approved
by the Faculty Senate February 21, 2007
Policy. In keeping with Section 1.3 of the
Faculty Handbook that states, “In accordance with the best traditions of
American universities, the faculty plays a primary role in…faculty personnel
actions,” the faculty role in noncompetitive hires is equal to that in
competitive searches and hires. This
policy concerns all noncompetitive hires of instructional term, tenured, and
tenure-track faculty.
Noncompetitive or direct hires are hires in which the search
process is waived. When hiring term,
tenured and tenure-track faculty, competitive searches should be used except in
very special circumstances. These
circumstances are normally limited to situations (a) when the candidate has
already established a national/international reputation, the program has a
unique opportunity to hire the targeted candidate, and the area of specialization
complements those of faculty already in the program; (b) when the candidate is
a spouse or partner of a candidate being hired through formal search procedures
and the university is attempting to accommodate her or him; and (c) when an
administrator is hired and is considered for acceptance in a specific local
academic unit (LAU). While an
administrator is normally hired using a competitive process at the
administrative level, this policy applies because s/he is not part of a
competitive process at the level of the LAU. Instructional term faculty may also be hired without a search when
classes must be staffed immediately due to an unexpected resignation, death, or
illness of a member of the teaching faculty. Waiver of a search in this situation is only valid for one year.
Procedures. Faculty in the LAU review the credentials of
any individual who is a candidate for noncompetitive hire using the same
procedures as review of competitive hire candidates. These include at a minimum the opportunity to examine a curriculum vitae, meet with the
candidate, attend a job seminar or formal presentation by the candidate, and
review letters of reference. The LAU
faculty then vote to accept or reject the candidate. The hiring process moves forward only when a majority of the LAU
faculty who are eligible to vote accept the candidate.
If a candidate for noncompetitive hire is to be tenured upon
hiring, s/he must be reviewed by both the LAU faculty and the college- or
school-level promotion and tenure committee. The LAU review requires a majority positive vote by eligible faculty for
tenure in addition to the vote to accept the candidate into the program. If the LAU faculty vote is positive and the
chair approves of the candidate, the dossier is then sent to the college or
school promotion and tenure committee. As with all tenure reviews, independent external letters from recognized
experts in the candidate’s field must be obtained in a manner consistent with
other tenure reviews, and candidates are held to the same standards as other
candidates in that LAU. Since
noncompetitive hires may be made outside the normal annual promotion and tenure
cycle, college and school promotion and tenure committees must develop
procedures for reviewing candidates out of cycle.
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