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Handbook of Operating Procedures
  • Policy Process

    • Handbook of Operating Procedures
    Chapter 2 - Faculty and Academics
    Publication Date: August 8, 2011
    Policy Owner: VP for Academic Affairs

    2.04 Faculty Recruitment

    This is not the current policy. For the latest, click here.

    I. POLICY STATEMENT

    The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is committed to building a highly qualified and diverse faculty in support of academic excellence.  Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) guidelines as well as university processes and procedures must be followed during Tenured/Tenure Track faculty searches. EEO guidelines as well as university processes and procedures must be followed during all faculty searches. This policy sets out those processes and procedures for Tenured/Tenure Track faculty searches.

    To identify, recruit, and retain highly qualified, talented and diverse faculty for all academic fields is a primary university goal. The faculty recruitment process is designed as a collaborative process with the result being general concurrence regarding the best-qualified candidate for a position. Faculty, Department Chairs, and Deans actively collaborate toward that end.

    II. RATIONALE

    The Faculty Recruitment Manual provides guidance to ensure that the faculty recruitment effort is a fair and effective process that provides equal opportunity to all candidates for a faculty position at UTSA. Adhering to the recruitment guidelines outlined in the Manual will also provide Search Committee members with a standardized process to evaluate all candidates.

    III. SCOPE

    The faculty recruitment process outlined in this policy is to be followed during all faculty searches for Tenured/Tenure Track positions conducted by UTSA.

    Special Opportunity Hires do not follow the procedures outlined in this policy. The procedures for Special Opportunity Hires are on the Provost’s web page.

    IV. WEBSITE ADDRESS FOR THIS POLICY

    http://www.utsa.edu/hop/chapter2/2.04.html

    V. RELATED STATUTES, POLICIES, REQUIREMENTS OR STANDARDS

    UTSA or UT System Policies or the Board of Regents' Rules and Regulations

    1. UTSA Handbook of Operating Procedures
    2. UTSA Strategic Plan 2016
    3. UTSA Equal Employment Opportunity Guidelines
    4. UTSA Affirmative Action Plan
    5. UTSA Faculty Recruitment Training Manual Guidelines
    6. UT System Board of Regents' Rule 10701, Policy Against Discrimination

    VI. CONTACTS

    If you have questions about HOP policy 2.04, Faculty Recruitment, please contact the following offices:

    Office of the Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Support (VPAFS)
    210-458-2898

    The Office of Equal Opportunity Services (EOS)
    210-458-4120

    VII. DEFINITIONS

    Equal Employment Opportunity/Non-Discrimination – Federal and state law and UTSA and U.T. System policy forbid discrimination in all areas of the employment relationship (from advertisement for new employees through termination, resignation or retirement), on the basis of age, disability, equal pay/compensation, genetic information, national origin, pregnancy, race/color, sex, sexual orientation and retaliation.  

    VIII. RESPONSIBILITIES

    1. Dean
      1. Has ultimate responsibility for recruiting high quality and diverse faculty to work at UTSA.
      2. Establishes and manages the recruitment budget for his/her respective college in order to achieve faculty recruitment objectives.
      3. Stays informed about faculty hiring needs in the college through continuous consultation with the Department Chairs and through other means, such as recommendations from outside program reviewers and benchmarking with other institutions.
      4. Maintains a prioritized list of faculty hiring needs in the college.
      5. Upon receiving approval from the Provost, provides Department Chairs with written authorization to initiate searches. The memo of authorization will specify the rank(s), specialization(s), start date, and target salary or salary range for each position. Authorization should be made as early as possible in the discipline’s hiring cycle so that the department may be fully competitive.
      6. Reviews recommendations from the Department Chair for Search Committee members and appoints Committee.
      7. Reviews and approves Recruitment Plan and advertisement before submission to EOS.
      8. Receives and considers hiring recommendations from the Department Chair throughout the search and recruitment process leading to the hiring of a candidate.
      9. Authorized to close a search at any point if the search process has not produced a pool of candidates of sufficient quality and diversity, or if the search process has not fully complied with the requirements of this policy.
    2. Department Chair
      1. In consultation with department faculty, maintains an up-to-date list of prioritized faculty hiring needs.  
      2. Chairs are encouraged to maintain draft recruitment plans and advertisements for needed positions ready for final development and implementation.
      3. Upon receiving written approval from the Dean, initiates the search process by submitting recommendations of Search Committee members to the Dean.
      4. Appoints Search Committee Chair.
      5. Receives and reviews the recommendations submitted by the Search Committee regarding most suitable candidates.
      6. Elicits input from all faculty members in the department regarding most suitable candidates.
      7. Forwards or communicates recommendations to the Dean, and ensures that candidates forwarded to the Dean reflect the university’s goal for faculty appointments.
      8. Submits Recruitment/Hiring Package to the VPAFS office.
      9. Retains file for each search process in department office, in accordance with (F) in “Procedures” below.
    3. Search Committee
      1. Develops Recruitment Plan and Advertisement for vacant position.
      2. Reviews application packets for each candidate.
      3. Develops and submits Short List of candidates to Department Chair.
      4. Interviews candidates on Short List.
      5. Submits review of candidates and hiring recommendations to Department Chair.
    4. Affirmative Action Officer
      1. Ensures fair and equal treatment for all candidates throughout the process.
    5. Office of Equal Opportunity Services
      1. Ensures the faculty recruitment process complies with search procedures, university and U.T. System policies, and state and federal EEO requirements.
      2. Reviews and approves Recruitment Plan and Advertisement.
      3. Reviews applicant pool to ensure it is sufficiently diverse to attain goal of building highly qualified and diverse faculty.
      4. If applicant pool is found to not be sufficiently diverse EOS will contact the Search Committee Chair to discuss recommendations to improve applicant pool diversity.
    6. Office of the Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Support (VPAFS)
      1. Develops and oversees the faculty recruitment process.

    IX. PROCEDURES

    The faculty recruitment process is designed as a collaborative process with the result being general concurrence regarding the best-qualified candidate for a position. Toward that end the following steps have been developed:

    1. Establishment of the Search Committee
      1. Deans will appoint faculty Search Committee members based upon recommendations submitted by the Department Chair. Diversity should be taken into consideration when appointing members to a Search Committee.
      2. Search Committees members for a tenured or tenure track (T/TT) faculty position should be comprised of T/TT faculty. Exceptions are subject to approval by the Dean.
      3. Search Committees may include faculty or subject matter experts from other institutions if approved by the Dean. 
      4. The Dean appoints Affirmative Action Advocates. They participate in all Search Committee activities although they are not voting members. They oversee the search process to ensure fair and equal treatment for all candidates.
      5. Department Chairs should appoint the chair of the Search Committee in consultation with the Committee.
      6. Once approved, each Committee member must attend Faculty Recruitment Training (FRT) if first-time appointees or if they have not attended training within the previous two (2) years. The Office of VPAFS will maintain records of participation in FRT.
      7. Search Committees are responsible for developing the Recruitment Plan and advertisement for the search.
    2. Recruitment Plan - The Search Committee develops a Recruitment Plan that is reviewed and approved by the Department Chair, Dean and EOS.
      1. The objective of the recruitment plan is to identify the Search Committee’s administrative process for conducting the search, and the recruiting efforts the Committee will employ to obtain a broad and diverse pool of candidates.
      2. The Recruitment Plan must be reviewed and approved by the Dean before it is submitted to EOS for review prior to publication of the advertisement.
      3. EOS may provide a template of a recruiting plan that can be used by all colleges and departments. EOS may also assist the Search Committee by providing names of organizations and publications that are specifically focused on reaching women and members of underrepresented groups. 
      4. The Recruitment Plan must include the following:
        1. A position Advertisement that is reviewed and approved as part of the Recruitment Plan.
        2. Applicant Pool Procedures that include a process for tracking administration of the search process.
        3. Procedures for conducting Initial Screening and for developeing a Short List of Candidates.
        4. Procedures for on-campus Candidate Interviews of candidates on the Short List approved by the Dean.
        5. Procedures for making Final Recommendations to the Department Chair and Dean. Upon consultation with the Department and Search Committee Chairs, the Dean may indicate that none of the candidates is acceptable if, in his/her judgment, the leading candidates do not adequately meet UTSA’s goal of employing a highly qualified and diverse faculty. If no candidates are acceptable, the Dean shall determine whether to extend or close the search.
        6. A Search Process Timeline that adheres to Office of the Provost recommendations in the Faculty Recruitment Training Manual.
    1. Short List
      1. The Search Committee screens applicants, identifies leading candidates, places those leading candidates on the Short List, and advises the Department Chair and the Dean concerning Short List candidate qualifications and suitability for the position.
      2. If the Short List of Candidates does not reflect UTSA's goal to employ a highly qualified and diverse faculty, the Department Chair, upon consultation with the Chair of the Search Committee, can return the Short List to the Search Committee for modification. The Dean may also return the list for modification to ensure quality and diversity after consultation with the chairs of the Department and the Search Committee.
    2. Extending Offers
      1. The Dean or his/her designee should contact the best qualified candidate, confirm the candidate is still receptive to an offer and discuss key issues, including salary, start-up funds, teaching responsibilities, moving expenses, etc. 
      2. The Search Committee does not extend offers to candidates, approve selections, or negotiate terms of hire.
      3. Preliminary Offer Letters are approved by the Office of the Provost. Other significant issues include careful documentation of expenses and commitments, hiring of faculty who are not U.S. citizens, hiring of ABDs (students who have completed all but their dissertation.)
    3. Closed Searches - If the department’s faculty search is not successful and does not lead to the department hiring a candidate or if the search process has not fully complied with the requirements of this policy and the Dean ends the search, the search is considered Closed. Closed Searches are to be reported to the Office of the Provost and EOS by the Dean.
    4. Recruitment/Hiring Package - Upon written acceptance of the offer letter by the selected candidate, a Recruitment/Hiring Package of original documents is prepared for submission by the department. The package is submitted through the Dean to the Provost for review prior to requesting the President to sign a Letter of Appointment. Forms required for this package can be found at http://provost.utsa.edu/VPAFS/forms/recruitment/index.asp.
    5. File Retention - The department must keep the entire search file for a minimum of three (3) years.

    X. SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION

    This policy applies to all UTSA faculty. The criteria established for the various titles apply only to positions created after the policy’s effective date.

    XI. FORMS AND TOOLS/ONLINE PROCESSES

    None

    XII. APPENDIX

    None

    XIII. Dates Approved/Amended

    08-08-2011
    08-20-1998