General
- Please see the document called ‘Search and Appointment Guidelines for Tenure-Line Faculty’ located on the website at https://www.ems.psu.edu/resources-faculty-and-staff under ‘College Policies and Guidelines.’
- All deliberations must be confidential. Candidates' names and materials are also confidential except for the finalists who are brought forward for departmental consideration.
- Head search advisory committees report to the dean.
- Nicola Kiver provides logistical support to the committee throughout the search.
- Our HR Consultant can provide information about the advertising process, including where previous similar positions were advertised.
- Consultation with departmental faculty and staff is crucial at all stages.
- You must advertise, but an advertisement will not land a sub-unit head. A successful sub-unit head search depends on reaching out to contact potential candidates, not waiting for them to apply - think about the kind of candidates you would like to attract and go for them!
- You may bring in candidates at any time, though we cannot make an offer until the advertisement deadline has passed.
- Your job is to bring me files of potential top candidates.
- I would aim to bring in candidates as soon as possible.
- Nicola will work with departmental staff to arrange campus visits once candidates are identified.
- Once candidates have visited, it is your task to assay views of your colleagues. I want to know if each candidate who visits is exceptional, acceptable, or unacceptable from your perspective. I will also get the opinions of others involved in the visit.
Steps
- Construct a job advertisement, being cognizant of the concerns pertaining to international hires. Send it to our HR Consultant for review. They will forward to the relevant University offices for review. If there are substantive changes, they will return the ad to the Chair for additional consideration. Once the committee approves the final version and provides a list of desired external advertising, the ad will be posted in Workday, and any requested external advertising will be placed.
- As soon as the ad is posted and the advertising approval has been granted, the ad may be circulated to the departmental faculty with an invitation to submit the names of possible candidates.
- Circulate the ad to selected colleagues throughout the discipline(s) with invitations to apply for the job (as appropriate) and recommend other candidates.
- Beyond this, work to create a good pool through personal contacts. The success of the search rests on the quality and depth of the pool created. Do not rely on the published advertisement to unearth good candidates.
- Candidates will apply through Workday. The committee will be able to periodically review the applicants there.
- Names of applicants must be kept confidential.
- After the deadline, assemble a list of around five to eight semi-finalists.
- Conduct a brief zoom long-list interview with the candidates (1-hour, prepared questions).
- Using the department's judgment and your own judgment, prepare a short list and send to me. I would like at least three names or up to five.
- After reviewing your recommendations (I usually meet with the chair, at least) I will examine the files and decide whom to invite for interviews.
- Nicola or the Chair will write asking for letters of reference and arrange the interviews in conjunction with the department AA and the Chair of the search committee. In addition to meeting departmental faculty, the candidates will meet with other heads, all the associate/assistant deans, and other faculty as appropriate (for example faculty in related areas, institute directors, etc.).
- NOTE THAT FOR AN INTERNAL SEARCH THERE WILL BE NO RESEARCH PRESENTATION.
- ALL finalists (including internal candidates – confirmed by Abby Deihl on 9/5/24) must be asked to complete the Disclosure of Misconduct form at https://vpfa.psu.edu/disclosure-of-misconduct/ at this point, OR, if preferred, the final candidate must be asked to complete it BEFORE the final offer is made (i.e., do this after point 14 below).
- Following the visits, the committee will solicit opinions from the department(s) via a survey that Nicola will administer and then make a final recommendation to me in the form of a written report. I would like to know which candidates you consider exceptional, acceptable, and unacceptable and the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate. I am also willing to meet with the Chair, or the whole Search Committee, to receive your report, if preferred.
- Following the receipt of your recommendations and the opinions from other participants in the process, I will make an offer.
- If the search fails, it is the Search Committee Chair’s responsibility to inform the semi-finalists and finalists as soon as possible that the search has failed, and they are no longer under consideration. If the search is to be readvertised, inform the semi-finalists and finalists of this and let them know that they are welcome to reapply, if applicable. Please coordinate with EMS HR on appropriate language to use in these notifications.
Last updated: 5/13/2025