Perlman, B., & McCann, L. I. (Spring, 1998). The Nuts and Bolts
of Faculty Recruitment: Part IIa: The Campus Visit Through the
Search Completion. The Department Chair, 8(4), 16-17.
In a previous article (Perlman & McCann, 199 -) we discussed
organizing the recruitment committee, its initial tasks,
developing a pool of candidates, screening, and selection of
semi-finalists and then finalists. All of this work is a prelude
for a campus visit by two or three of your top selections and a
decision to offer a contract, continue, reopen or close the
search.
The Campus Visit
Campus visits add to your knowledge about candidates,
provide data on their personal dimensions, facilitate them
getting to know you and your campus, and allow you to woo them
and they you. Campus visits often solidify decisions and choices
already made, but they can reveal poor fits between candidate and
position or highlight personal traits which may make excellent
teaching and scholarship problematic. They also may reveal
department problems and issues which could influence candidates
to reject an offer.
During a campus visit be professional, ethical, warm, and
organized. Honesty and candor are good policies which minimize
the raising of false expectations. We suggest taking the
following steps before candidates arrive.
• Plan having one candidate on campus at a time.
• Meet with your department colleagues to describe plans for
the visits and to provide information. Urge them to avoid
improper questions (e.g., age, marital status).
• Contact the candidate about prospective dates, travel
plans, lodging, and expectations for their visit (e.g., teaching
a class and/or presenting a colloquium).
• Ask about any special needs (e.g., dietary).
• Send university and community materials prior to the
visit.
• Assign a shadow. This is the departmental member(s) who
will be available to help and will accompany the candidate
throughout the visit.
• Expect the unexpected, from bad weather to illness.
Once the candidate arrives it is imperative that time be
used wisely. We recommend that the candidate be present during at
least two days. Your goal is a campus visit which allows
candidates to learn everything they want to know about the job
and the community, and you to learn what you need to know about
them.
Prepare a printed campus visit itinerary. Identify
individuals with whom the candidate will be meeting outside your
department. Talk with the candidate about scheduling, preparation
time before a colloquium, guest lecture or recital, early morning
or late evening meetings, and so forth.
Survey faculty and class schedules to identify the best
times for a visitor's presentations and be assertive in asking
colleagues and students to attend and to spend time with
candidates. Get feedback from those who will not be attending the
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department meeting when decisions on candidates will be made.
If a candidate has a spouse or significant other be prepared
for them to visit, and you may want to suggest that they do so
(typically at their own expense). The best decision will be made
if the spouse has complete information, and a campus visit helps
ensure this.
There is little down time during a visit. Even informal
walks and unstructured conversations communicate important
information. Have the candidate meet the departmental faculty
individually or in small groups (e.g., recruitment committee,
chairperson, other interested faculty, students). A mass meeting
of a large department or interest group may be useful after both
sides have become acquainted in earlier meetings, but these large
gatherings yield little useful information for either candidate
or faculty if held shortly after the candidate arrives. We do not
recommend large social gatherings with department faculty and
spouses. Have one of these early in the first semester your new
colleague is with you.
Sometime during the visit provide important logistical
information to the candidate such as when a decision will be
made, who makes an offer (e.g., department chair, dean), and how
many other finalists are visiting. You also want to ask questions
to gain important and useful information (e.g., how soon
candidates can respond if offered a contract, current status of
dissertation if not competed, whether they have current offers
and any related deadlines for decision making, and where they can
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be reached during the next few weeks.)
Candidates also need to be introduced to your college or
university. They often find it useful to meet with the Dean or
Provost, a Grants officer, a Personnel officer, faculty in
related departments, and representatives of your institution's
mentor program and teaching development center. If there is a
women's or minority caucus or interest group on campus, such
candidates may want to meet with a representative(s).
Finally, candidates will want an introduction to the
community. While you are interviewing remember that not all of
life involves work. Give a guided tour (e.g., housing,
recreation, schools).
Once a candidate leaves there is still work to do. If forms
for travel, food, and/or lodging must be completed, designate
someone (possibly your secretary) to be responsible for this, and
put this item on the candidate's schedule. (The danger of being
extremely efficient with the visit and reimbursement is that the
candidate may come to expect that all business functions on your
campus are equally well organized.) Send the candidate a thank
you letter and determine via e-mail or phone call several days
after their visit if there are questions that you can answer.
Keep in touch.
Conclude or Continue The Search: Hire, More Visitors, Reopen or
Close
It is now time to decide who, if anyone, will receive an
offer. Some important decisions and work lie ahead -- to either
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extend a contract, invite other finalists to visit, or reopen or
cancel the search.
The meeting to decide on offering a contract should have no
other agenda items. Summarize the recruitment process at this
meeting, the selection criteria used, and the reasons the
visitors were chosen. Be specific and be careful. Many of the
candidate dimensions discussed are not especially (nor legally)
relevant to the selection process.
Have complete information. Do not be surprised if you have
to contact candidates with last minute questions prior to this
meeting. Have candidate folders and transcripts available so
faculty members can skim them, and so emergent questions or
misinformation can be clarified. Throw the meeting open for
discussion and debate and make sure everyone is heard.
Do not hire someone, no matter how well he or she teaches,
does research or performs, who will be unable to meet all
criteria for contract renewal or tenure. Leave the meeting with a
decision. Either you will offer someone the position, invite
another finalist for a campus visit, reopen the search during
this academic year or next, or close the search.
When making an offer congratulations should be offered, your
sincere interest conveyed, candidates informed of the exact
nature of the position and general terms of employment, and how
long they have to decide. Candidates often have important
questions to resolve before they commit themselves. Be prepared
for these questions. Telephone offers must be followed by written
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letters tendering an offer within 10 days of informally offering
a position (CCAS, 1992). The letter of offer constitutes a
binding commitment and must be carefully written. Your
department, college, and university will have established rules
and protocols for who sends these letters and their content.
Most candidates need time to respond to an offer; two weeks
is appropriate. Never pressure candidates into premature
decisions. If candidates try to hold you up unreasonably you must
assertively define the conditions of the offer and let them
decide.
Keep communication timely and open. Remaining finalists
should be contacted and told their exact status and your
timetable and campus visitors must be thanked for their time and
interest in your position and kept informed of their status.
Stay focused on recruiting. You may feel you are done, but
you are not. Many candidates are lost over a few hundred dollars
of salary, moving money, or inability to purchase needed
equipment. This loss makes little sense when you consider the
time and cost which have gone into hiring the best possible
person, and that this may be a million dollar, long-term
decision.
Never hire someone merely to get the search over with. Keep
in mind that you can continue a search by reviewing active
candidates' applications and extending invitations for campus
visits. You may need to ask permission to reopen the search
(enlarge the pool) this or next academic year, or close it. If
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you do not have an acceptable candidate you may need to determine
if the position was flawed (e.g., almost impossible to find the
characteristics and experience you wanted) or the search process
was flawed (e.g., began too late).
If a candidate accepts, celebrate, and then finish the
search. Provide needed information such as book order forms or
copies of current syllabi) and prepare for your new hire's
arrival [facilities and equipment (e.g., computer, office)], and
complete your paperwork.
a
Baron Perlman and Lee McCann are Professors of Psychology,
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. This article is based on
material from their book, RECRUITING GOOD COLLEGE FACULTY, Anker,
1996.
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References
Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences. (1992). The ethics of
recruitment and faculty appointment. Columbus, OH: Author.
Perlman, B., & McCann, L. I. (199-). The Nuts and Bolts of
Faculty Recruitment, Part I: Forming the Recruitment Committee
To Campus Visitors. The Department Chair, FINISH CITATION.