Online Search Committee
Informational Module for Faculty,
Department Chairs, and Deans
Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity
President Richard L. McCormick
Hiring and retaining an excellent faculty is one of the
most important things we do as a university. It is also
an intensely competitive and complicated process,
one that operates best and most successfully when
the university’s many support systems are called into
play. Building a diverse and inclusive faculty can be
particularly challenging, but it is incumbent upon us
to meet that challenge, and to attract and retain the
faculty Rutgers needs in order to continue to build
excellence. This interactive faculty search module is
designed to assist you in meeting that challenge, and
to familiarize you with the offices and individuals
available to partner with you in those efforts.
My thanks to the members of the President’s Council
on Institutional Diversity and Equity, the Offices of
the Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs, the
Vice President and General Counsel, and the Office
for the Promotion of Women in Science,
Engineering, and Mathematics for their significant
assistance in bringing it to fruition.
Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity
Cheryl Wall: Vision of the President’s Council
I’m Cheryl Wall, co-Director of the President’s Council on Institutional Diversity
and Equity, a group of senior faculty who represent schools of arts and sciences,
business, engineering, pharmacy, and law in Camden, Newark, and New
Brunswick. Our charge is to help Rutgers build a faculty for the twenty-first
century that is both excellent and inclusive. We are mindful of the fact that our
student body is among the most ethnically diverse in the nation. We as a faculty
are not. That must change.
Since President McCormick convened the Council in spring 2008, my colleagues
and I have reviewed the “best practices” for faculty hiring and retention. We
have been guided by the research of leading scholars who focus on the creation
of diverse workplaces, in general, and the benefits of diversity in the academy, in
particular. We have consulted the practices of our peer institutions, including the
universities of Michigan, North Carolina, and Virginia. We have hosted the
Cornell Interactive Theatre Ensemble, whose presentation I hope that some of
you have seen. In spring 2009, we compiled a Handbook for Deans, Department
Chairs, and Members of Faculty Search Committees. Now, in partnership with
RU FAIR ADVANCE, an NSF initiative led by Professor Joan W. Bennett here at
Rutgers, we present this interactive module.
Cheryl Wall, Board of Governors
Zora Neale Hurston Professor of
English and co-Director of the
President’s Council on
Institutional Diversity and Equity
Although we understand that hiring decisions are discipline specific, the research
shows us that common issues and challenges arise during searches. The
module is designed to suggest the most effective responses to those challenges.
It outlines a general process, suggests specific strategies, and identifies
resources that will make the search you are undertaking run more smoothly and
efficiently. We hope that you will find it valuable and look forward to any
suggestions you might have that would make it even more useful.
Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity
Why a Faculty Search Committee Module?
• Ensure a fair, bias-free process based
on best practices and active
recruitment
• Highlight the breadth of topics related
to diversifying applicants pools
• Introduce new research on recruitment
and evaluation of candidates
• Self-assess knowledge about best
practices in diversity hiring
• Provide
references
for
further
discussions during the search process
Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity
How a Faculty Search Committee Module Works?
• There are 10 topics in this module.
• Each topic has three elements: a description or scenario, a selfassessment component, and an explanation and resources
• The total time to complete the module is about 30-minutes.
• Participation and completion of the module is required; completion
will be registered via your netID login.
• Your responses to self-assessment questions will not be recorded
or linked to your netID login. No one is keeping track of how many
attempts you take to get the best answer.
• Clicking on the best answer advances the module; other responses
will bring you back to the question. The description or scenario can
be accessed for re-review by clicking the replay button.
• Online and Handbook resources are available via hyperlinks
throughout the module.
Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity
Topics for the 30-minute module (10)
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Active Recruitment
Determining Disciplinary Focus and Rank of the Position
Constituting the Search Committee
Reviewing and Ranking Candidates
Avoiding Pitfalls in the Process
6) Unconscious Bias
7) Evaluating Reference Letters, CVs,
and Published Work
8) Interviewing and the Campus Visit
9) Confidentiality and Compliance
10) Making the Offer
Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity
Scenarios
There are 8 role-playing scenarios in this module. Fictitious characters
and departments have been created, though each scenario is meant to
be applicable to all departments and centers at institutions of higher
education.
The Departments
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•
•
•
Geography or Human Ecology (1)
Chemistry (2)
Economics (3)
Electrical and Computer
Engineering (5)
• Marine Sciences (7)
• Cell Biology/ Neuroscience (8)
• Anthropology (10)
The Characters
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Ed (department chair)
Rita (search committee chair)
Alex
Barbara
Carlos
Denise
John
Jordan
Others: Ben, George, Nell
Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity
Rutgers University Online Resources
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Increasing Faculty Diversity: A Handbook for Deans, Department Chairs,
and Members of Faculty Search Committees
Academic Appointments Manual
Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity
Camden Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity
University Libraries/Newark Dana Library Diversity Research Center
Diversity @ Rutgers
University Human Resources
Office of Employment Equity
Office of Labor Relations
Office of the Vice President and General Counsel
Center for Race and Ethnicity
Office for the Promotion of Women in Science, Engineering, and
Mathematics
Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity
Acknowledgments
We would especially like to thank the following institutions for their
leadership and support in the development of faculty search
committee best practices toolkits
•The Online Search Committee Program at University of Virginia
•University of Florida Faculty Recruitment Toolkit
•University of Michigan Diversity Recruitment and University of Michigan ADVANCE
handbook on faculty recruitment
•University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Online Search Committee Training
•University of Washington Faculty Recruitment Toolkit
•University of Illinois-Chicago WISEST Faculty Search Committee Toolkit
•Hunter College Gender Equity Project
•Cornell University Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Cornell Interactive Theater
Ensemble
•A complete webliography of resources is available on the Rutgers Search
Committee Module website