Lessons Learned by a
Standing Search
Committee
Developing Better Practices
Charles L. Gilreath
Christine L. Foster
Leslie J. Reynolds
Sandra L. Tucker
Texas A&M University Libraries
College Station, TX 77843-5000
Sandra L. Tucker, corresponding author
s-tucker@tamu.edu
Submitted to
Journal of Academic Librarianship
December 2008
Abstract
This paper describes the reasons for establishing a standing committee for faculty
searches at Texas A&M University Libraries, the committee’s practices as they have evolved
over time, and the successes the committee has achieved in reducing the length of searches,
minimizing staff time, improving job announcements and scoring rubrics, and enhancing the
interview experience for job candidates.
Introduction
In his 1995 study The Age Demographics of Academic Librarians: A Profession Apart,
Stanley Wilder projected that by 2010 just under half of librarians working in leading research
libraries would be over 50 years old, with the single largest cohort aged 54-59 and contemplating
retirement.1 This demographic fact of life, coupled with normal job mobility common among
younger professionals and the continuing need for libraries to adapt to changing research and
teaching environments, makes professional staff recruitment a high priority for library
administrators. With libraries often conducting multiple searches for professional positions each
year, managing the recruitment process and controlling the costs in staff time is a challenge.
Texas A&M University, like its sister institutions, has continually faced the need to
recruit for several professional positions each year. Each of these recruitments entailed creation,
training, and oversight of a search committee comprising from five to seven individuals. Often
several searches were active at the same time, demanding time and attention from a very high
percentage of the library faculty and staff, and often resulting in considerable scheduling
complications. Professional searches were often marked by inefficiencies and frustrations for all
involved in the process. Frequently, searches were taking many months to complete, and
because of the delays the Libraries often lost very good candidates from the pools. In response
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to this environment, in 2007 the Dean of Libraries appointed a new standing search committee
with a charge to shorten the time-to-hire, to rationalize the search process generally, and to
conduct all professional searches.
Literature Review
Professional recruitment is a topic appearing regularly in the literature. Most of the key
articles either critique existing recruitment practices and/or provide general guidance for
structuring and conducting professional searches. William Fietzer’s 1993 article provides a good
review of recruitment practices in libraries, criticizes the ineffectiveness of the processes then
common, and recommends better and more widespread training of library staff in search and
interview skills.2 Four years later John Lehner critiques the selection process further, focusing
particularly on the need to improve the alignment of candidate skills with well understood
position requirements.3 He points out that onsite interviews, in particular, need to provide for
ample opportunities both to familiarize candidates with the organization, the job, and potential
colleagues and to allow the organization to make an adequate analysis of the candidate’s skills
for the position. In 2004 ACRL’s Committee on the Status of Academic Librarians updated their
guidelines for search committees to use in screening and appointment of librarians, detailing best
practices for academic libraries to follow when conducting searches.4 Wheeler, Johnson, and
Manion updated and expanded guidance on the search process in 2008.5 Writing from the
perspective of professional recruiting for an academic law library, they reviewed best practices
for search committees, including topics not frequently discussed in other articles such as courtesy
interviews, meal functions for candidates, and orchestrating a workable interview schedule.
These articles, as does most of the literature on the subject, focus on the process for
conducting a single search, and in most cases the environment discussed is one in which a new
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search committee is created for each search being conducted. Less emphasis is placed on searchcommittee dynamics and effectiveness or on issues surrounding the pressures of trying to fill
multiple vacancies in a short time period. Recent articles by Howze and Munde address some of
these issues.6,7 Howze, reporting on the work surrounding a search with an unusually large pool
of applicants for a single entry-level position, discusses factors related to the effectiveness of the
search committee in narrowing a 125-person applicant pool to ensure that the best qualified
candidates were successfully identified. He discusses issues such as the difficulty of scoring
paper applications for desired qualifications as well as potential influences of varying resume
formats on search committee assessments. Munde focuses on the problem of multiple vacancies
in her article, which reports on a survey of ten library directors whose libraries conducted at least
three professional searches in 2006. She reports on strategies employed in these libraries for
dealing with the vacancies, for reassessing organizational needs for defining new positions, and
for expediting searches and hires.
Committee Formation and Charge
Following several semesters in which the Texas A&M University Libraries experienced
multiple vacancies, with many of the recruitments resulting in failed searches, the dean reviewed
the library’s search process and decided to embark on a different approach by establishing a
common search committee. This approach is one that had been used successfully by some of the
academic departments on the campus. The committee’s charge is to manage professional
searches from the point that a position is approved by the dean for recruitment through onsite
interviewing.
The initial committee comprised three tenured faculty members, a classified staff
member, a non-faculty professional, the Libraries’ Associate Dean for Faculty Services, and
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Executive Associate Dean (chair). Support for the work of the committee was provided by the
Associate Dean for Faculty Services and the Libraries’ Personnel Office. Initial appointments
were for two years, giving the members of the committee two full academic years to develop and
refine committee processes and workflows. At the end of the initial two years, members would
draw lots to establish a staggered replacement rotation that would bring new members onto the
committee each year to serve two-year terms.
Scheduling
From the beginning the committee blocked a standing meeting of one-and-one-half hours
per week. Because of the workload few meetings have been canceled. In two years of
functioning, the committee has typically been managing from two to four searches at a time.
An important task has been to develop a timeline for all the active searches. Staggering them has
been necessary to allow the committee to manage its time and manage the impact of interviews
on the larger organization. Each search involves developing the position description and
announcement, advertising, reviewing applications, conducting telephone interviews, scheduling
onsite interviews, meeting with the candidates, doing reference checks, and making an offer.
Considering, first, when the onsite interviews should occur, the committee proposes a deadline
for initial review of applications, and then counts back to determine when advertising must
begin. The process encourages discipline and efficiency.
A related factor is determining desired start dates for new employees. Librarians at Texas
A&M are on the tenure track, and the tenure clock begins September 1 for anyone hired in a
given calendar year. To allow them sufficient time for success, it is desirable for incoming
assistant professors to start well before September 1.
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Developing the Position Description, Rubric, Announcement
When a faculty position is approved by the Dean, the hiring supervisor develops and/or
updates the position description and a draft announcement and submits them to the standing
search committee. Individually, the committee members review the documents and then meet as
a team with the hiring supervisor to clarify any questions about the position responsibilities and
the supervisor’s wishes regarding skills and traits. Each search committee member strives to
understand what is required to fulfill the job and assess what required and desired qualifications
would most benefit the organization.
If portions of the the position announcement seem inconsistent or ambiguous, the search
team assists the supervisor in modifying the text, while ensuring that the qualifications most
important to the hiring supervisor remain. When the committee and the hiring supervisor are
satisfied with the position announcement, they move on to creating the scoring rubric that will be
used to rank the applicants who meet the minimum required qualifications.
The rubric is a list of the required and desired qualifications with points assigned for the
knowledge, experience, and personality traits that can be documented in the application. There
are gradations to distinguish a more-qualified from a less-qualified applicant. Someone with five
years experience, for example, might receive more points than someone with two years
experience. Someone who had chaired a national committee might receive more points than
someone who had been a member. Each factor in the rubric is assigned a multiplier according to
its relative importance in the eyes of the hiring supervisor. One manager might value a particular
academic background while another might be looking for teaching experience. The goal is to
assign more weight to the more important factors when scoring the applications.
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The committee reviews the position announcement against the rubric to make certain that the
rubric covers everything desired and that the announcement includes all qualifications to be
scored. If a particular qualification is not mentioned in the position announcement, points cannot
be assigned for it.
When the search committee and hiring supervisor have reached mutual agreement on the
type of person needed to fill the position and are satisfied with the position announcement and
rubric, the search committee forwards the documents to the Personnel Office. Personnel reviews
the position announcement to ensure consistency with institutional guidelines and regulations,
posts the documents in a shared online folder for committee use, and distributes the
announcement as described further below.
With experience the search committee has improved its skill at writing announcements and
developing rubrics and has learned a number of lessons about managing its processes. Among
them are the following:

Date all drafts of documents. They are likely to go through several iterations before
completion.

Spend as much time as needed with the hiring supervisor to reach a common
understanding of the position description and desired qualifications.

Complete the scoring rubric before fine-tuning the position announcement to ensure that
all desired qualifications are mentioned in the announcement.

Incorporate the details of the rubric into the spreadsheet used for scoring applications so
that committee members can refer to a single document while scoring applications.
Another lesson was to recycle the best rubrics and announcements. After about six months
the committee realized that some rubrics worked better than others at describing desired
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qualifications. During debriefings after searches, members sometimes wished that they had been
able to give points to a candidate with a certain kind of experience that was not part of the rubric;
new factors were added to later rubrics as a result. As discussions led to refinements, the
committee developed a useful collection of rubrics that it could apply over time to any number of
positions.
Likewise, the committee began saving and reusing effective phrasing in position
announcements. The various hiring supervisors all contributed insights that improved the
announcements that appeared subsequent to the announcement for their position. The best
phrases, sentences and paragraphs for position descriptions, announcements, and rubrics are
retained in a shared folder for search committee use.
Distributing the Position Announcement and Receiving Applications
The Personnel Office plays a vital role in the search process, first reviewing the
announcement for compliance with guidelines and then distributing it to appropriate
publications, websites and email lists. The office becomes the point of contact for applicants,
answering questions related to the vacant position. It also serves the search committee by
maintaining files and tracking processes and deadline dates.
The committee has approved a standard list of places to which the Personnel Office sends
all announcements. The committee and the hiring supervisor may request additional postings to
email lists or websites intended to reach individuals with particular qualifications, a catalogers’
list for a cataloging position, for example. Personnel maintains a log in the committee’s shared
folder of where and when the announcement has been posted.
While the Personnel Office bears the primary responsibility for distributing the
announcement, the committee also encourages library faculty to post directly to email lists that
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accept position announcements and provides them with approved text. Although it is not
comprehensive, the committee attempts to maintain a list of the lists for future consideration.
Over time, the committee discovered that online announcements yielded more
applications than print announcements, and as a result, investigated and purchased online
advertisements at bulk rates from the Chronicle of Higher Education. One lesson learned was
that formatting of the advertisement is critical. The committee now previews the ads to ensure
that they are presented effectively.
Because so many of the applicants are not U.S. citizens, the committee does ensure that
all positions are posted to at least one national print source such as American Libraries or the
Chronicle of Higher Education. Such a posting is critical in case the person hired needs
institutional sponsorship to obtain a work visa or permanent residency.
Another enhancement to the announcement and advertising process was the creation of a
web page to direct applicants to information about the university and its services, housing, and
the community. The committee includes a link to the web page in position announcements.
The committee accepts applications via mail, fax, or email. The Personnel Office adds the
names of the applicants to the spreadsheet, called the matrix, that includes the scoring factors. A
Personnel employee scans the print applications, posts an electronic copy of all applications to an
online folder, and notifies the committee that the applications are available for review.
Scoring Applications
Committee members print copies of the applications from the online folder and then read
and score them individually, according to the rubric described above. This task may involve
several hours of work, depending on the number of applications.
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Committee members enter their scores into a spreadsheet, called the matrix, that weights
the scores as determined by the rubric. The committee learned early that it was not an effective
use of its time to read scores aloud and tabulate them as a group. Instead, a Personnel employee
combines the individual matrixes of the committee members into a single matrix that shows both
the combined scores and the individual scores of committee members.
Some committee members tend to score higher than others do, but, generally, the relative
ranking of the applicants has proved to be consistent. When the matrix includes an outlier
number, the individual scorer will generally double-check and explain the anomaly.
During review of the combined matrix the committee looks for breaks between clusters
of scores. Based on the clusters, the committee decides which candidates to interview by
telephone and which additional candidates, if any, to keep in the pool. The committee then
shares the applications of the candidates still in the pool with the hiring supervisor and adjusts
the list or the number to be interviewed by telephone, based on discussion and consensus.
Together the committee and the hiring supervisor develop a set of questions for the telephone
interview that will elicit further information on the required and desired qualifications.
Telephone Interviews
Once the initial pool has been cut in consultation with the hiring supervisor, the
committee notifies the Personnel Office so that they can contact both applicants no longer under
consideration and “second tier” applicants who did not make the first cut but who are still in the
pool. The Associate Dean for Faculty Services contacts in person any internal candidates who
are either second tier or are being dropped from the pool.
Committee members divide the remaining pool for telephone interviews, with two
members of the committee participating in each of the interviews. A member of each interview
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team contacts applicants to schedule a time for the interviews, which typically last no more than
a half hour. The telephone-interview teams use a common script consisting of a brief description
of the position, a half dozen or so questions to the candidates, an opportunity for the candidates
to ask questions, and information about the position and the search process. The telephone
interviews are structured to gain some specific information about a candidate’s knowledge, but
the larger goal of the conversations is to help committee members gauge the individual’s
interpersonal and verbal communications skills. The two-person interview format was chosen as
an additional means of ensuring fair judgment of those latter skills.
A copy of the responses to each telephone interview is then distributed to the entire
committee, and after all interviews are completed, the committee then discusses the active pool
in light of the knowledge gained through this part of the process and makes a report to the dean
with recommendations for whom to invite to the campus for on-site interviews. Candidates who
are not being invited for a campus interview are notified by the Associate Dean for Faculty
Services.
Campus Interviews – Before and During
When the search committee and the hiring supervisor have agreed on which candidates
they would like to bring to campus for an interview, the committee chair reviews the list with the
Dean for her approval. Because the Dean prefers to meet with all job candidates, the Personnel
Office checks her schedule before interview dates are set.
The search committee and the hiring supervisor collaborate to frame a presentation topic
and to determine the groups and individuals with whom the candidate should meet. In general,
the presentation topic relates to the position but is broad enough to allow the candidate
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considerable latitude in determining what to cover. Recent examples include “Outreach to
Science and Engineering Faculty and Students in the Electronic Age” and “Current Issues and
Trends Affecting Cataloging in Academic Libraries.” The committee asks the candidate to speak
10-20 minutes to allow time afterwards for interaction with the audience.
After the interview topic and available dates have been determined, the Personnel Office
contacts the candidates to communicate the Libraries’ interest and to negotiate firm dates for the
visit. A Personnel employee explains the general procedure for the interview and communicates
the presentation topic and length. She also reserves a hotel room, makes reservations for air
travel, and emails the final interview schedule to the candidate.
A typical interview schedule includes the following elements:

A member of the search committee meets the candidate at the airport in College Station
and drives the candidate to the hotel. The search committee member has generally
contacted the candidate in advance by email to explain how to spot him or her in the
small crowd at the airport.

The same search committee member picks up the candidate at the hotel for a community
tour – generally about an hour and a half before the dinner reservation, earlier in the day
when daylight hours are short. Personnel or the search committee member has asked the
candidate in advance whether there is a preference for apartments or single-family
housing. The tour is informal, and the route is determined by the search committee
member who may provide a map, an apartment guide, and materials from the Chamber
of Commerce.

The tour guide and the candidate are joined by one or two additional librarians for
dinner, usually the hiring supervisor and/or members of the search committee. The
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committee generally selects the venue from among locally-owned restaurants to offer
local color, favoring venues that are quiet and conducive to conversation. Dinner is
viewed as an opportunity for social interaction – to answer the candidate’s questions
about the university and the community and to learn more about the candidate’s interests
and experiences.

On the morning of the interview a committee member picks up the candidate at the hotel
and provides a brief tour of the library as he/she is escorting the candidate to the room
for the presentation; the presentation is generally scheduled first to relieve the candidate
of worrying about it during the rest of the day. The interview schedule and a copy of the
candidate’s application have been emailed in advance to everyone in the Libraries. All
are invited to the presentation.

Following the presentation, audience members may ask the candidate questions about
the presentation or about his/her education and experience. If time permits, the
candidate is invited to ask questions of the audience. Personnel provides periodic
employee education on the topic of appropriate questions. If more than a few months
have elapsed since the last interview, it is time for a review of interview protocol.

The candidate meets with groups of individuals with whom he or she will interact on the
job – members of the same department and members of other departments who are
considered to be stakeholders. A librarian for electronic resources, for example, might
meet with public services librarians who have responsibilities for collection
development. Some departments work with a pre-determined set of questions to keep
the conversation rolling and to be sure to cover the same ground with every candidate.
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Depending on the composition of the group, a member of the search committee may
attend to ensure appropriate questioning.

The candidate meets with the Committee on Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure,
which explains the policies and procedures surrounding the faculty status accorded
librarians at Texas A&M and answers the candidate’s questions.

The candidate meets individually with the hiring supervisor, who may explain the
department’s responsibilities and the criteria used in faculty evaluations; with the
Associate Dean for Faculty Services, who explains university benefits and the Libraries’
start-up package; and with the Dean and the appropriate Associate Dean, who provide a
high-level view of the Libraries’ mission and goals and ask their own questions about
the candidate’s qualifications.

At the end of the day the candidate meets with the full Search Committee, which asks a
set of questions intended to elicit information about the candidate’s communication
style, leadership style, and approach to work. The committee does its best to put the
candidate at ease and offers another opportunity to ask questions. To conclude, the
committee asks if the candidate is still interested and whether it’s okay to contact
references and explains the anticipated timeline for decision making.
In the year and a half it has been in existence, the committee has fine-tuned its procedures
for the on-site interview, based on lessons learned. Recommended practices now include the
following:
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
Provide the candidate with information about the university and the community in
advance of his or her visit through a web page with links to appropriate resources and
by mailing a packet of print materials.

Schedule the candidate to meet with recently-hired librarians to discuss what it’s like
to be new to the community and the Libraries.

Send calendar appointments to all involved in individual and small-group meetings
and to everyone for the presentation.

Have lunch catered at the library to save the time that might be spent on traveling to a
restaurant on the interview day.

Supply name tags for some small-group meetings.
The feedback the committee has received from candidates regarding their interview
experience consistently mentions the courtesy and friendliness of all they’ve met, the
professional tone of the interview, and the opportunities and resources available to new
librarians. The committee believes the positive impressions can enhance the reputation of the
Libraries over the long run.
Post-interview Process
The committee invites feedback about the candidate from all library employees - those
who participated in meetings with the candidate during the interview process as well as those
who wish to evaluate just the resume and cover letter. A Personnel employee hands out
feedback forms at the presentation, and the form is posted on the intranet. The forms may be
returned, signed or anonymous, to any committee member. Some employees choose to send to
send their comments via email to one or all committee members. Additionally, the Committee
on Promotion and Tenure comments on the candidate’s understanding and potential ability to
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meet the scholarly requirements of the position and recommends what academic rank and tenure
standing to offer.
Together the committee and the hiring supervisor review all the feedback to determine if
there is consensus on strengths and weaknesses and to look for comments that provide additional
insight into the potential success of the candidate at Texas A&M University Libraries. If the
hiring supervisor deems the candidate still viable, then committee members contact references
for additional background information.
Reference checks are conducted by telephone, using a standard script of mostly openended questions. Additional questions may be asked of references regarding issues detected
during the interview. Together with the hiring supervisor the committee reviews the results of
the reference checks. The committee chair compiles an executive summary for the Dean
concerning each candidate that covers the feedback forms, notes from reference checks, and the
assessment of the committee as to whether or not the candidate is considered acceptable for the
position. At this point the committee’s job is complete, and members send all notes and
paperwork to the Associate Dean for Faculty Services for filing or disposal.
The Dean decides to whom to offer the position, as well as the initial salary offer, and
rank. The Associate Dean for Faculty Services extends a verbal offer. If the candidate was
recommended for a rank above Assistant Professor, the candidate is told that it is pending
approval from the Libraries’ faculty and the Board of Regents. After the offer is extended, the
Libraries’ tenured faculty at that rank and above (if applicable) will vote on the acceptability of
bringing in the candidate at the higher level with tenure. If the candidate indicates that the offer
will be accepted, a written offer is extended.
Lessons Learned and Conclusion
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By establishing a standing faculty search committee, Texas A&M University Libraries
has markedly improved its searches for new faculty. The average time from vacancy to hire has
been reduced. The learning and start-up time for new committees has been eliminated. Processes
are polished, resulting in a positive experience for applicants.
The committee spends a considerable amount of time up front with the hiring supervisor,
ensuring that the position description, announcement, and scoring rubric are easily understood,
rational, and match required and desired qualifications. Timelines for all active searches are set
at the beginning to stagger the interviews and avoid conflict with conferences, holidays, or other
local conflicts such as home football games.
Although recruiting begins with the hiring supervisor and the search committee, all
library faculty and staff are given opportunities to participate in the interview process.
Employees who help to recruit through their interactions with candidates and provide the
committee with valuable feedback feel that they have a stake in helping new hires to succeed.
Facilitating employee involvement is a committee priority and has led to steps such as sending
appointments for candidate sessions, emailing cover letters and resumes to everyone in advance
of interviews, and providing structured feedback forms.
The overall goal is to hire the best candidate for the job while making the best use of
scarce human resources in the recruitment process. To date the committee has been pleased with
its applicant pools and very pleased with the quality of the Libraries’ new hires.
Bibliography
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1. Stanley Wilder, The Age Demographics of Academic Librarians: A Profession Apart,
(Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries, 1995), p. 41.
2. William Fietzer, “World Enough, and Time: Using Search and Screen Committees to Select
Personnel in Academic Libraries,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 19 (July 1993): 149-153.
3. John Lehner, “Reconsidering the Personnel Selection Practices of Academic Libraries,”
Journal of Academic Librarianship 23 (May 1997): 199-204.
4. Association of College and Research Libraries, Committee on the Status of Academic
Librarians. “A Guideline for the Screening and Appointment of Academic Librarians Using a
Search Committee,” C&RL News 65 (April 2004): 220-21.
5. Ronald E. Wheeler, Nancy P. Johnson, and Terrance K. Manion, “Choosing the Top
Candidate: Best Practices in Academic Law Library Hiring,” Law Library Journal 100 (Winter
2008): 117-135.
6. Philip C. Howze, “Search Committee Effectiveness in Determining a Finalist Pool: A Case
Study,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 34 (July 2008): 340-353.
7. Gail Munde, “Managing Multiple Vacancies: Ten Library Directors’ Suggestions for
Expediting Multiple Searches and Mitigating the Effects on Staff,” Journal of Academic
Librarianship 34 (March 2008): 153-159.
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