Phase 1: Preparation

Step 1: Position Authorization and Search Committee Review

In this step, the department completes the Staff Position Authorization Form. The Staff Position Authorization Form is used to gain approval to post the position and hire the employee. After appropriate signatures are obtained, the department sends the form to Human Resources (HR) for review.

• If this is a hiring process for Deans or Department Chairs, the search committee must integrate both the HR Staff Hiring Steps and the University Senate procedures. You can find the University Senate search procedures in Section 800.
• For information on hiring Postdoctoral Scholars, please visit the Graduate School Guidelines for Hiring Postdoctoral Scholars.
• If a Department is considering the use of a third party recruiter/search firm for particularly hard to fill positions, keep in mind that HR must be contacted to initiate this process. They will assist you with suggestions for third party recruiter/search firms and will be part of the process to complete the required contract.  Third party recruiter/search firms must follow Equal Employment Opportunity laws and practices, treat all applicants equally in all steps of the search, and confirm this practice in the contract.

Select a Search Chair

The Search Committee Chair plays an important role. The chair leads the committee in the recruitment and selection of quality candidates and is also responsible for maintaining a consistent, confidential, and defensively compliant search. This means making sure all committee members follow the Human Resources and Equal Opportunity Compliance procedures, moving all applicants in the employment hiring system (PageUp) system, and submitting paperwork and record keeping documents to Human Resources. The Search Chair also plays a large role in creating a meeting environment where all committee members are empowered to participate, as well as acts as a watchdog to ensure elimination of bias in all hiring steps.

All inquiries and requests from candidates must be referred to the chair of the search committee only.

Form a Diverse Committee

To facilitate a strong hiring process that aligns with institutional goals, an earnest effort should be made to ensure that diverse individuals have an equal opportunity to serve on search committees. Having diverse perspectives means that various identities and thoughts will be represented, and also enables committees to move away from affinity bias and groupthink.

We ask that search committees: 

• Consist of a minimum of 3 members and no more than 5. This is the ideal number of members to promote non-bias decision making and is a conscientious use of resources, such as time and money, dedicated to the search. 
• Have at least 1 member from outside the reporting structure of the hiring department.
• Do not have probationary employees serve since they are still learning about the University and their position/department. 

Based on search needs, exceptions may be made if discussed with HR. The names of search committee members must be sent to HR and EOC (eocompliance@mtu.edu) for review of training requirement completions and search committee diversity balance. 

Training

As mentioned in the introduction, Michigan Tech requires that all search committee members complete the Staff Search Committee Training program. This training is currently being revised. At this time, only the Legal Aspects Review course will be required for search committee members. To request this training or if you have questions about the training requirements, please contact Human Resources (906-487-2280, hr-help@mtu.edu) or email Equal Opportunity Compliance at eocompliance@mtu.edu.

• The Legal Aspects Review course covers best practices for meeting legal and university policy obligations in Staff Hiring. It offers guidelines for participating in a just and respectful staff search process that is accessible to all individuals and free from discrimination. Completion of the Legal Aspects Review for Staff Search Committees course is required each time someone serves on a search committee, but not more than once per year. It is a stand-alone, asynchronous course and is typically completed in less than one hour. It will be assigned automatically upon joining a search committee.
• If you choose to have a student serving on your actual search committee for the entirety of the search, not students who are only participating in candidate interviews, EOC and HR require that they complete the Legal Aspects Review for Search Committees training. 

Confidentiality

To protect the integrity of the search and the privacy of all applicants, search committee members, including if applicable students, Equity Advisor, the department coordinator, and anyone else that has access to PageUp or search committee materials, are required to maintain 100% confidentiality DURING and AFTER the search.

Information learned from the search must not be discussed with anyone outside of the search committee (e.g., in departmental meetings, emails, hallway conversations, and during conversations with applicants). This includes, but is not limited to:

• Applicant names
• How many applicants have applied 
• Any information learned about applicant(s) 
• All discussions among committee members, including during campus interview processes
• Any type of information or recommendations made for hiring or not hiring of applicants
• Any information about applicants from a previous search 

Members who disclose information are at risk of involving themselves and/or the university in a federal agency complaint and/or a lawsuit. 

Any breach in confidentiality must be reported to Human Resources and may lead to a rescinded, canceled or failed search and possible disciplinary action

An appropriate response to questions from individual applicants or the public about any aspect of the selection process should be: Selection is a confidential process and therefore I am unable to respond to your question or the recruitment process is treated with confidentiality, so it would be inappropriate for me to answer your question.

Applicants may inquire about the status of their application packet. If this occurs, refer them to HR since HR is able to respond to the applicants questions and provide the reason for non-selection based on the information that has been recorded in PageUp. 

It is the responsibility of the Search Chair to to have this Confidentiality Statementread and signed by the search committee members, including, if applicable, students, the department coordinator, and anyone else that has access to PageUp or search committee materials at the beginning of the process, before the committee discusses job criteria, drafts interview questions, reviews applications and/or resumes, or begins any work.

Confidentiality Requirements for Dean and Department Chair Searches

All information learned from the search is confidential and must not be discussed outside of the search committee. When a candidate has made it to the short list, information on the candidate will be made available to all department faculty and staff following Senate Search Procedures.

Conflict of Interest

All members of Michigan Tech search committees must take appropriate steps, including consultation if issues are unclear, to avoid both conflicts of interest and the appearance of such conflicts. The intent of this requirement is to foster fair treatment of all candidates, avoid conflicts of interest and prevent the appearance of partiality in employment practices, including recruitment and selection. Even if there is no technical violation of law or University policy, the appearance of a conflict of interest can create reputational risks for the individual and the institution.

Having personal knowledge of an individual who has applied for a position at Michigan Tech is actually quite common, especially if the committee has done an excellent job of networking. Due to this, if any search committee member knows an applicant in a way that creates Conflict of Interest, this must be disclosed to the search chair and Human Resources. If the search chair has a conflict of interest, the chair should inform Human Resources and the hiring manager.

• Removal.  If a search committee member has a familial relationship with a candidate, holds animosity towards a candidate, has a close personal friendship (beyond mere acquaintances) or is or has been in an amorous relationship with a candidate, or has professionally collaborated with a candidate in the past 5 years, they must remove themselves from the search committee.  In addition, if a member’s presence on the search committee may create an appearance of bias to a neutral observer, they must remove themselves from the search committee. This fosters an institutional culture of impartiality and gives all applicants an equal opportunity to be evaluated fairly. 
• Recusal.  If a search committee member has professionally collaborated with a candidate in the past 6-10 years, they should recuse themselves in all evaluations of that applicant and from any final review and/or ranking of candidates but may participate in interviewing and providing feedback on other candidates.  

Hiring Supervisor

When hiring employees, the search committee plays an important role in identifying the best qualified candidates and the hiring supervisor makes the final decision on hiring a candidate. Since the hiring supervisor has administrative oversight for hiring, they will be involved at various points of the search process. For example, a hiring supervisor will develop the initial job description, then give it to the search committee for feedback for possible revisions prior to the job posting.  

When feasible, in order to reduce bias in hiring, the hiring supervisor should not serve on the search committee. If the hiring supervisor is not a member of the search committee they 

• won’t  have access to all applicant materials 
• won’t attend search committee meetings or receive search committee communications
• would receive the same information as others participating in candidate interviews.

It is allowable in certain circumstances for a hiring supervisor to serve on a search committee. For example, the hiring involves unique specialization, or the nature of the work is administrative, financial, or operational and the employee would report to them for university business.

At the start of the search, the hiring supervisor will provide guidance to the search committee concerning the recommendation of hire. For example, they may ask the committee to:

• provide the most qualified candidates in a non-ranked format with the strengths and weaknesses listed for each candidate; or,
• provide the top candidate recommended for hire, and include additional candidates identified as finalists, with the strengths and weaknesses listed for each candidate.

Step 2: Writing the Job Description and Developing the Applicant Screening Rubric

The next step is to draft a job description. You will need to spend quality time on this step. A well developed and concise position description is vital to successful recruitment and hiring. The language in the position description can easily encourage or discourage candidates from applying and it is the basis of applicant evaluation. All applicants must be evaluated equally based on required and desired qualifications as noted in the job description.

The hiring department will develop an initial draft of the job description then share it with all search committee members for comments and input.

Also, the committee will develop an applicant screening rubric that specifically includes the job description requirements. Developing this rubric at this stage of the process is invaluable to ensure that the committee will be able to evaluate applicants based on the required and desired qualifications.

Here’s how you do this:

Job description: Download a copy of the Staff Posting Worksheet. You can use a past copy of a job description as a starting point, but it is best to use a fresh copy of this posting worksheet. The requirements for job descriptions do change so it is best to catch these changes at the start. First, the Essential Duties and Responsibilities section will be developed which will be listed at the top part of the job description. Be as clear, accurate, and inclusive as possible. Applicants should be able to fully understand what the job entails and what will be expected of them in the position.

Next, you will determine the minimum required Education, Experience, and Knowledge, Skills, and/or Abilities using the Essential Duties and Responsibilities. The requirements must be appropriate, realistic, and reasonable. Minimum required qualifications are located below the Essential Duties and Responsibilities section in the job description. Remember that all applicants will be evaluated according to the minimum requirements listed and in order for an applicant to move forward to the interview stage they MUST meet all requirements of the position. It is a best practice to include at least two requirements.

Then, you will also identify desirable education, experiences, knowledge, skills, and abilities which will assist with the additional items for screening of applicants. Desirable qualifications are helpful for the applicant to possess, but could also be gained while working in the job. Four to six desirable qualifications are typically expected.

All job descriptions should have this statement in the Desirable Knowledge, Skills, and/or Abilities section:

• Demonstrated success in, or potential future contributions to, working with persons from diverse backgrounds, creating a sense of belonging, and fostering a fair, objective, welcoming place to work for persons with a wide variety of personal characteristics and viewpoints.

A few tips for you:

• The job announcement/posting/advertising does have requirements so please see Staff Hiring Process Phase 2 Step 3. This may help you in your job description development.
• Keep in mind that you'll get a much better applicant pool if you define the job requirements as broadly as possible.
• When establishing the required and desired qualifications, steer clear of focusing on subfields, which can easily exclude potential applicants.
• Setting requirements too high may exclude applicants based on qualifications that are not necessary to perform the job, which may create disparate impact resulting in discrimination.
• Setting requirements too narrow may limit your applicant pool and you may miss out on a well-qualified applicant.
• To avoid age discrimination, it is best to define only the minimum years of experience required (i.e. 2 years experience)  rather than listing a range (i.e. 2-4 years experience). A range could imply that an applicant should not apply for the position if they have more years of experience than the range lists.
• It is a great idea to include opportunities for campus collaboration and commitment to inclusion and a sense of belonging to attract applicants.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming a common way to generate cover letters and resumes. The search committee should not view this as a negative attribute for the applicant. 

Use the following forms to assist in the development of your job description:

• Language to Use for Designing a Job Description
• Staff Posting Worksheet

Applicant Screening Rubric: Now you will create the applicant screening rubric. This is an easy process since you are essentially moving the required and desired list points from the job description into a rubric format. 

A properly constructed rubric assists with minimizing unconscious bias. Using a non-numerical rubric will help the committee avoid ranking the candidates, keep focus on the requirements of the position, and help the committee identify a list of candidates for the interview phases. Ranking is different from scoring. The search committee can choose to score within the rubric, however, we encourage the use of “qualified” or “not qualified” for job requirements, and “high,” “medium,” or “low” for desired qualifications, as illustrated in the sample rubrics below. 

"Be open to the possibility that you and your search-committee colleagues are evaluating a candidate's style based on what makes you comfortable rather than what is essential for the job you're seeking to fill. (Vaillancourt 2021)". 

Once you have developed the rubric, complete a mock applicant review to test if the job description and rubric are allowing the committee to adequately and fairly screen candidates for the position you are seeking to fill. 

Here are sample rubrics to assist you in this process. Committees can choose to convert these rubrics into Google spreadsheets and/or contact HR or EOC for a sample Google spreadsheet for the intial applicant review rubric. To increase independent committee evaluation of applicants, it is suggested that committee members are assigned a number rather than using their name on the evaluation. 

• Sample Rubric
• Completed Sample Rubric
• Sample Rubric - Multiple Names
• Completed Sample Rubric - Multiple Names

Submit the Job Description

Once the position description has been drafted, reviewed by the committee, revised, and finalized, re-read it once more to make sure that the description does not unintentionally exclude certain groups (e.g. women and minorities). Along with the rubric you have created, submit both of these documents to Human Resources for review.  Once approved by HR they will let you know you can move to the next step. Please note that this will be the job description for the position you hire. During the search process, you can not negotiate items such as titles, level, flex-time, or remote work options with candidates that are not included in the job description, as it fundamentally changes the position.

Please contact your Human Resources Employment Services Representative or Equal Opportunity Compliance, eocompliance@mtu.edu, if you have any questions.

Resources

• New Paradigms for Diversifying Faculty and Staff in Higher Education: Uncovering Cultural Biases in the Search and Hiring Process.
• How To Take Gender Bias Out Of Your Job Ads.
• Tour of the Common Resume Biases