the Staff Council to
select at
least one staff member to serve on the Search Committee. The staff
member should be employed within the college.
2.4 At-large
Representatives: The Initiator person initiating the search will select three
individuals from the University community (faculty, staff, students,
administrators, and alumni) to serve on the Committee.
2.5 The
Initiator person initiating the search will ask Human Resources to
designate a representative to serve without vote.
2.6 A
list of the names of Committee members will be posted electronically, and will
be submitted for publication in Tech
Topics and The
Lode.
2.7 Confidentiality
All Search Committee members
are responsible for signing a confidentiality
statement at the beginning of the process before the committee begins any work
including discussion of criteria, drafting of interview questions, reviewing of
applications and/or resumes.
Confidentiality statement can be found at:
http://www.mtu.edu/affirmative-programs/hiring/faculty-hiring/hiring-forms/
3.0 Meetings
3.1 The
Initiator person initiating the search (President or Provost) may
call the first meeting of the Committee as soon as at least a three-fourths
majority of Committee members have been named.
3.2 The
Initiator person initiating the search (President or Provost) will
deliver the charge to the Committee. The Initiator He/She will
relate the guidelines for the search process including staffing and the budget
for advertising and interviewing.
3.3 The
Initiator person initiating the search will inform the Committee of
the role of the Board of Control in the search process.
3.4 The
Initiator person initiating the search will supervise the election of
a chair and associate chair by written ballot, in closed session, at the first
meeting. During the first meeting the Committee and the Initiator person
initiating the search will specify the responsibilities of these
individuals.
3.5 The
Initiator person initiating the search and the Committee will agree
on a target date for selection of the candidate and on other time lines of the
search.
3.6 The
Affirmative Action
Officer and the Human Resources representative or other designated persons
will provide an orientation for the Search Committee at the outset of the
search, and will be available thereafter for any needed consultation. The
Committee should discuss the legal issues involved in record keeping and be
informed of their legal responsibilities and liabilities. As of the writing of
this procedure, notes must be kept for three years.
3.7 The
representative from Human Resources will assist the Committee with its tasks of
organizing paperwork, documenting activities, advertising the position, and
following guidelines for the search and screening processes.
3.8 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.
3.9 The
Search Committee should expedite the search process by forming working
subcommittees for appropriate tasks.
4.0 Goals
4.1 In
order to select appropriate candidates, the Search Committee must consider the
published goals, the mission, and the vision of the college.
5.0 Position description and list of
qualifications and attributes
5.1 The
Search Committee, with input from the Initiator person initiating the search,
from Human Resources, from appropriate administrators, and from the Affirmative Action Office Office of Institutional Equity, will draft a position
description (e.g., qualifications, duties, expected achievements, etc.) that is
consonant with the college goals.
5.2 Before
soliciting candidates, and in consultation with the Initiator person
initiating the search, the Committee will establish the essential
qualifications and desired attributes (inter-personal skills, management style,
etc.) of candidates, and will group (weight) the attributes by major and minor
importance.
5.3 The
draft position description and list of qualifications and attributes will be
sent via email or otherwise to all faculty and staff of the college, and will
be posted electronically. Faculty, staff, and students will be invited to send
comments to the Committee. The Committee will hold an open meeting of faculty,
staff, and students to discuss the position description and the list of
qualifications and attributes.
5.4 The
Committee will consider the comments, and then write a final description and
list of qualifications and attributes. The final version will be published in Tech Topics, The Lode, posted
electronically, and sent to applicants.
6.0 Mechanism for identifying candidates
6.1 At
the discretion of the President, the search may be conducted using the services
of a search firm or consultants. The Search Committee will direct the efforts
of the firm or consultants.
6.2 To
ensure a diverse, well-qualified applicant pool that meets EEO requirements,
the Committee should solicit applicants according to procedure established by
the Affirmative Action Office Office of Institutional Equity and work with the Affirmative
Action Institutional Equity Officer.
6.3 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 should be encouraged to contact colleagues and
to send them position advertisements.
6.4 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.
6.5 Within
time and budgetary constraints, the Committee may schedule and hold screening
interviews with a select pool of candidates (usually less than 10). The
identity of those interviewed will be held in confidence.
6.6 As
the search progresses, deviations from the budgetary guidelines must be
approved by the Initiator person initiating the search.
7.0 Semifinalist candidates
7.1 The Committee, after reviewing vitae,
reference letters or phone calls, other relevant material, and conducting the results of any screening interviews, and the advice of the Affirmative
Action Officer, will produce a short list of candidates. As a professional courtesy, the search committee should
inform candidates prior to checking references. Upon approval of the person
initiating the search, these candidates will be invited for on-campus interviews.
7.2 they
The candidates become semifinalists on
acceptance of an interview.
7.2 For
semifinalists the Committee will obtain independent assessments from referees
not listed by these candidates. The Committee should solicit faculty help for
identifying appropriate referees.
8.0 Interview process
8.1 A
short vita of each semifinalist candidate will be sent via email or otherwise
to all faculty and staff of the college at least two work days prior to the
campus visit. A full resume will be made available in the Human Resources
office for examination by all faculty, staff, and students of the University.
8.2 The
interview process will include, among other assessments, the response to a
hypothetical job situation that reveals how the candidate approaches
problem-solving, decision-making, and ethics.
8.3 Each
candidate will be asked to make two seminar presentations:
A. A
seminar open to the public addressed to the department in which the Dean is
likely to be given a tenured position. The presentation might include but not
be limited to the following topics:
1) Trends, directions, and opportunities for research in the field of
the candidate's expertise.
2) The course(s) the candidate would like to teach, if time
permitted.
3) Direction of education in the department (e.g., what should and
will be the attributes of the college's graduates ten years from now).
4) Responses to questions from departmental faculty and staff.
B. An open presentation, addressed to the
college, which includes but is not limited to the following issues:
1) The candidate's administrative philosophy and
a plan for meeting the short- and long-term goals of the college.
2) 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.).
3) The debates and trends at the national and
state level that may affect research funding opportunities for the college.
4) The resources needed to attain the goals of
the college.
5) Questions from the audience.
C. The
departmental presentation (8.3.A) will be waived for internal candidates who
have already been granted tenure in an academic department at Michigan
Technological University. Tenured
internal candidates will be required to make the open presentation to the
college following the guidelines stated in 8.3.B above.
8.4 The
Search Committee will make appointments for the candidate to meet the Provost,
the President, the Vice President for Research, the
Department Chairs of the college, the Academic Deans
the Dean of
the other college, Deans of Schools, the Human Resources Director, and other
appropriate personnel as selected by the Initiator
person
initiating the search. The
Board of Control may also request an interview.
8.5 The
Search Committee will schedule and appropriately publicize at least one open
public meeting for the candidate.
8.6 Faculty,
staff, and students will be invited to provide oral and written feedback to the
Committee on the entire slate of semifinalist candidates, based on the
published position description, qualifications and attributes. The Committee
will share these comments with the Initiator person who initiated the search.
9.0 Selecting the final candidate(s)
9.1 Selection
of the final candidate(s) will begin only after the on-campus interview process
for all semifinalist candidates is complete.
9.2 After
considering the feedback from the University community, the Committee will
develop in closed session a list of at most three acceptable individuals from
the list of semifinalists.
9.3 For semifinalists who are acceptable after
the campus interview, the Committee will obtain independent assessments from
referees not listed by these candidates, referred to below as which would be
a part of the due diligence verification
process reference checks. The Committee should solicit faculty help for identifying
appropriate referees.
As a professional courtesy, the
search committee should must inform
these semifinalists prior to the due diligence reference checks. These reference
checks are only required for the selected semifinalists. The names of
independent references will not be disclosed. If a semifinalist refuses to allow
due diligence reference checks, the semifinalist should be informed that this refusal limits the committee's
ability to complete its evaluation and that the semifinalist may not receive full will be withdrawn from consideration. All questions
asked and issues raised must, as with all references, be
job-related and should be similar for all candidates.
9.34 The Initiator person who initiated the search (President
or Provost) will also develop a list of acceptable individuals from the list of
semifinalists.
9.45 The Committee and the Initiator person who
initiated the search will meet and agree on mutually acceptable
finalist candidate(s). If no agreement can be reached, the search will be
reopened.
10.0 Negotiating salary and tenure
10.1 The
Provost or President will negotiate with the chosen candidate(s). Should
negotiations with the candidate(s) be unsuccessful, the Committee and President
or Provost will meet to reach a consensual decision on the selection of a new
finalist(s) from list of semifinalists. The search will be reopened if no
acceptable candidate is found.
10.2 The
President or Provost will negotiate tenure with the Chairs and Deans of
appropriate academic units, and will make any recommendation of tenure to the
Board of Control.
10.3 An
explicit part of the negotiation will be salary as a tenured faculty member
should the candidate resign as dean.
10.4 Other
professional benefits will be negotiated between the candidate and the
appropriate administrative officer(s). The Search Committee will be informed of
the final accepted offer.
11.0 Closure
The Search Committee should inform
the Senate of any changes it deems necessary in the search procedure.
Proposal 19-01:
Adopted by
Senate: 8 May 2002
Approved by
President: 24 May 2002
Proposal 3-07:
Adopted by
Senate: 11 October 2006
Approved by
Administration: 20 October 2006
Proposal 19-07:
Adopted by
Senate: 31 January 2007
Approved by
Administration: 8 February 2007
Proposal 12-13:
Introduced to
Senate: 23 January 2013
Friendly amendment
added (in
blue): 23 January 2013
Committee amendments (in green): 6 February 2013
Approved by Senate: 6 March 2013
Approved by Administration with editorial changes (in purple): 1 April 2013
Senate Approved editorial changes: 10 April 2013