The Academic Affairs Council (AAC) allocates faculty resources that support the academic mission of Bates College, including the allotment of tenure-track lines. More information about faculty resource allocation procedures, policies, and deadlines can be found on the AAC web page.

The search committee identifies talented future colleagues after careful review of submitted application materials. They also play a vital role in recruiting colleagues committed to our mission of educating the whole student in a collaborative residential community. Thus, search committees perform a central function in building the type of professional community we all aspire to – a diverse and vibrant community that is committed to transformative undergraduate education.

To achieve the best outcomes for our faculty searches, the composition of the search committee should be carefully considered. The search committee should be consciously constructed with an eye toward diversity of experience, background, and areas of expertise. Committee members should have a deep understanding of the college’s mission and a commitment to recruiting excellent scholars and artists that reflect and represent the community they will serve. The search committee is expected to make efforts, at all stages of the search process, to develop a diverse applicant pool with particular attention to attracting applicants from historically marginalized groups. The committee is also expected to engage evidence-based practices to minimize the effect of biases that can occur in searches.

Process:

Soon after the allocation of new lines, the Dean of the Faculty’s Office will schedule a required meeting with the chair of each academic unit where lines were approved for the following academic year. The purpose of the meeting is to identify the search committee chair, discuss using timelines, guidelines and processes of an active and inclusive search. As soon as the search committee chair has agreed to the role, the chair of the academic unit will notify the Dean of the Faculty’s Office at deanoffaculty@bates.edu.

Role and Responsibilities of the committee chair

• Leads the search committee, bringing everyone into alignment about the goals of the search and search processes including deliberation and decision making.
• Facilitates meetings of the search committee and guides its members to consensus decisions.
• Serves as the primary contact with the Dean of Faculty’s Office for all search related questions or concerns working with the search committee.
• Serves as the primary contact with all the job candidates as the search moves forward.
• Adheres to the timeline for the search.
• Works with the AAA to schedule all committee meetings.
• Works with the AAA in scheduling meetings with candidates and organizing the on-campus visit.
• Writes and submits the “strengths and opportunities for growth” letter to the VPAA / DOF.

Committee size and composition 

• The VPAA/DOF and VPEI will review search committee composition to ensure a diversity of perspectives and the equitable distribution of workload across the faculty.

1. The search committee should have six individuals who are permanent members of the faculty, with one member serving as its chair. 
2. Two of the six committee members should come from units not allocated the position (i.e., external committee members).
3. Those faculty with signed intents to retire should not serve on tenure track searches. 
4. Faculty members on leave are not expected to take part in searches but they may do so if they so desire.

• External Partners: The two external members of the committee bring perspectives from outside the academic unit(s) that were awarded the lines. These faculty join the rest of the committee in attending to broad institutional perspectives including general education, interdisciplinary opportunities, diversifying the faculty, and governance and engagement.

Once the search chair has assembled a list of names for the search committee, the list should be submitted to the VPAA/DOF via deanoffaculty@bates.edu for approval by the VPAA/DOF and VPEI.

As soon as possible after approval of the search committee, the Dean of the Faculty’s Office will arrange for the entire committee to meet with the VPAA/DOF or the VPAA’s representative and the VPEI. The purpose of the meeting is to charge the committee; review the committee timeline, roles, and responsibilities; discuss the job ad; and go over best practices for conducting an active and inclusive search. To aid in this discussion, the VPAA/DOF and VPEI will review compositional diversity of the discipline, unit faculty, its students, and the college. Scheduling the meeting well in advance is important.

A search committee’s first job is to create a job advertisement. The job advertisement toolkit provides valuable resources and a template. As the committee develops its job advertisement, the committee should draft an evaluation rubric for the screening of candidates. Criteria used to evaluate candidates must be included in the job advertisement. We have a rubric template that includes evaluation criteria for the standard Bates job advertisement language. Finally, the search committee should develop a recruitment strategy. This should include a list of publication venues that will result in the highest visibility for the advertisement as well as a summary of your outreach strategy (conferences, circulating the ad within personal networks or specific communities). There are budgetary constraints on the advertisement strategy, so committees should be strategic in their planning.

Once the job advertisement and recruitment strategy are complete, they should be submitted to the VPAA/DOF and VPEI for approval. Once approved, the advertisement will be posted in the specific locations requested. Note, that paid advertising is typically limited in duration to 60 days. If you wish to post your position for a longer time, we can list it on the Bates website (via Interfolio) for longer.

After the job advertisement is posted, but before the pre-screening meeting (Step 6) with the VPAA/DOF and VPEI, the search committee must finalize the rubric drafted during job advertisement creation. Note that the rubric must reflect the requirements in the job advertisement and cannot contain any evaluation criteria not listed therein.

In addition to finalizing the rubric, the search committee must design and document the process it will use to winnow the pool and select candidates for zoom interview and on-campus interviews. This process should include details of how the applicants will be screened as well as how the committee will achieve consensus in their selections. It should also include strategies for handling known candidates and conflicts of interest. 

Both the rubric and the selection process must be submitted to the VPAA/DOF and VPEI prior to the pre-screening meeting. They will be reviewed during that meeting and kept as part of the search records.

The VPAA/DOF and VPEI meet with the search committee to discuss reading of dossiers. The VPAA/DOF will schedule the meeting based on the deadline for applications – after review of the demographic data on the pool provided by the VPEI, the VPAA/DOF may request delaying the review of applicants to increase efforts to deepen the pool. The goal of this meeting is to:

• Restate and confirm the selection process and rubric.
• Ensure collective understanding of applicable laws, and what can and cannot be discussed/considered. 
• Provide guidance about recording keeping. 
• Discuss best practices for mitigating bias during the selection process.
• Review best practices for zoom interviews.

Once the VPAA/DOF and VPEI have met with the search committee and the search committee has authorized the search selection process, the search committee chair will email the Dean of the Faculty’s Office via deanoffaculty@bates.edu to open Interfolio so applications can be viewed by the committee.

Search committee members review files and winnow the candidate pool to create a list of candidates for remote interviews. The size of the interview pool should be no more than 15. The search chair submits the list of candidates for zoom interviews to the VPAA/DOF for approval via deanoffaculty@bates.edu, who then consults with the VPEI. The VPEI will again review the aggregate demographic data and will share their observations of the state of the search with the VPAA/DOF and search committee. The VPAA/DOF will send confirmation that the search can proceed once the list of candidates is approved. The search committee chair will work with the AAAs to schedule zoom interviews for selected candidates.

The search chair invites the candidates for remote interviews usually held via zoom. Once candidates confirm that they wish to be considered for the position. The AAA assigned to the hiring academic unit can help schedule the remote interviews. When conducting remote interviews, it is important to follow best practices including evaluating the candidates by looking for evidence that speaks to the criteria articulated in the rubric.

Once all remote interviews are finished, the search committee should meet to discuss the candidates and select three to invite to on-campus interviews. Discussion of candidates should focus on the evidence gathered in support of the criteria articulated in the rubric and follow the selection process submitted in step 5. The search chair submits the list of candidates to the VPAA / DOF via deanoffaculty@bates.edu for review. The VPAA / DOF may request a meeting with the search committee to discuss this list. Once the VPAA / DOF approves the list, the search committee should review the best practices for on-campus interviews and review and revise if necessary the candidate evaluation forms (Candidate Evaluation Form | Student Evaluation Form) that it will use for collecting feedback from the members of the Bates community that participate in the candidate’s interview.

The on-campus interview process spans 1 to 2 days and should follow best practices which includes a visit template and a list of people with whom candidates should meet. The search chair is responsible for scheduling the on-campus interviews with the help of the AAA assigned to the hiring academic units.

The AAA is responsible for:

• Scheduling locations for all meetings and ensuring someone is assigned to guide the candidate between meeting
• Finalizing the written schedule with the search chair
  • Written schedule should include names and titles of those participating in each meeting, meeting times and locations, time for breaks and names of individuals assigned to help guide candidates.
• Ensuring all meeting participants receive calendar invitations and relevant materials. It can be helpful to share the entire schedule with those participating in the meetings to ensure smooth transition between meetings. 
• Assisting with all travel arrangements and serving as the point of contact for travel logistics with candidates during working hours. The search chair serves as the after hours point of contact for candidates.

The search chair is responsible for:

• Writing to the candidate to share the final schedule
• Corresponding with the candidate about logistics during the candidate visit. This includes acting as the after hours point of contact for the candidate as they travel to and from Bates.
• Serving as a resource for those who meet with the candidates so they understand the search expectations and legal requirements for hiring before they meet with the candidates. 
• Circulating the candidate evaluation forms (Candidate Evaluation Form | Student Evaluation Form) to those non-search committee members who met with the candidate. It can be helpful to share them ahead of the interview so that participants can tailor their questions.

After the final on-campus visit, the search committee prepares and submits feedback to the VPAA / DOF via deanoffaculty@bates.edu on each candidate that discusses their strengths and areas for improvement. This work should be done according to the search process submitted at step 5. This feedback should not rank the candidates but should identify those candidates for whom there is clear evidence that the candidate has the potential to meet the reappointment, tenure and promotion criteria articulated here. 

The VPAA/DOF, after reviewing the letter with the VPEI, will consult with the search committee to reach a consensus decision on which candidate receives the first offer. The VPAA/DOF makes an initial offer to this candidate and informs the search committee that an offer has been extended. At this time, the search committee is encouraged to help actively recruit the candidate. Committees might also consider sharing the Local Cultural Resource Guide curated by the office of Equity and Inclusion.

The VPAA/DOF will update the search committee chair on the progress of negotiations. Once an offer is accepted, the VPAA/DOF communicates the result to the search chair and the VPEI. If an offer is rejected, the VPAA/DOF will reach out to the search committee chair to discuss the next steps.

At the conclusion of the search and after an employee agreement has been signed, the search chair, through Interfolio, communicates with those candidates not hired that someone else was chosen for the job. In the event that a search is unsuccessful…Search chairs are free to use the Bates template for this email. If the search chair needs help communicating with the candidates via Interfolio, they should consult Lori Ouellette in the Dean of the Faculty’s Office.