Reviewing Applications

Faculty Search committees will work together to determine which candidates meet the criteria for the position. The Search Chair will direct the committee to refine the advertised job criteria to help facilitate the screening process.

The screening criteria are used to determine which candidates will be considered for interview. These screenings should be based on the minimum requirements and preferred criteria as advertised for the position. All completed applications received by the posting closed date need to be considered. Scoring of the candidates’ application materials should be done consistently, using a standard defensible ranking system. The screening sheet is part of the search file and should clearly show why an applicant was or was not considered further.

Committee members will have access to candidate applications through Careers as indicated by the Search Committee Chair or OHR in the online posting request. Committee members will visit Careers, and select the user role of “Search Committee Member” to view applicants for the searches in which they are involved.

Every search must include a written screening instrument used by all committee members to ensure that everyone uses the same criteria to evaluate each candidate. Initial screening of candidates should be totally objective. First, evaluate applicants against a common standard to determine whether they are qualified; then, evaluate them again to determine how competitive they are among the other applicants. For example, if the position requires a terminal degree by the date of appointment, all those who do not expect to have this minimum credential by the time the position begins would be eliminated.

The committee chair or designee (may be office manager) will update the Careers website at this time to indicate which candidates are not being advanced further in the search process. Screening matrices must be collected from members and submitted as final search documentation.

Using multiple screening methods is mostly likely to ensure a sound hiring decision. Committees should use different techniques at different stages of the process with an increasingly smaller group at each stage (the written material of all applicants is screened; however, only a small number of candidates may be offered a telephone or skype interview, and a smaller number will be asked to present a work sample and /or invited to campus.) Here again a screening instrument to assess qualifications against pre-established required and preferred qualifications ensure a sound decision and fairness.

All candidates in each stage of the process must be treated similarly; for example, all must receive phone interviews if phone interviews are utilized. Applicants are then selected for further consideration e.g. short list.

More information on this topic may be found in the Best Practices section of the HR website.