Lesley University Faculty, Administrative Faculty, Staff Recruitment and Hiring Protocol

(Effective 03/27/11)

Lesley University

Faculty, Administrative Faculty, Staff Recruitment and Hiring Protocol

Purpose: To promote equal opportunity and inclusion in the search process for

recruiting and hiring faculty and staff.

Scope: University-wide.

Policy Statement:

Lesley University remains committed to a policy of equal opportunity and affirmative action, and to eliminating potential discrimination in the recruitment and hiring of faculty and staff. This Protocol is consistent with and complements the Faculty Search Process dated May 11, 2005, as amended.

This Protocol delineates the search process step-by-step, assigns responsibility and accountability for performing certain tasks, and provides transparency for the process.

Preparing for the Search

Position Description (Faculty)

1. Early in the fall semester, the Academic Division Director and Dean identify the hiring needs for fall of the next year and the year beyond. As an example, in the fall of 2010 hiring needs are identified for the fall of 2011 and spring 2012.

2. The Division Director works with the school faculty to prepare a written draft of the Faculty Position Description which includes the discipline focus, responsibilities, and qualifications which are the minimum selection criteria that are necessary to perform the job. The draft Faculty Position Description is submitted to the Dean for approval.

3. Once the Dean has completed meetings with the Division Directors in the school, the Dean meets with the Provost and presents all the faculty positions. The Provost and Dean reach agreement on the positions to be filled.

4. The Provost presents these positions during the budget development process at the Cabinet level. The requests for faculty searches and the requisite compensation are finalized and either approved in total, approved in part, or not approved.

5. The Provost informs the Dean which positions have been approved to move into search mode. The Dean informs the Division Directors.

Position Description (Staff)

1. Early in the spring semester, hiring Managers identify the hiring needs for fall.

2. The Manager prepares a written draft of the staff Position Description which includes the duties, responsibilities, and qualifications which is the minimum selection criteria necessary to perform the job. The draft staff Position Description is submitted to the appropriate Vice President for approval and presentation during the budgeting process.

3. The Vice President presents new requested positions during the budget development process at the Cabinet. The requests for staff positions and requisite compensation are finalized and either approved in total, approved in part, or not approved.

4. The Vice President informs the Managers which positions have been approved to move into search mode.

Developing a Search Strategy Document

1. The Dean, Division Director or the Manager prepare a written Search Strategy Document which includes the following:

A. Position Description

B. Faculty: Rank of the position: Instructor, Assistant, or Associate;

C. Staff: Title and salary grade.

D. Recommendations for staffing the Search Committee.

2. A. Faculty: The Dean appoints the Search Committee (SC) Chair. School faculty recommends and the Dean appoints Committee members.

B. Staff: The Manager is the Chair of the Search Committee (SC).

C. All SC members are trained on the Protocol during the first Search Committee meeting or they attend an open meeting conducted by the Director of OEOI.

Search Committee Responsibilities:

Launch Meeting

1. The Search Committee (SC) Chair schedules and hosts the first meeting that all Search Committee members attend. At this meeting the Search Committee reviews expectations:

• Search Committee members participate in all search committee meetings
• Maintain confidentiality all information related to the search
• Use the Interview Exchange online system
• Read and evaluate cover letters and CV/ resumes
• Engage in discussions with Search Committee members and candidates
• Check references
• Evaluate semi-finalists
• Seek to reach consensus, and
• Present finalists to the Dean or Vice President

2. The Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Inclusion (OEOI) is a non-voting, ex-officio member of all Search Committees. The Director of OEOI and the Manager of Employment and Staffing attend the launch meeting.

3. Topics addressed during the first Search Committee meeting include:

• The responsibilities of Search Committee members.
• Lesley’s 2010 Affirmative Action goals.
• A review of the definition of "people of color".
• The steps taken to identify, recruit, and select candidates including:
  • CV/resume screening, telephone screening, campus interviews, reference
  • checking, evaluation, and presentation of finalists to the Dean or Vice President.
• Specific methods to identify and recruit candidates of color and women.
• Identification of professionals or faculty who plan on attending a professional meeting and/or academic conference and meet prospective applicants.
• Four check points in the search process where the Director of Equal Opportunity and Inclusion (OEOI) discusses the status of the search with the Search Committee Chair before the search process proceeds:
  (1) Before the position is posted;
  (2) Before applicant CV/resumes are screened;
  (3) Before candidates are telephone screened; and
  (4) Before semi-finalists are invited to campus for interviews.
• How to conduct a legal interview.
• Discussion of key questions to ask candidates.
• Issues of confidentiality: Search Committee Confidentiality Statement.
• Search Committee calendar with dates for completing the search process.
• The basics of the Interview Exchange system.

4. Affirmative action 2010 goals for the University. Lesley measures the race/ethnicity diversity of its workforce and annually identifies areas for institutional awareness and improvement. While the University seeks to increase diversity throughout all job categories, in 2010 these are the five categories that require our attention:

Affirmative action 2010 appropriate representation for the University:

5. A review of the definition of "people of color."

• Hispanic/Latino; Black/African American; Asian; Native American/Alaskan Native; Hawaiian/Pacific Islander; and two+ races.

6. Specific methods to identify and recruit people of color:

• Reach out to colleagues who are racial and ethnically diverse and share the position announcement.
• Every academic discipline has a professional organization and most of these organizations have a group specifically for people of color. The same is true for professionals. Contact the leadership of the organization and ask them for contact information for the leadership of the people of color group. Circulate the position description to the member of this group and ask for their help.
• Identification of those faculty and staff who plan on attending a professional meeting. Faculty and professionals can network, meet prospective applicants, and encourage them to apply on-line for a position at Lesley.

7. The steps taken to identify, recruit, and select candidates include:

• CV/resume screening
• Telephone screening
• Reference checking
• Interviewing, and
• Evaluation and presentation of finalists to the Dean, Vice President, Provost, and President.

8. These are the four check points in the search process where the Chair of the Search Committee contacts the Director of OEOI via email and discusses the status of the search before the search process proceeds:

(1) Before the position is posted the Search Committee Chair discusses the minimum selection criteria with the Manager of Employment and Staffing to ensure that the criteria are specific and appropriate for the position. If the selection criteria are too general then the Search Committee will have difficulty in selecting appropriate candidates for consideration. Additionally, a review of the minimum selection criteria is important because the language in the posting and the advertisement must be specific and clear to avoid unnecessary and unsubstantiated claims of systemic discrimination.

(2) Before applicant CV/resumes are screened and prior to the Search Committee meeting, the Chair of the Search Committee emails the Director of OEOI and requests a review of the pool of applicants to verify whether there are people of color among the applicants. If not, the Director indicates the position should be re-advertised and the Search Committee should continue to screen applicants. If the pool includes racial and ethnically diverse people, the Director of OEOI gives approval via email to move the search forward to screen CV/resumes.

(3) Before semi-finalists are telephone screened. The Search Committee Chair emails the list of semi-finalists to the Director of OEOI to decide whether:

(a) there are people of color among the candidates and

(b) the candidate pool is representative based on availability data. The Director of OEOI responds to the email and gives approval for the search to proceed or not. If the process is approved, the search proceeds; if not, the Search Committee Chair informs the Search Committee the position will continue to be posted to encourage more applicants to apply.

(4) Before finalists are invited to campus for interviews. The Search Committee Chair meets with the Director of OEOI to discuss whether:

(a) the search process complies with the Recruitment and Hiring Protocol;

(b) there are racially and ethnically people among the finalists;

(c) the finalist pool is representative based on availability data; and

(d) the reasons for selection/rejection of each semi-finalist

The Director of OEOI signs the Search Strategy document and gives approval for the search to proceed. If the process is approved, the search proceeds; if not, the Search Committee Chair informs the Search Committee they may have to restart the search.

9. A review of legal and procedural issues related to conducting an interview.

• You may ask any question so long as the question is job related. If you know the question is not job related, don’t ask it.
• All candidates should be treated the same.

10. Identification of key questions to ask candidates.

11. The basics of the Interview Exchange system.

12. Issues of confidentiality: Search Committee Code of Ethics

Position Posting and Advertising

Position Posting

1. The SC Chair sends an approved requisition to Human Resources for posting.

2. Check point #1. Before the ad is posted, the SC Chair discusses the selection criteria with the Director of OEOI. They reach consensus on the selection criteria. It is important that all minimum selection criteria, i.e. CORE questions, are relevant to the ability to perform the job. The language in the posting and the advertisement must be specific and clear to avoid unnecessary and unsubstantiated claims of systemic discrimination.

Advertising

1. HR is responsible for advertising the position and approves all ads including those ads that are listed on the internet, specific discipline websites, and/or professional organization websites. The HR Manager of Employment and Staffing may decide to list more than one position in the same newspaper.

2. HR reviews the ad to ensure consistency with Lesley’s Equal Opportunity statement and the Lesley brand. The ad includes a request for applicants to send at minimum:

A. Cover letter

B. CV/resume

C. List of at least three references with name, title, address, email address, and telephone numbers.

3. The position is advertised within the department. Faculty and employees may be notified by email and other means to ensure that they know a position is available.

4. Generally, ads are posted on Lesley’s website, HigherEd Jobs, Chronicle.com, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, and the City of Cambridge website. SC Chairs may request posting the position description on additional websites.

Interview Exchange and Applicant Tracking

Interview Exchange

1. Interview Exchange is the online system that Lesley uses to post positions, allow applicants to apply online for a position and to track applicants through the selection process.

2. Applicants enter their information into Interview Exchange: they attach a cover letter, CV/resume, and a list of at least three references with name, title, address, email address, and telephone numbers.

3. Interview Exchange screens candidates for the minimum selection criteria (CORE questions) to ensure that the candidate is qualified.

4. Consistent with the Affirmative Action Plan, the Director of OEOI reviews the pool of candidates at three stages during the recruitment process: before CV/resumes are reviewed by the Search Committee, before semi-finalists are telephone screened, and before finalists are invited to campus for interviews to ensure there is diversity in the candidate pools.

5. The SC Chair reviews all CV/resumes and pays particular attention to ensure that applicants meet the minimum selection criteria for consideration, as evidenced in responses to the CORE questions. As an example, if the position requires a Masters degree and three years of related experience, any candidate who does not meet the minimum selection criteria is eliminated from further consideration.

6. Search Committee members are given passwords to read applications and evaluate candidates on Interview Exchange. Each applicant is evaluated against the CORE questions.

7. If the Search Committee decides to make an exception and select a candidate who does not meet all of the minimum qualifications then the position must be reposted and the search restarted to allow other less qualified candidates to apply and compete for the position.

8. The HR Manager of Employment and Staffing has responsibility for maintaining Interview Exchange and regularly conducts training on the system.

Applicant Tracking

1. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCCP) requires that every search track applicants through the selection process to ensure equal opportunity and fairness in the hiring and selection process. If Lesley is audited by OFCCP, the University will be asked to provide applicant tracking documents for all searches.

2. Interview Exchange is used to record the name; race and gender (optional); track the Protocol process; and record reasons for selection/ rejection of all applicants, candidates, semi-finalists and finalists. All records related to recruitment must be maintained for two years.

3. During the CV/resume review process, reasons for selection/rejection are based on answers to the CORE questions. Even if an applicant does not answer "yes" to all the CORE questions, the Search Committee must still read the cover letter and CV/resume and verify that the applicant is either qualified or not.

If the applicant is not qualified then the Search Committee Chair goes into Interview Exchange and moves the applicant from the "In Box" folder to the "No" folder and in the notes section enters a statement which says "Applicant does not meet the minimum selection criteria."

If the applicant inadvertently answered "No" to a CORE question but indicates in the cover letter and/or CV/resume that he/she does possess the requisite skills, the Chair may send the applicant an email to verify that the applicant does possess the skills required. The applicant will continue to be listed as unqualified in Interview Exchange, therefore the Chair must send an email to the Director of OEOI stating that the applicant is indeed qualified. This email will be maintained in the electronic folder for this position.

The Search Committee Chair sends an email to the Director of OEOI and lists the names of semi-finalists selected for telephone screening. The Director responds with an email and shares the statistics on the pool, including the percent of people of color in the pool and the percent of people of color available in the census data or the Survey of Earned Doctorates. The Director of OEOI indicates whether the posting may be taken down or whether we should continue to cast a wider net to include more candidates of color.

4. During the telephone screening process, reasons for selection/rejection are based on the responses to questions asked during the telephone call. The Search Committee discusses all semi-finalists who are telephone screened and reaches consensus about who should become a finalist and who should be rejected.

In Interview Exchange, the Search Committee Chair moves the candidates who are continuing in the search process from the "Telephone" folder to the "Interview" folder. Those semi-finalists who were telephone screened and rejected are moved from the "Telephone" folder to the "No" folder and in the notes section, the reasons for rejection are recorded. The Search Committee must reach consensus on the reason for rejection of each semi-finalist. Lesley provides examples of reasons for rejection of semi-finalists.

5. During the campus interview process, reasons for selection/rejection are based on performance during the face-to-face interviews. The Search Committee discusses all finalists who are interviewed and reaches consensus about which finalist(s) should be offered the position, in order of priority. The results are presented to the Dean or Vice President for their review.

Once there is agreement with the Dean or Vice President and the position is offered and accepted, the Search Committee Chair goes into Interview Exchange moves the finalist who accepted the position into the "Offer Made" folder. Those finalists who were interviewed and rejected are moved from the "Interview" folder to the "No" folder and in the notes section, the reasons for rejection are recorded. The Search Committee must reach consensus on the reason for rejection of each finalist.

Affirmative Action Basics and Generating a Pool of Applicants

Affirmative Action Basics

1. "A central premise underlying affirmative action is that, absent discrimination, over time an employer’s workforce, generally, reflects the gender, racial and ethnic profile of the labor pools from which the employer recruits and selects."

2. Lesley is required to make "good faith efforts" to achieve our affirmative action goals. At the same time Lesley may not give racial or gender preference in hiring as that would violate the Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which prohibits discrimination.

3. Good faith efforts generally include:

A. Outreach and recruitment measures to broaden candidate pools from which selection decisions are made to include people of color, women, and members of underrepresented groups.

B. Systematic efforts to assure that selections thereafter are made without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability or veteran status.

Pool of Applicants

1. All applicants, including internal applicants, apply online through Interview Exchange and submit, at minimum:

A. Cover letter

B. CV/resume

C. List of at least three references with name, address, title, email address, and telephone numbers.

2. If an applicant provides the information requested and meets the minimum selection criteria then the applicant becomes a candidate.

3. If applicants are identified on site at a professional meeting or conference, applicants must formally apply online through Lesley’s website.

Screening Candidates CV/Resumes

1. Check point #2. Before CV/resumes are reviewed, Chair sends the Director of OEOI an email and states the Search Committee is ready to discuss CV/resumes. The Director of OEOI sends a return email and verifies whether there are people of color among the applicants. If not, the Director of OEOI informs the SC Chair that the position needs to continue to be posted so that applicants of color have the opportunity to apply. HR will work with the SC Chair to identify where else the position should be posted. If the pool is inclusive the posting may be taken down from the website. The Director of OEOI gives approval to the SC Chair to move the search forward to screen CV/resumes.

2. At the next meeting of the Search Committee, the Committee members discuss each candidate. A candidate’s education and experience are compared with the minimum selection criteria to determine if the candidate should receive further consideration. A consensus is reached to either accept/ reject each candidate from further consideration. As an example, if there are 50 candidates that meet the selection criteria, the Search Committee strives to choose six to ten candidates as semi-finalists for careful review of their documents and telephone interviews. During this same meeting the Search Committee prepares a list of questions to ask each semi-finalist during the telephone interviews.

3. Interview Exchange is used to track candidates during the CV screening process. (Please review the Applicant Tracking section of this document for further details.) The reason for selection/rejection of each candidate is clearly and concisely documented in Interview Exchange.

4. All CV/resume screened candidates (internal and external) who do not meet the minimum selection criteria are notified they will not proceed to the next step in the selection process.

Telephone Interviewing Semi-Finalists

1. Check point #3. Before telephone interviewing semi-finalists, the SC Chair sends an email to the Director of OEOI and states the Search Committee is scheduled to conduct telephone interviews. The Director of OEOI verifies whether

A. The process complies with the Protocol;

B. There are people of color among the semi-finalists; and

C. The semi-finalist pool is representative based on availability data.

If not, the Director responds via email and indicates:

(1) The position should be re-advertised and/or additional steps are identified to generate a broader pool of semi-finalists, and

(2) the Search Committee may telephone screen semi-finalists however the search may not move forward to bring finalists to campus until additional semi- finalists are brought into the recruitment process.

If the group of semi-finalists includes people of color the Director of OEOI gives written approval to SC Chair to move the search forward to interview semi- finalists by telephone.

2. All semi-finalists are interviewed by telephone, including the internal semi-finalists. All semi-finalists are asked the same lead questions but not necessarily the same follow up questions. All semi-finalists are told the same information about Lesley and the search process.

3. A Search Committee member’s value in the search process is his/her ability to assess the semi-finalist’s knowledge, skills, and abilities particularly in the Search Committee member’s area of expertise. Search Committee members may ask the same lead question so they can assess the strengths and weaknesses of each semi-finalist. Again, it is appropriate to ask different follow-up questions, depending on the person’s response.

4. Following the telephone interviews the Search Committee discusses the semi-finalists. A consensus is reached to either accept/reject each semi-finalist from further consideration. Generally, two or three finalists are selected for campus interviews to fulfill the requirement for presenting a choice to the Dean or Vice President.

5. Interview Exchange is used to track semi-finalists decisions. (Please review the Applicant Tracking section of this document for further details.) The reason for selection/rejection of each semi-finalist is clearly and concisely documented in Interview Exchange.

6. All semi-finalists who are not selected for campus interviews are held in abeyance until the selection process is completed.

7. The SC Chair discusses with the Director of OEOI the reasons for election/rejection of each semi-finalist.

8. Check point #4. The SC Chair meets with the Director of OEOI and discusses the search process. The Director of OEOI signs the Search Strategy Document. The original document is sent to HR for placement in the file of the finalists who is hired. A copy of the document is retained by the SC Chair.

Checking References

1. Finalists are notified that our intention is to have them become finalists, pending their reference checks, and we ask their permission to begin the reference checking process. Finalists are given several days to notify their references to expect a phone call from the Search Committee Chair or a member of the Search Committee or the Manager of Employment and Staffing. Please wait until you have permission from the finalist.

2. It is inappropriate under any circumstance to conduct a reference check with the current employer without the finalist’s permission.

3. The Search Committee determines how many references will be called for each finalist. If the decision is three references, then three references are called for each finalist. Remember, all finalists must be treated the same. The Search Committee decides who from the Committee will make the reference telephone calls. The Manager of Employment & Staffing may be asked to check references.

4. A reference call is a conversation and should flow accordingly. It is suggested that you ask open-ended questions that focus on behavior, such as:

A. The Lesley position requires "X". Would you hire (name) for a similar position at your school/company?

B. If Lesley were to hire (name), what are her strengths and in what ways would she have to be developed?

C. Is there anything else I should know about (name) that I have not asked?

Interviewing Finalists on Campus

1. Before the on-campus interview, finalists must complete the appropriate Lesley employment application. All sections of the application must be completed and the application must be signed and faxed to Human Resources. The signed application guards against the submission of false and misleading information.

2. As part of the application process finalists are asked to voluntarily complete an affirmative action survey. The survey is retained by HR. If the candidate declines to complete the affirmative action survey, HR notifies the SC Chair. During the on-campus interview, the SC Chair makes an observation, but does not ask about the finalist’s race. The SC Chair informs HR about the observation and HR records the information in Interview Exchange.

3. The Dean or Vice President participates in the interviewing process for all finalists.

4. Prior to the interview, Search Committee members prepare another list of questions to ask all finalists which allows the Committee to more easily make decisions about whom to select. Again, each Committee member may ask the same lead questions but not necessarily the same follow-up questions. Each Committee member assesses the strengths and weaknesses of each finalist.

5. The Search Committee defines the interview format. The interview format must be the same for all finalists. As an example, if there are individual and group interviews and the Committee decides to first conduct a group interview followed by two individual interviews, then the same format must be followed for all finalists.

6. Finalists may be asked to make a presentation and/or teach a class and receive student evaluations. The same format must be followed for all finalists.

7. The finalists may be invited to dine with the Search Committee for lunch or dinner. Dining becomes part of the interview format because questions are asked and answered during dining, even though dining is in a social setting. Therefore, if one finalist is asked to dine with Search Committee members, all finalists are invited to dine with Search Committee members.

8. Following the interviews the Search Committee discusses the finalists. A consensus is reached to either accept/reject each finalist from further consideration.

9. OFCCP requires Lesley to complete an applicant tracking log for every core faculty search and every staff search. Interview Exchange is used to record the reasons for selection/rejection of each finalist who participated in a campus interview. The language that is used to describe the rationale for selecting/ rejecting candidates is critical.

10. The decision to accept/reject a finalist is based on the selection criteria, responses to telephone screening questions, interview performance, student evaluations, references, and affirmative action goals for the school and the University. It is important to restate that affirmative action means we consider people of color and women when making hiring decisions as part of an overall scheme. Affirmative action goals are not the sole basis of the hiring decision and a finalist who is not qualified is not hired.

11. CV/resumes of all finalists who are interviewed on campus are retained for six months by the SC Chair and the Manager of Employment and Staffing. Human Resources retains for six months copies of the job posting, Search Strategy Document, CV’s and related materials for all candidates interviewed on campus, and the electronic files in Interview Exchange. After six months, the files are purged.

Selecting a Finalist and Offer of Employment

1. The Search Committee evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of each finalist and presents its analysis to the Dean or Vice President.

2. The SC Chair gives the Dean or Vice President a copy of each finalist’s file which contains the cover letter, CV/resume, list of references, and reference results.

3. The Dean meets with the Provost, presents the finalists and makes a recommendation. The Provost or Vice Presidents may present finalists to the President.

4. The Provost and/or President decide which finalist is selected. The President and Vice President or Provost in consultation with the Dean decides on the salary, rank, and term of the contract.

5. The Dean or Vice President approves and signs off on the search. The Dean or Manager offers the position to the finalist.

6. The Provost issues a faculty contract.

The search is concluded.

Lesley University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action educator and employer. The foregoing Recruitment and Hiring Protocol is designed to enhance access to and understanding of Lesley’s policies and is not intended to create a contract between Lesley and its employees or other persons. Lesley reserves the right to amend or revoke its policies at any time without notice.

__________________________________________
Joseph B. Moore, President

___________________
Date

Approved by:

The President and his Cabinet

History:

• Issued – May 11, 2005
• Revised – June 1, 2009
• Revised – March 27, 2011

Responsible Official:

Director of Equal Opportunity and Inclusion