This Search Policy document provides a means of accomplishing the following:

1. Ensuring the maximum amount of involvement by all the members of the SAU community.

2. Standardizing searches for faculty, chairs, deans, and Provost.

3. Setting deadlines for action.

4. Codifying standards for establishing search committees.

5. Establishing a recommendation procedure based on consensus.

6. Ensuring that searches are conducted expeditiously, openly, and inclusively.

7. Ensuring that the SAU Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Policy (EEO-AA) is followed.

8. Searching for faculty and academic administrators that support the mission of the University.

9. Establishing a dialogue with the unit and the supervisors to determine the needs of the unit and University and how best to accomplish both goals.

1. Initiation of Human Resources Requisition: The Human Resources Requisition should be initiated by the appropriate individual (chair, dean, director, vice president, or President) and articulates any specific accreditation issues that must be considered in the filling of the position.

2. Approval by appropriate individuals (supervisory chain including President). This step includes a budget certification by the chair, dean, Provost, and President that this unit has a need for the position and funds exist in the department budget to fund the position. A budget request must accompany the HR requisition through channels to the President. Student semester credit hour (SSCH) production should be included in this analysis with at least the most current three years of data.

3. Submission of Human Resources Requisition to Office of Human Resources through the chain of supervisors through the President. A decision on the requisition should be communicated back to the initiating individual within 60 days of the submission.

4. Advertisement preparation. Office of Human Resources prepares advertisement and submits it to initiating individual for approval (who consults with the unit) and then places it in appropriate publications, websites, and mailing lists as described in the EEO-AA policy.

5. Creation of search committee. The initiating individual or supervisor makes committee member recommendations to the President, and the President approves or amends the list.

6. Search policy review. The Office of Human Resources reviews with the search committee the Search Policy for Faculty and Academic Administrators and the EEO-AA policy.

7. Forwarding of applications. The Office of Human Resources receives and acknowledges applications and forwards them to the search committee.

8. Review of applications. The search committee reviews the applications and, for all positions, selects no more than three finalists to be initially invited to campus. The search committee makes recommendation to President through the supervisory chain. The President consults with the individuals in the supervisory chain in the hiring decision process.

9. President takes action on search committee’s recommendation. The action of the President will be communicated to the search committee members and Office of Human Resources.

1. Searches for faculty positions should be conducted as early in the academic year as possible, preferably in the fall semester, to ensure an adequate pool of applicants will be available for the search committee to consider. Initiating individuals and their supervisors should generally not begin a search for a new tenure track position if the search cannot be completed by May 15. Generally, any advertisement that does not appear in the appropriate publication(s) by March 15 will prevent a search from being completed by May 15.

2. When an appointment to a position is made as an interim appointment, the search for a person to fill that position on a permanent basis must begin within one year of the date when the interim appointment was made.

1. The initiating individual for faculty is the chair of the department; the initiating individual for a chair is the dean of the college; the initiating individual for a dean is the Provost, and the President is the initiating individual for the Provost.

2. For faculty, chair, dean, and Provost positions.

   1. For chair positions, special circumstances exist because chairs also teach a faculty load (with release time for chair responsibilities). Budget considerations may preclude the addition of another faculty member, so the President, in consultation with the faculty in the unit and other relevant administrators, may conclude that the search must be internal to the department.

   2. For dean and Provost positions, meetings will be held by the initiating individual or designee to gather information from the college or all faculty, in the case of the Provost, for recommendations about the search as well as duties, responsibilities and qualifications of the position.

   3. For faculty the initiating individual offers the opportunity for all members of the department to participate in the process of determining specifics of duties, responsibilities, and qualifications of the desired position; identifying any issues relating to accreditation(s) that may affect the qualifications; and developing a list of appropriate venues for advertisement placement. Recommendations for membership on the search committee should be made in consultation with the dean in the case of faculty searches, and should be shared with all members of the unit.

3. Based on the recommendations in number two (2) above, the initiating individual prepares a Human Resources Requisition and the draft advertisement in consultation with the department or unit. This may be done by e-mail or other methods of communication as time permits. The Human Resources Requisition should include a recommended rank, the academic specialties sought, the duties of the position, and the deadline by which applications will be accepted or date review will begin. Departmental accreditation guidelines and requirements should be addressed at this time.
4. When approved by the President, the Human Resources Requisition and the job listing are submitted to the Office of Human Resources. The Equal Employment Opportunity-Affirmative Action Plan provides guidance on the type of search to be conducted (local, regional, national).
5. Most advertisements go to The Chronicle of Higher Education (The Chronicle). Discipline-specific publications or lists should be used when available. Other options will be explored as described in the EEO-AA Plan.
6. The initiating individual recommends to the President a search committee of approximately five to seven persons whose membership is determined by the following guidelines:
   1. Every effort should be made by the administration to reflect the makeup of the department, as relates to the number of tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenured faculty in that department.
   2. If the committee lacks minority representation or gender diversity, the initiating individual shall recommend the appointment of additional members to rectify such a situation.
   3. In the case of b, or if an insufficient number of faculty within the department are willing or able to serve, faculty from related disciplines may be added to the committee.
   4. The unit may add one student representative to the committee.
   5. The unit, the President, or the Provost and may add non-academic community members whose perspectives would be valuable to the work of the committee and/or in the best interest of the University Academic Administrators. Special provisions for constitution of search committees for academic positions that have administrative duties (Provost, deans, chairs):
      1. Provost: One faculty member selected from each college and two at-large faculty members, all selected by the above criteria, and including at least one senator; one vice president; one academic dean; and one academic staff reporting to the Provost. The President may add additional members based on the needs of the University.
      2. Academic Dean: At least one faculty member (exclusive of chairs) selected from each department within the college by the above faculty guidelines, one chair from within the college, and one dean. The President may add additional members based on the needs of the University.
      3. Chair: The committee should also include a chair from within the college. The President may add additional members based on the needs of the University.
7. The chair of the committee will be a member of the department or unit in which the new person will serve, unless no members of a department are willing to serve as chair.
8. After it is constituted, the search committee should take care to include non-tenured, non-tenure-track, and even adjunct faculty in the search process by making materials of applicants available and by including them in the interview process. In the case of academic administrator positions, application materials and an opportunity for interaction will be made available to those units that will be working with the selected individual.
9. To ensure the search committee has knowledge of state and federal laws governing employment search activities and knowledge of University policies, goals, and objectives, the members of the committee will be informed about recruitment guidelines and about equal employment opportunity and the affirmative action plan. It is the responsibility of the Office of Human Resources to provide this information. Generally, this will be done within two weeks of the appointment of the committee. This may be done by meeting with the committee or by the distribution of recruitment information packets by hard copy or electronically.

1. The chair of the committee, with the assistance of the Office of Human Resources, makes all application materials (which are public information) available to members of the search committee and to members of the unit not on the search committee. Other interested parties may view the application material by contacting the Office of Human Resources or the chair of the search committee.
2. Throughout the search process, the search committee seeks input from the unit and other interested parties. The chair should use available means (meetings, email communication, etc.) to keep the SAU community informed and provide opportunities for the community to comment on the process and the applicants.
3. The search committee diligently seeks to discover reliable information about the candidates who may make the finalist list. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
   1. Contact by telephone, mail, and or e-mail with references provided by the candidate.
   2. Contact by telephone, mail, and/or e-mail with other persons who might have valid and reliable knowledge of and insight into the candidate’s qualifications for the job Student members do not make reference calls.
   3. Individual contact with candidates by members of the search committee under the auspices of the search committee and the individual contacting. The search committee member will keep written documentation of the conversation and report back to the search committee.
4. Using information gained through these activities and from others, the search committee selects applicants of interest. Conference call or video interviews and additional contact with references may occur if needed to gain additional information about the candidates. Conference calls also allow candidates to learn more about the position and the University. In order to conduct a conference call, a majority of the committee must participate.
5. The search committee selects no more than three finalists to visit the campus. Exceptions for good cause must be approved by the Office of Human Resources and Provost. Search committees allowed to invite candidates to campus may assume that the search will not be cancelled; that is, all other factors remaining constant, they will be allowed to hire a viable candidate out of that pool. In addition, it may be advisable to ascertain if the candidate considers the proposed salary range to be adequate before inviting the candidate to campus. While the search committee should also be made aware of the salary range, such a conversation with the candidate should only be initiated by the dean.
6. During the campus visit, the search committee schedules time for members of the department or unit and other appropriate individuals to meet with the applicant in formal and informal settings. The committee may invite interested parties to participate in interview activities. Possible activities include
   1. teaching a class,
   2. leading in informal activity,
   3. making a formal presentation,
   4. lunch and/or other opportunities for informal social contact, and
   5. tours of the campus and the community.
7. In faculty searches, the search committee schedules sessions with the President, the Provost, the Office of Human Resources, the dean of the college, and the chair and faculty in the department. Before the day of the campus visit, an itinerary for the candidate’s visit should be shared with the applicant, search committee, department, and any administrator included in the interview process.
8. Following campus interviews, the search committee actively solicits input from other members of the department or unit and from others who have examined the candidate’s credentials or come into contact with the candidate during the campus visit. The search committee will send an e-mail to interested individuals requesting comments on the applicants.
9. The search committee gathers and considers all the information, input, and insights from the individuals participating in the campus visit.
10. The search committee recommendation process is as follows:
    1. The search committee determines its choice for the position by consensus within seven days after completion of the last interview. In the case of a search for the Provost or a dean, the President may request a ranked list of two or three acceptable candidates. However, in such a case, if the committee cannot recommend more than one acceptable candidate, the committee may recommend that the search be re-initiated.
    2. The committee prepares a brief written statement of the reasons for its recommendation.
    3. If consensus is not reached, members of the search committee who do not agree with the majority recommendation of the committee may document the reasons for their disagreement by providing a written minority report directly to the President, who preserves the confidentiality of the information.
    4. The committee’s recommendation is sent through channels to the President. Each supervisor in the channel makes a recommendation on the selection by the search committee.
    5. If the President rejects the recommended candidate, the President provides written notification promptly to the search committee.
    6. In the case of f, the committee returns to the pool of candidates, identifies by consensus its next choice, prepares a brief statement of its reasons for selecting that person, and sends that information through channels to the President.
    7. The process continues until a candidate who is satisfactory to all parties has been settled upon, or until the search is cancelled.
    8. Before a contract is sent, a background check must be conducted.
11. Note: The search committee is not to give any assurances or make any offers of employment to any candidate. Only the President approves the selection, and the President sends an offer of employment to the candidate or designates an individual to make the contact (Provost, dean, or chair). The candidate is officially hired once the Provost receives a signed contract from the candidate accepting the position. The search committee is not to dismiss any finalists from consideration, either verbally or in writing, until a candidate is officially hired.
12. EXCEPTION: The search committee chair will personally and individually inform internal candidates of their status before the identity of candidates to be invited to campus is made public.
13. If the search committee recommends the hiring of a non-citizen and the President approves, the Office of Human Resources must review immigration guidelines before the President makes the offer to the candidate.
14. The work of the search committee is not complete until a signed contract is received from the applicant. If an applicant declines an offer and there are no other finalists acceptable to the search committee, the committee will make a recommendation to reopen the search or to cancel the search and fill the position with adjuncts or a one-year appointment.