Step-by-Step Process for Faculty

The University is committed to accelerating efforts to recruit more faculty of color and increase the number of women faculty in STEM fields. In alignment with this effort, all faculty searches follow these inclusive search steps.

In the Division of Academic Affairs, the Department Chair consults with the Dean’s office. The Dean or the Dean's designee then consults the Office of the Provost. Once the Office of the Provost has granted authorization to search for a faculty position, the Dean’s office will work with the Department Chair to submit the request to search along with all supporting documentation through the Workforce Planning HRTS system.

Workforce Planning: The Office of Human Resources (HR) will conduct a class and compensation review and notify the Dean’s Office of Workforce Planning for approval. All supporting documentation will then be forwarded by HR to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI).

Office of Diversity and Inclusion: The ODI will review all supporting documentation to ensure that recruitment and selection procedures are fair, inclusive, transformative and in compliance with all federal and state regulations.

The Search Committee is appointed by the supervisor, Department Chair and/or Dean, as appropriate.

Faculty search committees must have a minimum of five faculty members that reflect the diversity of the University community in relation to gender, race and ethnicity. Generally, most search committees have five to nine members and can include faculty members from other areas/departments. For joint faculty appointments or positions carrying extra departmental responsibilities, the secondary department should be represented on the committee as well.

There must be gender and racial diversity present on the search committee and during all interviews.

Once the search committee is formed and approved by the Dean’s office, an Affirmative Action Recruitment Plan (AARP) form should be filled out as outlined in detail in Step 3.

Note: The supervisor, Department Chair, and/or final decision-maker should not serve on the committee or take part in the initial applicant review as this could potentially be seen as having an undue influence on the search process.

Read about the overall responsibilities of each Search committee member, the ODI Representative, and the Search Committee Chair.

Recruitment Plan

Download and fill out the Affirmative Action Recruitment Plan (AARP) to include:

• the current composition of the Hiring Department/Office/Job Group;

• the gender and racial diversity of members of the Search Committee. Each search committee member should self-identify their race and gender;

• the recruitment sources that will be used in the search process, include targeted or specialized outreach efforts to recruit qualified women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans;

• the screening procedures that were agreed upon by the Search Committee and the hiring authority.

Job Posting

The Announcement of Faculty Vacancy (UP-5) is used to create a job posting for any anticipated external advertisement or job ads. Download a sample UP-5.

The UP-5 should include all of the following:

• a job description that provides an overview of the position and explains the tasks, duties, and responsibilities to applicants;
• specific measurable qualifications that are tied to a job task, duty, or responsibility outlined in the job description. Measurable qualifications of the UP-5 are utilized on the Rubric_AFA. Other qualifications such as soft skills are assessed during interviews.

Candidates need to meet the listed required qualifications to warrant employment. If there are qualifications the candidate can be trained or mentored on, include those in the preferred qualifications.

Once the AARP and the UP-5 have been finalized, submit these two documents along with Rubric_AFA, to the Workforce Planning request via the HRTS system as outlined in detail in Step 1.

Note: The search cannot proceed until the Department has received approvals from the Office of the Provost, the Office of Human Resources, and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Inclusive Search Workshop

All search committee members are required to attend an Inclusive Search Workshop in support of the University’s Strategic Plan.

This 75-minute workshop is mandatory for anyone who serves on a search committee and must be completed before evaluating applicant materials. 

Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• recognize biased thought patterns and/or behaviors that interfere with objective candidate evaluations;
• identify key points within the recruitment process where bias checkpoints should be intentionally applied;
• implement strategies that demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; and
• prepare objective screening tools that mitigate bias and consider inclusive search best practices.

Advertise and Promote the Job Posting

Attracting a broad and diverse pool of candidates to compete for the position is an important component of the search process. While paid advertisements are not the only way to search for possible candidates, they are an important element in the recruitment effort.

The advertisement must include responsibilities, qualifications, and experience. The required items for a completed application must be the same on both the Job Posting and the Announcement of the Vacancy (UP-5). However, to minimize advertisement costs, notices may be shortened to refer applicants to the Office of Human Resources (HR) for the complete vacancy notice.

In addition to paid advertisements, other affirmative action efforts and recruitment strategies include but are not limited to the following:

• Professional Associations, Listservs, and conferences

• Social Media platforms, including LinkedIn and Twitter

• Posting of notices at local, regional, and national meetings and conferences

• Letters to graduate schools in the discipline for the type of position being advertised

• Contact qualified people who have written letters of application in the past year

• Outreach to other colleges and universities

Diversity Recruitment Resources are available to support attracting and recruiting candidates from underrepresented groups. The ODI is also an important resource for best practices in creating diverse pools of applicants.

Read the Special Consideration for International Candidates section for important information on federal immigration requirements for international applicants.

All search committees utilize a rubric as an applicant screening tool to evaluate the application materials objectively, negate bias, and select candidates for first-round interviews.

Note: The applicant rubric should be created by the hiring authority and/or a designee at the same time the job posting is created and submitted to Workforce Planning. If it was not, then it must be created and submitted to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) for review and approval before applicant review can begin.

The Rubric_AFA should list all the measurable qualifications of the job posting. Other qualifications such as soft skills are assessed during interviews. Applicants need to meet the listed required qualifications to warrant an interview.

Once created, the ODI Representative should submit the Rubric_AFA to the ODI for review and approval prior to evaluating applicants.

Download a sample Rubric_AFA, Applicant Rubric FAQs, and sample Qualification and Criteria for Rubrics as search resources.

As a condition of receiving federal contracts and to comply with federal laws and procedures, the University at Albany collects data and maintains an affirmative action plan regarding women and minorities. The University is also required to collect and report non-identifying information on covered veterans and individuals with disabilities.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) regulations require the University to identify the gender, race, and ethnicity of each employee and, where possible, the gender, race, and ethnicity of each applicant.

Midway through the posting period (i.e., day 15 of a 30-day posting) and prior to reviewing applications, the ODI Representative will email the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) requesting the applicant pool snapshot called the EEOC Data Report.

This snapshot contains a summary of the diversity of the applicant pool as a result of the advertising and recruitment efforts outlined in the AARP. The ODI Representative will share this with the search committee.

It is important that this report is requested and reviewed by the Search Committee prior to reviewing applicants’ resumes to ensure that the recruitment plan strategy results in an inclusive and diverse applicant pool.

At this point in the search process, if the applicant pool is not deemed to be adequately diverse, the ODI will work with each search to identify additional sources to advertise to target diverse populations.

The Search Committee Chair is responsible for communicating with applicants throughout the search process using Interview Exchange.

An Acknowledgment of Applicant Letter could be sent to each applicant that applies to the job posting and a follow-up letter should be sent to applicants with incomplete files. The follow-up letter should refer to the job posting application instructions section indicating the required application documents.

Confidentiality

All searches must be conducted in a manner that best protects the privacy of the applicants. Access to files is limited to search committee members.

Department colleagues, hiring authorities, and other interviewers participating in second-round interviews will have access to the files of finalists.

Strict confidentiality must be maintained as candidates assume that their candidacy is held in confidence. Do not break this confidence. Likewise, do not break the confidence of your colleagues by discussing privileged remarks and interview outcome assessments.

Read the Special Consideration for International Candidates section for important information on federal immigration requirements for international applicants.

Each search committee member is expected to review and evaluate all the applicants utilizing their approved Rubric_AFA. Applicants need to meet the listed measurable qualifications of the job posting to warrant an interview. Other qualifications such as soft skills can be assessed during an interview. Every search committee member's score should be visible on the applicant rubric.

Applications must be treated as confidential and only search committee members should have access to application materials at this stage.

For any applicant not selected for a first-round interview, an appropriate employment non-select code should be indicated on the Rubric_AFA.

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) does not set a requirement on how many applicants need to be selected for an interview.

Once all applicants have been reviewed, a request for first-round interviews should be submitted by the ODI Representative to the ODI along with the following:

• the completed Rubric_AFA;
• the names of the candidates selected for first-round interviews in the body of the email; and
• the proposed first-round interview questions, including at least one diversity-related question outlined in Step 9.

Conflicts of Interest

Cases may occur in which a member of the search committee has a conflict of interest, either personally or professionally, with an applicant. These conflicts should be disclosed to the Search Committee Chair and ODI for appropriate next steps which may include the search committee members recusing themselves from the search committee, and recusing themselves from the evaluation of the applicant.

The Search Committee Chair should propose both sets of interview questions that are related closely to the Job Posting. Each set of questions should be different and include at least one diversity-related question in each set.

Both sets of interview questions must first receive approval from the Department Chair and the Dean’s office. Once approved, it is the responsibility of the ODI Representative to submit the interview questions to the ODI along with the completed Rubric_AFA and the names of the applicants selected for first-round interviews in the body of the email.

Read sample interview questions for staff searches and diversity-related question as well as the illegal interview questions that should not be asked.

First-round interviews

Once the request for first-round interviews and the proposed first-round interview questions have been approved by the ODI, the Search Committee Chair can send a Non-Selection Letter to all candidates who received employment non-select codes. The Search Committee Chair can then contact all selected candidates to schedule and arrange interviews. All search committee members are required to participate in first-round interviews.

To offer a consistent and equitable interview experience, the same interview format (Zoom/Teams, in-person, or phone) should be offered to all candidates. There must also be gender and racial diversity present on the part of the search committee during all interviews. If a search committee member cannot attend an interview, please contact the ODI for directions.

The role of all search committee members is to conduct first-round interviews with the selected candidates. If a search committee member cannot attend an interview, please contact the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

After the candidate accepts the interview request, the Search Committee Chair can send a letter confirming interviews to each candidate selected. If a candidate has special needs that necessitate accommodation during the interview process, they should contact the Search Chair and/or the ODI.

At the conclusion of all first-round interviews, the Search Committee Chair will update the AFA First Interview Results tab with the outcomes of the interviews and any appropriate employment non-select code.

The Search Committee Chair should then submit the updated Rubric_AFA and the names of the second-round interview candidates along with application materials to the Department Chair and Dean’s office for review and approval.

After Department Chair and Dean’s office review and approval, the Dean’s office will submit a second-round interview request to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion with the following items:

• the names of second-round interview candidates
• the updated Rubric_AFA
• the second-round interview questions from all interviewers listed in the Screening Procedures section of the AARP

Once the ODI has approved the request, the Search Committee Chair can begin to schedule and arrange interviews.

Second-round interviews

At the conclusion of second-round interviews, the search committee should meet to develop their final recommendation to the Department Chair and Dean’s office.

The Search Chair should update the AFA Second Interview Results tab with the appropriate non-selection codes and the select code for candidates selected for the position.

A request to extend an offer should be sent to the ODI for review and approval as outlined in Step 11.

Contacting References

Contacting candidates' references by telephone is encouraged. A record of all inquiries must be maintained within the candidate’s file. Under the Freedom of Information Act, information received by telephone is available to the applicant upon request. Read the Reference Check Questions example.

Upon completion of the interview process, the Search Committee Chair will submit the following to the Department Chair:

• the final Rubric_AFA
• a search committee memo with each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses that are based on the job description and qualifications
• the search committee’s hiring recommendation
• the finalists CVs

The Department Chair will review the items and then submit the following to the Dean’s office:

• the final Rubric_AFA
• the search committee’s memo and hiring recommendation
• the Department Chair’s hiring recommendation 
• the finalists CVs
• an itemized summary of search expenses to date

The Dean’s office will then email all these documents along with the Dean’s request to extend an offer to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), Steve Galime and Glyne Griffith in the Office of the Provost for review and approval.

The Office of the Provost will also require the Dean’s office to recommend a salary, estimated start-up expenses, etc. Using data from BI, the Dean’s office can create a full salary analysis that includes the current salaries, dates of hire, and date in rank for all department faculty.

Once the ODI and the Office of the Provost have granted approval, the Dean’s office and/or Department Chair can extend a verbal offer. The Office of the Provost must be consulted on any requested changes to the salary or other conditions, or if the candidate declines.

If an offer is declined, the Dean’s office should determine if an offer can be extended to another qualified finalist. If so, another request to extend an offer should be submitted to the ODI, Steve Galime and Glyne Griffith in the Office of the Provost for review and approval.

Once the candidate has accepted all conditions of the verbal offer in an email, the Dean’s office submits the Offer Letter Request Form and Start-Up Expenses form to Steve Galime and Glyne Griffith who will generate the official offer letter from the University. Visa issues should be addressed at this time.

The Department should now complete the appointment packet, verify the candidate’s credentials, and review the Hiring Proposal Instructions to finalize the appointment of the new hire.

The official offer letter is then sent to the candidate for signature. Upon receipt of the signed offer letter, a post-interview regret letter should be sent through Interview Exchange to all other finalists.

To close the search, the Department needs to send an email to the ODI and Office of Human Resources indicating the candidate’s acceptance, the employment start date, and salary.

All search file information should remain in the hiring department’s office for three years from the end of the search.