Welcome to Search Committee Orientation. By taking search committee orientation training online, you will be certified for one year (12 months) as a search committee member. This means that you will not have to be certified each time you are on a search committee for a period of one year. Throughout this training session, if you have any questions that are not answered, please contact Dr. Johanna Velez-Yelin, Director of Equity and Diversity at x5440.
Let s discuss our Agenda. We ll start off with the purpose and responsibilities of search committees. Next we ll discuss the Search Committee Process, specifically the request to hire form, the position posting information, the EEO Hiring record and the search committee materials. Next we will discuss the concept of confidentiality as it relates to searches. We will then discuss how to conduct effective interviews by discussing types of interview questions as well as the concept of fit And then we ll discuss the role of the hiring manager. Let s get started.
Why do we need search committees? The purpose of search committees is to support equal employment in hiring decisions, and seeks to achieve racial/ethnic and gender diversity among the staff and faculty. Minimizes the possibility of undue influence that can unfairly skew the search process. In order to further the effective employment practices and the practice of equal opportunity in faculty hiring initiatives, the University has adopted specific faculty and staff recruitment and appointment procedures
The state of NJprovides every state employee with a work environment free from prohibited discrimination or harassment EEO is the right that all individuals have to be considered for employment based on no other reason than their merit. If you are qualified then you will be considered, maybe not hired, but considered, solely on merit. The right to equality and equity for all!
As an employer with the state of NJ, Rowan University is required to ensure that none of the 19 protected categories are discriminated against.
The first step in a search is the appointment of a search committee. The committee members should be individuals who understand the requirements of the position and who are committed to the goals of the department college and the university. The point of the committee is to have a fair representation of the areas that the position will involve. For example, if a manager of a department will work with many different departments, then the search committee should be comprised of representatives from those departments. Another example, if you are conducting a search for a new faculty member, members of the department and/or faculty members of an affiliated department should make up the search committee. The search committee ideally is composed of individuals from diverse backgrounds in order to provide a variety of perspectives.
In addition to seeking to create an inclusive pool of candidates, the search committee, in conjunction with the hiring party, is responsible for selecting candidates for interviews, conducting interviews, completing all necessary documentation on the search, and recommending candidates for consideration to the hiring authority.
Now let s discuss the search process. As a search committee member you may not be responsible for completing the request to hire form but you should be aware of what it takes to effectively complete this very important step in the search process. To initiate the process, you must first complete the request to hire form. Once the form has been completed, it MUST be signed by the supervisor, the department approval, and the appropriate VP or Provost. Once the advertising venues have been determined, the form must be signed by the Director of OED, Dr. Johanna Velez-Yelin Note: AFT positions go through Karen Giunta at x3054; all other positions go through Stephanie Cozzone at x4135 in HR.
Once the request to hire form has been completed and approved, the ad for the position must be posted. Some posting ideas include but are not limited to: Professional journals, the Chronicle of Higher Ed, Diverse, Hispanic Outlook, the RU website, higheredjobs.com, listservs of related organizations represented in the department, and word of mouth. The listed venues provide diverse opportunities of out reach to more diverse populations. It also sends the non verbal message that our institution values diversity.
Now that the job is posted, the process continues with the Hiring party selecting committee members. Once the committee is established a list of members is sent to the Office of Equity and Diversity (OED) for verification of training.
The next step in the process is to ensure that all search committee members are certified. As I stated earlier, if you are certified either in person or online once per every 12 months, you can serve as a search committee member for those 12 months. There are 2 forms of training certification: online and in person (both cover 12 months)
At this point in the process, the Request to Hire form has been completed and approved, the position has been posted, and the committee members have been certified. Now resumes are being received. Send ALL applicants the link to report their EEO status; this is not just for those that meet the requirements or will be interviewed. Whether by hard copy of email, ultimately the responsibility of sending the EEO forms belongs to the chair of the search committee. Additionally, an EEO Hiring Record is required for all hires and must be completed and returned with all applicable signatures to the Office of Equity and Diversity (OED) at the end of the search. Typically, the chair of the search committee is the person responsible for completing this form.
Search materials are maintained by the search committee chair and submitted to OED at the end of the search. Search committee members should be aware of all the materials submitted with the form. In order to preserve confidentiality, the resumes should be held in a central location preferably online, not copied for each search committee member to review, so that the committee members can go through the resumes at their leisure. In order to arrange a password required online site for resumes, contact Bruce Klein at 856-256-4480.
To find the forms needed to comply with EEO, go to www.rowan.edu/equity There are formats of the EEO Data Record that can be sent to candidates/applicants: -Hard copy download and print to mail out to applicants -Electronic the link can be sent by email. This is the preferred method since the return rate is usually between 62-67%. 67% Suggested wording for the email: Dear Applicant, Your application to the position of has been received. As employees/government contractors, we comply with government regulations and equal employment opportunity responsibilities. Solely to help us comply with record keeping, reporting and other legal requirements, please fill out the EEO Data Record electronically through www.rowan.edu/eeo.
Completion of this form is required at the conclusion of all searches. All documents requested are required and the search will not be certified as EEO compliant until all required documents are submitted. Once the chair of the committee signs that the search followed EEO guidelines, he/she also signs line 9A. At this point the packet (in its entirety) goes to the next level of management for review and signature. This continues until the top level administrator has reviewed and signed. The top level manager then submits the completed packet to the Office of Equity and Diversity for review and certification.
Participating in a search committee requires a commitment of both time and effort. As a search committee member you should attend all meetings. However if you do miss one meeting, (one is the most allowed), you cannot vote on the particular candidate that you missed. If you find that you miss more than one candidate interview, you should assess whether you should be part of the committee.
What is discussed in committee stays in committee. Nothing is off record. Be careful of comments you make that may be perceived as discriminatory. Example: campus curiosity- as a committee member you may be asked questions about the search process. You can reply that all information about the search is kept within the committee.
Lately we have had a lot of immigration questions. According to the Attorney General s office, the only thing you can ask is: Under immigration, we have the right to ask are you legally able to work in the US If the candidate has immigration questions for the committee explain that If the candidate has immigration questions for the committee, explain that the committee really cannot address these questions and that if they are offered the position they should pose the questions to the HR office- shut down those questions right there.
Once a candidate, always a candidate: this status changes only after someone is hired. The rest of the applicants will always be candidates. If you bump into a candidate do not discuss anything pertaining to a search, even years after. For example, a search committee was formed and eventually recommended a candidate for hire. 5 years later, one of the search committee members ran into another candidate that they interviewed during that process. The search committee member said to the former candidate oh what a mess that search was. The OED received a call that week questioning the validity of the search by the candidate. Luckily, we had enough valid records to support the search, however we y g pp should all be aware that once a candidate, always a candidate!
If a candidate calls and asks for accommodations for the interview, we will accommodate them without medical documentation. If the candidate asks about accommodations on the job, refer them to OED website for the whole policy. The search committee should not engage in any discussion of a candidate s The search committee should not engage in any discussion of a candidate s ADA needs.
Questions should be developed prior to interviews. Formulate questions based on what the job requires not on what you perceive as a potential limitation of the candidate to do a job. All candidates should be asked the same questions unless they are resume specific or follow up to a response. When developing questions, stay away from race, sexual orientation, religion, politics, family, marital status, age, etc. And any topic that could be perceived as being indirectly tied to a protected class- such as how do your husband and kids feel about NJ? There are 19 protected classes about which questions cannot be asked. For more information on protected classes, see NJ Policy Prohibiting Discrimination in the Workplace at www.rowan.edu/equity. Additionally, develop what the committee expects as an appropriate answer so that everyone on the committee has the same expectation of what is a good quality response. Regarding ADA: If someone calls and asks for accommodations for the interview, we will accommodate them without medical documentation. Permanent ADA accommodations will only be discussed by OED after a candidate is offered and has accepted employment at Rowan University.
For the interview itself: focus on the requirements of the job. Remember, you are looking for the best qualified candidate not a new best friend. Remember the importance of fit your gut reaction doesn t fly in a court of law. You need to be able to define fit - find quantifiable questions, for example, what is your philosophy of management? Where do you see yourself at Rowan? When you are in informal settings with candidates, be aware of your reactions both verbal and non verbal- for example, if the candidate arrives early to the interview and you are making small talk, remember the 19 categories! Nothing is off record! Don t ask about their kids, spouse, etc! Common pitfall- marital status is a protected class, we need to remember that. If the candidate is waiting in the hall and you strike up a conversation asking about their spouse and if they are happy about the move, know that it can be misperceived and be used against us. Safe topics: weather, drive in, how do you like the campus Note: if you personally know one of the candidates, you should excuse yourself from commenting on that person- you will be unable to vote on them but can vote on the other candidates.
The interview phase of the search committee process is critical. Be sure to describe the requirements of the position at the very beginning of the interview. We need to ensure that they understand that the role they are interviewing for is very explicit. For example, if we were interviewing for a Director of Residential Life and that position included a 1 bedroom oncampus apartment, the candidate must understand there are no exceptionsthey must live on campus in a 1 bed room. Make sure you ask do you understand what the job requires The role of a search committee does not include evaluating the quality of higher education programs across the country. Evaluation criteria shall not include specific institutions and their level of desirability.
The Hiring Manager can request that the rationale is included with the recommendation The search committee goes through all the resumes, and for those candidates who do not have the minimum requirements the hiring department should receive these resumes to send no thank you letters to those who do not meet minimum requirements.
Note: if the candidate is provided an Open Forum (for example, higher level management positions) then you must know how many people attended each session so that you can be sure that there is only one evaluation per participant. Evaluations become part of the EEO hiring record. Bottom Line: Rowan wants the best qualified candidates and the search committees documentation should support the recommendation.
Purpose Process Request to Hire Form Position posting information EEO Hiring Record Search Committee materials Confidentiality Nothing is off record! The Interviews Interview questions Fit The Hiring i Manager