A memo of justification/request for the position must be submitted (4 originals) from the Dean/Director addressed to the VCAA and the Chancellor with signature approval lines for the VCAA and the Chancellor.

A signed original will be returned to the Dean/Director’s office. Once authorization to fill a position is given to a College dean or dean of Library Services, the following guidelines are to be followed

A. The Job Description

Upon notification by a dean that a position has been approved, a job description will be proposed by the unit concerned and submitted for refinement and approval by the dean in consultation with the program, center, or other concerned unit. The dean will obtain approval of the job description from the access and equal opportunity officer (AEO) and the VCAA before the search commences.

B. Formation of the Search Commmittee

The appropriate dean, in consultation with faculty of the program, center, or unit concerned, will establish a search committee comprised of up to six members. No more than three (3) members will be faculty members of the program, center, or other unit in which the position is located, two (2) members will be other faculty knowledgeable about the program in which the new appointee will teach, and one (1) member will be a student.

The dean will also establish appropriate secretarial and administrative support for the search, a location for and procedures for handling search materials, and parameters for search costs.

At its initial meeting, the search committee shall elect a chair and meet with the dean and AEO Officer to discuss the affirmative action goals to be addressed by the hire, to review the search guidelines to be used, and to be informed of recent developments in Access and Equal Opportunity laws and requirements. Thereafter, the chair and the dean should maintain contact with the AEO Officer so that the AEO Officer can provide technical assistance and timely approval of search activities.

C. Development of the Search Plan

The dean and the full search committee will develop a search plan consistent with the job description. The search plan should include the following:

  1. A list of names of search committee members.
  2. A copy of the previously approved job description and the proposed advertisement. (In some instances to expedite matters, ads may be placed, with the approval of the dean, AEO Officer, and VCAA, before the full search plan has been developed.) The ad must include: Notice of the date the search committee will begin screening applicants;Notice that applications will be considered until the position is filled or the search terminated;The number of written references expected; the minimum requirements;Salary range where appropriate; rank options where appropriate; starting date; a brief description of UIS;And a notation that “UIS is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer with a strong institutional commitment to recruitment and retention of a diverse and inclusive campus community. Persons with disabilities, women, and minorities are encouraged to apply.”
  3. A list of the periodicals, journals, and papers in which the advertisement will be placed. Ads must be placed in the Chronicle for Higher Education and Illinois Committee on Black Concerns in Higher Education (ICBCHE) website. Publication in at least one periodical targeted toward females, minorities, and the disabled, such as Black Issues in Higher Education, is required.
  4. A list of all groups, organizations, associations, and universities to be notified.
  5. A description of the extent to which alternative means of notification will be used, e.g., phone networking between and among deans, faculty, and colleagues at other institutions, and use of the National Minority Faculty Identification Program and the DFI Employment Placement Plan.Emphasis will be placed on the “pool building” process in the review and approval of search plans. It is important that every effort be made to identify candidates from under-represented populations. Known sources of minority and female candidate listings and listings of candidates with disabilities, referral organizations, and periodicals should be developed and used.Potential candidates who are currently employed and are not known to be looking for a job should be called if they are identified by any source. Creative talents are needed to identify and attract minority and women applicants and this should be kept in mind when conducting searches and formulating recommendations.
  6. Copies of the “resume assessment” form to be used for evaluating applicants’ qualifications, the “telephone reference assessment” form, and the “interview assessment” form to be used in interviewing selected applicants.

D. Approval of the Search Plan

Four originals of the search plan will be submitted to the dean. The dean will review and approve the plan and forward the four originals to the Provost/VCAA, for review and approval. Following approval by the Provost/VCAA, the Provost/VCAA will forward the originals to the AEO Officer for his/her review and approval. Once approved, the search may commence. A signed original will be retained by the Provost/VCAA and Provost/VCAA office will distribute signed originals to the AEO Officer, the dean’s office, and the chair of the search committee.

E. Emergency Circumstances

Should emergency circumstances arise which require immediate action to begin a search, the dean will review the situation with the AEO Officer and seek preliminary approval to proceed from the VCAA (who will review the situation with the AEO Officer), before any specific steps are taken. After the search begins, the full plan should be submitted for approval as suggested above.

F. Receipt of Resumes

Resumes shall be received and maintained in either the dean’s office or the academic program office, as agreed to by dean and the search committee. Upon receipt of resumes, the chair of the search committee shall ensure that applicants for the position receive a letter confirming that their resumes have been received and that they receive UIS’ AEO information form.

G. Selection of Candidates to be Interviewed

1. Procedure

a. The pool, employment availability data concerning protected class members, should be consulted. Flexibility is warranted to ensure that reasonableness is maintained, particularly with regard to high demand program areas in which the availability of protected class candidates is low.

If the dean judges the search implementation and/or pool to be inadequate in relation to affirmative action considerations, he/she will work with the search committee to extend the search efforts. A description of additional steps taken in this regard should be forwarded to the AEO Officer and the VCAA as an addendum to the search plan.

b. Once the announced date is reached, the search committee will review candidate files. The committee should initially separate the “pool” into applicants who do and who do not meet the basic qualifications for the position.

If there is a large pool of qualified applicants, the committee, with the participation and approval of the dean, may make a preliminary reduction in the pool under active consideration to a smaller pool of the more highly qualified candidates. The reduction criteria to a smaller pool of the more highly qualified candidates must include the ability of the candidates to contribute to the diversity of the work force.

If the dean, in consultation with the AEO Officer, judges the reduced pool to be inadequate in relation to affirmative action considerations, he/she will work with the search committee to extend the search efforts. A description of additional steps taken in this regard should be forwarded to the AEO Officer and the VCAA as an addendum to the search plan.

For the candidates remaining in consideration, the committee shall seek additional information from and about the candidate in order to select those to be recommended for interview. A careful and thorough documentation of reference checks shall be maintained. The dean should assist with review and evaluation of the pool and make suggestions regarding information which should be sought for particular candidates.

c. Normally, the committee will recommend to the dean three (3) unranked candidates for interview. In some instances, previously identified budget constraints might require bringing fewer than three candidates in for interview. In such instances, the committee will be informed in advance of such constraints. The committee may request inclusion of a fourth candidate for interview in support of the university’s efforts to achieve a diverse campus. The search committee’s recommendation should be submitted with four originals and should include:

(1) A cover sheet identifying the candidates for which interview approval is sought, with approval/signature lines for the dean, the AEO Officer, and the VCAA.

(2) A listing of all efforts made to contact candidates including protected class candidates and other phone contacts.

(3) A summary of the candidate pool, including a listing of those judged to be unqualified, qualified, and, when a preliminary reduction was made within the qualified pool, an identification of the reduced pool. When qualified candidates have not been included in the active pool, an explanation should be provided. Procedures used to seek additional information regarding the applicants should be described.

(4) A rationale for selecting the candidates for interview from among the pool of qualified candidates should be provided. (This rationale should be directly related to the qualifications sought in the position description and affirmative action considerations.)

(5) In addition to the written references received for each candidate, a summary should be provided of at least three reference telephone interviews on each candidate sought to be interviewed, together with a description of the uniform set of questions asked of each reference. At least one reference call for each candidate should be to a current or former employer.

(6) A vita and written letters of reference for each candidate to be interviewed.

(7) Initially gathered pieces in a portfolio of professional accomplishments, 4 especially as they relate to rank options in the search, should be maintained in the candidate file for review by the search committee, dean, AEO Officer, and/or VCAA.

2. The dean will review the committee’s request for interview and consult with the committee as needed.

This review will include an assessment of the appropriateness of exclusion of candidates and a determination that the selected candidates meet the previously agreed upon qualifications of the position. If the recommendations are deemed inadequate, the dean will work with the committee to obtain an appropriate selection of candidates for interview. No candidates will be selected for interview by the dean without having come from the search committee with a positive recommendation.

If the recommendations are deemed to be adequate, the dean will forward the four original requests to interview to the Provost/VCAA who will then forward to the AEO Officer for review and approval and return the four signed originals to the Provost/VCAA.

The Provost/VCAA will retain a signed original and distribute a signed original to the AEO Officer, the dean, and the chair of the search committee. If the VCAA disagrees with the recommendation of the search committee/ dean, he or she will convene the search committee and dean to engage in further discussion and deliberation in an attempt to reach consensus.

H. Interviews

  1. Interviews and travel reimbursement should be arranged by the dean according to established procedures. Delays in candidates’ reimbursement CAN BE AVOIDED by observing the requirement that each candidate sign the necessary invoice voucher at the VCAA’s office while on campus.
  2. The candidate shall be invited to make a “sample” classroom or other professional/research presentation to the program/center faculty and students. This presentation should be focused on a topic on which the candidate is currently directing his/her research efforts or a subject for which he/she will potentially be hired to teach.
  3. The interview schedule should include the faculty of the program/unit in which the candidate is to teach or work, the director(s) of any public affairs center(s) in which the candidate is likely to pursue research/public service activities, the Deans involved, the AEO Officer for the purpose of ensuring uniformity of interview process (or designee when the AEO Officer  is unavailable), and the VCAA.
  4. The interview with the program should include an exploration of:a. area(s) of expertise;
    b. professional accomplishments;
    c. the candidate’s career to date and in prospect;
    d. possible courses to be taught;
    e. specific public affairs and other professional/research interests; and
    f. potential to contribute to the diversity of UIS.All interviewers will be asked to send assessments of the candidates to the search committee, using the previously approved candidate interview assessment form.
  5. Questions of rank, salary, and personnel policies pertaining to retention, tenure, promotion, and research/service opportunities will be discussed with the candidate by the dean of the college in which the locus of tenure would rest after consultation with the vice chancellor for Academic Affairs. If the person interviewed is to fill a non-tenure track position, the dean of the program in which the principal teaching activities will be conducted will discuss these matters with the candidate.
  6. Following the completion of candidate interviews, the dean, at his/her discretion, may request a meeting with the search committee to review the progress of the search to ensure that all procedures have been followed prior to receipt of the search committee’s recommendation to hire.

I. Recommendation to Hire

1. Search Committee Recommendation
Once interviews are completed, the committee will make recommendations to the dean which include the following:

a. the committee’s judgment of the suitability for the position of each candidate interviewed, including a summary of evaluations of persons not on the committee who participated in the interviews. (For any candidate deemed unacceptable, the search committee must include its reasoning for this judgment. For each candidate judged suitable, the rationale for selection should be given. If there are two or more equally qualified candidates, the committee may consider the potential contribution to diversity as a factor in its deliberation.

b. anticipated courses/activities for the coming year and the future, and

c. the thoughts of the search committee with respect to faculty rank (if appropriate) and salary.

The committee should also forward to the dean the completed portfolio of professional accomplishments and the documentation of evaluations for each candidate.
2. Dean’s Recommendation

The dean will review the recommendations and make final reference checks with the candidate(s) current employer(s) and others. The dean will then review his/her recommendation along with the committee’s recommendation with the AEO Officer  and the VCAA. He or she will also confer with the AEO Officer and VCAA concerning the extent to which the hiring decision will address an affirmative action hiring goal. The dean shall then forward a written recommendation (4 originals) to the Provost/VCAA who will then forward to the AEO Officer for review and approval.

The AEO Officer will return the 4 originals to the Provost/VCAA for approval and signature. The Provost/VCAA will retain a signed original and distribute signed originals to the AEO Officer, the dean, and the chair of the search committee. The dean’s recommendation for appointment must be drawn from those candidates receiving a positive recommendation of the search committee.

Further, if there are two or more equally qualified candidates, the dean may consider the potential contribution to diversity as a factor in his/her deliberation. The dean’s recommendation should include:

a. The report of the search committee on appointment;

b. proposed rank and salary with an assessment of the effects of this proposed rank and salary on the distribution of rank and salaries of existing faculty within the program and school;

c. if a candidate is ABD, an understanding of the date for Ph.D. completion;

d. if the candidate’s highest degree is at the master’s level, expectations for earning a Ph.D. and salary upon its completion if it is to be different from that recommended in b. above;

e. date upon which the person will be reviewed for tenure and an accompanying rationale for the length of the probation period;

f. recommended allowance for moving expense reimbursement, if any;

g. any other special arrangements or work load understandings proposed for the candidate.

J. Administrative Protocol for Making a Faculty Appointment

A. Considerations for Terms of Employment

1. General Considerations

Acceptance of a full-time contract for employment at UIS implies agreement to a number of stipulations as follows:

a. every person in regular employment is required to become a participant in the State Universities Retirement System of Illinois;

b. agreement that authorized and duly approved fees may be deducted regularly from his/her salary upon proper notice;

c. recommendation of a salary or wage. Appointee agrees to execute a salary or wage withholding form permitting UIS to withhold said amounts from the appointee’s payroll draft during the contract period.

2. Joint Appointments

The following policies apply to faculty joint appointments between academic programs, or between academic programs and public affairs centers or other units.

a. Since a joint faculty appointment at UIS involves a member of the faculty, an academic program, and another unit (e.g., another academic program, public affairs center, or other unit), joint appointments must be approved by all three parties and the VCAA before such an appointment is made.

b. Joint appointments will have the same status within academic affairs as full-time faculty appointments within a single unit. Faculty on joint appointment shall enjoy the same opportunity for promotion, tenure, and salary increases as faculty on full-time appointments within a single unit. Furthermore, if the possibility of financial exigency should face UIS in the future, there shall be no presumption that faculty on joint appointments are any more or less vulnerable to dismissal than any other faculty member.

c. Tenure-track faculty will be jointly appointed on a continuing basis dependent on their tenure “home.” For non-tenured faculty, the length of time covered in the joint appointment will reflect standard campus policies on faculty appointments with the probationary period.

B. The Offer of a Position

1. Upon approval of the VCAA of the offer to be made, the dean shall extend an offer in accord with campus policies.

2. If none of the candidates accepts the offer, then the dean, after consultation with the academic program, will make a recommendation to the VCAA on how to proceed.

(1) In some cases, e.g. the Library or the Center for State Policy and Leadership, it may be more appropriate to substitute relevant administrators and/or civil service staff.
(2) The VCAA’s office will let search committees know of institutional ads that are being placed.
(3) The interview assessment forms may be submitted with the Committee’s request to interview instead of with the search plan should the Committee so desire. Both the telephone reference assessment form and the interview assessment form should include standard questions that the Committee seeks to ask in relation to all of the candidates under consideration. Additional questions particular to individual candidates may be asked during the screening process as well.
(4) Depending on the nature of the position and the experience and qualifications of the candidate, a portfolio of professional accomplishments might include copies of brief UIS faculty review notes that may be substituted for copies in the case of lengthy documents (such as books, long journal articles, etc.), professional papers, published works, other professional products including project reports, workshop brochures and proceedings, descriptions of project accomplishments, course syllabi, students’ evaluations, etc. The portfolio will, most likely, be incomplete at this stage. However, it should be relatively complete by the time the candidate is on campus for interview.

Revised 03/06