LIBRARY FACULTY HANDBOOK

3.a.   FACULTY SEARCH PROCEDURES

              (APPROVED by the Library Faculty, 1/30/01 Library Faculty Meeting)

 

 

Introduction

 

The WSU Libraries Faculty search procedures are based on policies documented by the WSU Center for Human Rights (CHR).  All Library Faculty Search Committees should use those documents.  The Libraries' Personnel Coordinator keeps an up-to-date copy of CHR documents.  The CHR guidelines should be covered by the Libraries’ Equal Opportunity Representative at the first meeting of every faculty search committee.  These documents are not duplicated in this Faculty Handbook as keeping up with revisions is time-consuming and is not in the best interests of the Library Faculty when full documentation is already easily available.  The Libraries' Personnel Coordinator will give search committee chairs a copy of the Center for Human Rights documentation.

 

The information about Library Faculty searches that appears below is library-specific, providing more detail that supplements/compliments the WSU Center for Human Rights policies.

 

Branch campus librarian searches will follow the procedures outlined by the CHR and to the extent appropriate, those of the WSU Libraries Faculty Handbook.  A faculty librarian from Pullman, or another branch campus, should be included on the search committee.  For final candidates a visit to Pullman should be included as part of the interview process.  The respective Branch Campus Dean has the final responsibility for the selection and hiring of the candidate to whom an offer is made.

 

Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action

 

The WSU Libraries are committed to the University’s Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action hiring policies.  These policies state that:  “WSU is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal opportunity to applicants and employees without regard to race/ethnicity, creed, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a disabled person, disabled veteran or Vietnam-era veteran status.  WSU has made, and will continue to make, every effort to eliminate barriers to equal opportunity encountered by protected group members and to improve opportunities available to underutilized groups.” 

 

Permission to Fill Vacant Faculty Positions

 

Vacant positions are reviewed by Library Council.  A request to fill a faculty position is submitted from the Assistant Director of the unit to Library Council after consultation with the Director of Libraries.  The request to fill a position should include the following:

 

1)      Rationale for filling the vacant position

2)      Up-to-date position description

 

Consideration of vacant positions is done on a library-wide basis, not a unit basis. Reassignment of positions may be appropriate as staffing needs and priorities change.  Library Council makes recommendations regarding placement of positions.  The Director of Libraries has the ultimate responsibility for such decisions. 

 

Search Documents

 

As soon as possible after the Director of Libraries approves the filling of a vacant Library Faculty position, the Assistant Director or the Unit Head sends the following information to the Libraries' Personnel Coordinator:

 

1)      Title of position

2)      Position number

3)      Specific responsibilities

4)      Required and desired qualifications

5)      Minimum salary

 

Qualifications should be specific and consideration given to how they can be evaluated when reviewing applications. 

 

The Notice of Vacancy is circulated to all Library Faculty members via email.  Any tenured or tenure-track Library Faculty member wishing to be considered for transfer to the vacant position should notify the Director of Libraries within five (5) days.  Transfer procedures are documented in the Library Faculty Handbook, Section 3.a.1, page 1 of 1.  All candidates must meet the stated qualifications.  A request for transfer does not insure that the candidate will be transferred.  If a transfer is approved, the search is halted at this point and a new search to fill the transferee’s former position may be initiated.

 

Search Committee

 

After the Director of Libraries has approved filling a vacant Library Faculty position, the Libraries' Personnel Coordinator issues a call for search committee volunteers.  The Personnel Coordinator collects the names of the volunteers and nominees and submits them to Library Council.  Library Council selects the search committee members.  The Personnel Coordinator notifies all volunteers and nominees.  Search committees will usually have 5-7 members. 

 

Non-library faculty may serve on library search committees.  For positions that carry major leadership responsibilities for classified staff, it is appropriate to include a classified staff member on the search committee.  In the interest of system-wide balance and expertise, it is advisable that at least one search committee member be from a unit other than the one with the vacancy.

 

The Assistant Director and/or Unit Head may serve on the search committee.  If the Assistant Director does not serve on the committee, the search committee chair is responsible for reporting progress of the search to the Assistant Director.

 

The work of the search committee is coordinated with the Libraries' Personnel Coordinator throughout the search process.  The Personnel Coordinator is available to answer

questions.  As the search progresses it will also be necessary to work with the Fiscal

Specialist in the Library Administrative Office to make travel and accommodation plans for candidates who are brought to the campus for interviews.

 

Applicant Files

 

Applicant files are set up by the Libraries' Personnel Coordinator and are located in the Library Administrative Office.  Access to these files is limited to search committee members, the Personnel Coordinator and appropriate administrators.  Files are not to be removed from the Library Administrative Office nor are they to be copied as a general rule.  When searches are conducted for Libraries outside of the Holland and Terrell Libraries, the prohibition on copying may be relaxed at the request of the Search Committee chair.  If copies are made in this circumstance, all must be returned to the Personnel Coordinator as soon as feasible. 

 

Confidentiality

 

All materials received in support of a candidate’s application, including information received from references, are considered confidential.  Access to candidate files and deliberations of the search committee should be kept strictly within the search committee and appropriate administrators.  This confidentiality must be maintained during and after the search, within the state public records laws.

 

Application Review

 

The application review includes three tasks:

 

1)      Creation of an candidate comparison chart

2)      Screening for minimum qualifications

3)      Identification of top candidates and applicants who will not be pursued further

 

Members of the search committee may begin reviewing applicant files after the first search committee meeting where search guidelines from CHR are explained.  The chair of the search committee usually develops the comparison chart.  The final comparison chart is submitted to the Libraries' Personnel Coordinator.  All applications are to be reviewed in a consistent manner and all candidates are afforded the same treatment in the screening and interview process.  Screening criteria must be uniformly applied to all candidates.

 

Candidates may not be contacted or interviewed by the search committee until after CHR has approved the applicant pool.

 

Candidate Comparison Chart

 

The criteria on the candidate comparison chart should reflect the requirements for the position as stated in the advertisement.  As soon as the comparison criteria are developed, the chart must be sent to the Personnel Coordinator who will send it to CHR for approval. 

 

All applicants are listed on the chart in alphabetical order.  Every qualification on the chart should be considered for each applicant except if the applicant did not meet the minimum degree requirement.  In that case, the chart reflects this fact and the remainder of the chart

does not have to be completed for this candidate.  The chart needs to indicate which candidates did and did not meet the minimum qualifications.  In addition, an extra column should be included for CHR to indicate which candidates claim protected group status.

 

Comparison Memo

 

A memo addressed to the Director of Libraries provides a brief evaluation of candidates and places them in one of the following groups:

 

1)      Top candidates: wish to request letters of recommendation and proceed with telephone interviews.  (May be selected later for on-campus interviews.)

2)      Candidates who remain under consideration but are not being pursued at this time.

3)      Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications but are not strong in some of the desired elements and are, therefore, no longer under consideration.

4)      Candidates who do not meet the minimum qualifications (state specific required qualifications not met).

5)      Candidates who have withdrawn, if any.

 

The chart and memorandum may be submitted separately or at the same time.  Both need to go to CHR for approval prior to proceeding.

 

Notification of Candidates and References

 

After receiving CHR approval, the Libraries' Personnel Coordinator notifies all candidates of their status in the search, and requests letters of recommendation from the references provided by the top candidates.

 

It is expected that one reference be from a person representing the candidate’s present employer.  Should the candidate refuse to have someone at their employer contacted, the candidate should be warned that this could mean elimination as a candidate for the position at WSU Libraries.

 

Telephone conferences with candidate references can be used to obtain more information about the candidates beyond that which is included in the reference letters.  At least two members of the search committee should be present for each call.  A set of consistent questions should be asked of each reference.

 

If the search committee wishes to contact people other than those the candidate has identified as their references, they must obtain permission from the candidate to talk with others before they are contacted.

 

Telephone Interviews

 

Telephone interviews are used as a screening step.  At least two search committee members must be present for every call and the same questions must be asked of every candidate during the conversations. 

 

On-Campus Interviews

 

The search committee chair prepares a memo to the Director of Libraries requesting permission to interview on-campus.  With approval of the Director of Libraries, 1-3 candidates are invited to interview on campus. 

 

The search committee develops a list of questions to be asked of all candidates.  The search committee develops an interview schedule, making sure that two goals are met, as follows:

 

1)      That WSU Libraries faculty and staff see enough of the candidate to make an evaluation of his or her potential effectiveness as a librarian at WSU.

2)      That the candidate sees enough of his/her potential colleagues, the Libraries, the WSU campus, and the city and area, to evaluate whether he/she wants to join the WSU Libraries.

 

Any internal candidates not being interviewed must be so notified by the Director of Libraries before any announcement of finalists for the position.

 

The search committee chair calls the candidates to offer the opportunity to interview.  The search committee chair should be prepared to suggest several possible dates and should also ask the candidate for the closest airport from which he/she can depart.  A date is set by mutual agreement.  The Fiscal Specialist in the Library Administrative Office is notified so that airline and accommodation reservations can be facilitated.  A packet of information is sent to the candidate with information on the interview, travel plans, interview schedule, information on handling of expenses, position description, information on tenure and promotion in the Libraries, information on WSU, information on Pullman, information on the Libraries, a list of search committee members, information on employment benefits, etc.

 

For non-management librarians, a full day interview should be the norm.  For management librarians (Unit Heads and Coordinators), the interview may well be a day and a half.  For administrators (Assistant Directors), the interview will likely cover two full days.  Sufficient time should be allowed for the candidates to meet with a representative group of faculty and staff.  Time should be allowed to meet with potential colleagues, the manager of the unit, the Assistant Director, the search committee, and the Director of Libraries.  Each candidate for a Library Faculty position is expected to deliver a presentation on a topic to be determined by the search committee but normally relating to some aspect of the position.

 

Candidate expenses are paid by the Libraries and include travel, accommodations, and meals.

 

Following the interview, the search committee will solicit evaluative comments on the candidates from those who met with the person during the interview.  In order for these comments to be of value, they need to be specific and as substantial as possible.  Each set of comments should include a context – when and how the evaluator met with the interviewee.

 

Search Committee Analysis and Recommendation

 

Once on-campus interviews and reference contacts are completed, the search committee prepares a written report comparing the candidates strengths and weaknesses measured against established criteria.  The search committee sends their recommendations as a memorandum to the Director of Libraries.  Recommendations may include a ranked list of candidates (i.e., first choice, second choice, etc.) or it can be an unranked list if there is more than one successful candidate.  This final memo must contain evaluative information on all remaining candidates, including those who may have withdrawn.  Evaluations should include a summary of comments from interviewers and references and the search committee’s recommended action.  The memo should also include the search committee’s recommendation about what to do if the first choice should decline consideration.  The Director of Libraries has the ultimate responsibility for selection of the candidate to whom an offer is made.  The Personnel Coordinator submits this memo with a written request to CHR for approval to offer the position.

 

Offer of the Position

 

Upon receiving approval from CHR, the Director of Libraries or designee calls the selected candidate and makes an offer.  If agreement is reached on the terms of the offer, the Personnel Coordinator prepares a formal letter of offer to be sent to the candidate.  The letter of offer carries details of terms of employment including salary, tenure consideration date, rank, effective date, moving expenses, and other appropriate information.  The Director will announce the candidate’s appointment after an acceptance letter has been received. 

 

If the selected candidate does not accept the offer to come to WSU, and if not other suitable candidates are available, the search may be closed or re-opened (the position re-advertised).  The decision on how to proceed is made by the Director of Libraries in consultation with the search committee.

 

Close Search

 

Once the candidate has formally accepted the offered position, the search is closed.  The Director of Libraries or designee calls to notify other candidates who were interviewed on-campus that the position has been filled.  All other remaining candidates are also so notified by letter.  Search files are archived for three years according to University policies.  All search committee notes are shredded.  Announcements of the appointment are made within the Libraries and to library media.  The Director of Libraries dismisses the search committee with thanks to members for their service.  

 

(APPROVED by the Library Faculty, 1/30/01 Library Faculty Meeting)

 

 

Rev. 1/30/01

NS: Lib Fac Handbook/ 3a Fac Search Procedures