SEARCH PROCEDURE FOR COLLEGE DEANS
(Proposal 19-01) (Proposal 3-07) (Proposal 19-07)
(Proposal 12-13) (Proposal 31-20) (Proposal 26-22)
Senate Procedures 802.1.1
The following procedure is for searches for deans of Colleges.
1. Inception
1.1. The person to initiate the search for a College Dean will be the President, or the Provost as the President's designee.
2. Search Committee
2.1. No committee member can be an applicant.
2.1.1. Full and open disclosure of potential conflicts of interest concerning committee members and/or applicants is expected. See Board of Trustees Conflict of Interest policy 4.7.
2.2. Departmental Representatives (for Units that have Departments): The person initiating the search will ask each department in the college to elect at least one departmental representative to the Search Committee. These representatives must be members of the faculty of the department; department Chairs with faculty appointments are eligible to serve. Each department’s Senator and a person appointed by the department Chair will conduct elections. Balloting will follow departmental charter procedure or standard University Senate procedure. The Senator and the appointed individual will count the ballots and announce results. Ties will be resolved through random selection. The Senator will report the name of the departmental representative to the person initiating the search and to the President of the University Senate, who will announce the membership of the Committee at the next meeting of the Senate.
2.2.1. Number of Departmental Representatives: In all cases, the total number of departmental representatives must exceed the total number of other types of representatives on the Search Committee. In cases in which there are a small number of departments within a college, each department will need to select more than one representative. Each department will select the same number of representatives so that every department has equal representation on the Search Committee. For colleges that lack departments, the total number of faculty selected for service on the Search Committee should be representative of the disciplines within the College.
2.3. Student Representatives: The person initiating the search will ask Undergraduate Student Government and Graduate Student Government each to elect one Committee representative and one alternate, both of whom should be enrolled in the college.
2.4. Staff Representative: The person initiating the search will select at least one staff member to serve on the Search Committee. The staff member should be employed within the college.
2.5. At-large Representatives: The person initiating the search will select three individuals from the University (faculty, staff, students, administrators, alumni) to serve on the Committee.
2.6. Human Resources and Equal Opportunity Compliance Representative: The person initiating the search will ask Human Resources and Equal Opportunity Compliance to designate a representative to serve without vote.
2.7. Publication of Names: A list of the names of Committee members will be posted electronically, and will be submitted for publication in Tech Today and The Lode.
2.8. Confidentiality: All Search Committee members are responsible for signing the search confidentiality statement before the committee begins any work including discussion of required qualifications, drafting of interview questions, reviewing of applications and/or resumes.
2.9. All procedures must comply with applicable University policies, procedures, and Human Resources and Equal Opportunity Compliance practices to ensure equal opportunity to all candidates. At the first convening of the Search Committee, a representative from Human Resources will be invited to review appropriate hiring procedure and ensure all search committee members have completed the required search committee training.
3. Meetings
3.1. The person initiating the search (President or Provost) may call the first meeting of the Committee as soon as at least a three-fourths majority of Committee members have been named.
3.2. The person initiating the search (President or Provost) will deliver the charge to the Committee. They will relate the guidelines for the search process including staffing and the budget for advertising and interviewing.
3.3. The person initiating the search will inform the Committee of the role of the Board of Trustees in the search process.
3.4. The person initiating the search will supervise the election of a chair and associate chair by written ballot, in closed session, at the first meeting. During the first meeting, the Committee and the person initiating the search will specify the responsibilities of these individuals.
3.5. The person initiating the search and the Committee will agree on a target date for selection of the candidate and on other timelines for the search.
3.6. The Human Resources and Equal Opportunity Compliance representatives or other designated persons will provide an orientation for the Search Committee at the outset of the search, and will be available thereafter for any needed consultation. The Committee should discuss the legal issues involved in record keeping and be informed of their legal responsibilities and liabilities. Notes must be relinquished to Human Resources at the end of the search. Human Resources will retain all information for the length of time required to ensure compliance with relevant State and Federal laws and University policies.
3.7. The representative from Human Resources will assist the Committee with its tasks of organizing paperwork, documenting activities, advertising the position, and following guidelines for the search and screening processes.
3.8. Searches will proceed under the principle of openness. Committee meetings will be open to members of the University community unless a closed meeting is necessary to maintain confidentiality.
3.9. The Search Committee may choose to expedite the search process by forming working subcommittees for appropriate tasks.
4. Goals
4.1. In order to select appropriate candidates, the Search Committee must consider the published goals, mission, and vision of the college.
5. Position description and list of required qualifications and essential functions and attributes.
5.1. The Search Committee, with input from the person initiating the search, Human Resources, appropriate administrators, will draft a position description (e.g., required qualifications, essential functions of the job, expected achievements, etc.) that is consistent with the college goals.
5.2. The draft position description and list of required and desired qualifications and essential functions and attributes will be made available to all faculty and staff of the college, and will be posted electronically. Faculty, staff, and students will be invited to send comments to the Committee. The Committee will hold an open meeting of faculty, staff, and students to discuss the position description and the list of qualifications and attributes.
5.3. The Committee and the Initiator of the search will consider the comments, and then write a final job description. The final version will be published in Tech Today, The Lode, posted electronically, and sent to applicants.
6. Mechanism for identifying candidates
6.1. At the discretion of the President, the search may be conducted using the services of a search firm or consultants. Human Resources, Equal Opportunity Compliance, and the Search Committee will direct the efforts of the firm or consultants.
6.2. To ensure a diverse, well-qualified applicant pool that meets EEO requirements, the Committee should solicit applicants according to procedure established by the Office of Equal Opportunity Compliance and work with the Equal Opportunity Compliance Officer.
6.3. In the case of an open search, the position will be advertised in appropriate professional journals and publications. Faculty should be invited to nominate both internal and external candidates. Faculty should be encouraged to contact colleagues and to send them position advertisements.
6.4. The Committee will screen applicants according to its published qualifications. If an applicant appears to be a strong contender for the position, the Committee will check applicant information (e.g., degrees, positions held) and references. As a professional courtesy, the Search Committee should inform candidates prior to checking references.
6.5. Within time and budgetary constraints, the Committee may schedule and hold screening interviews with a select pool of candidates (usually less than 10). The identity of those interviewed will be held in confidence, to the extent permitted by law.
6.6. As the search progresses, deviations from the budgetary guidelines must be approved by the person initiating the search.
7. Semifinalist candidates
7.1. The Committee, after reviewing vitae, reference letters, other relevant material, and conducting screening interviews, will produce a short list of qualified candidates. Upon approval of the person initiating the search, these candidates will be invited for on-campus interviews.
7.2. The candidates become semifinalists on acceptance of an interview.
8. Interview process
8.1. A short vitae for each semifinalist candidate will be made available to all faculty and staff of the college at least two work days prior to the campus visit. A full resume will be made available in the Human Resources office for examination by all faculty, staff, and students of the University.
8.2. The interview process will include, among other assessments, the response to a hypothetical job situation that reveals how the candidate approaches problem solving, decision-making, and ethics.
8.3. All semifinalist candidates will be asked to make an open presentation, addressed to the college, which includes but is not limited to the following issues:
-
- The candidate's administrative philosophy and a plan for meeting the short- and long-term goals of the college.
- The direction of education in the college and the role of the college in the intellectual life of the University.
- The debates and trends at the national and state level that may affect enrollment and research funding opportunities for the college.
- The resources needed to attain the goals of the college.
- Questions from the audience.
8.4. All semifinalist candidates who have not already been granted tenure in an academic department at Michigan Tech will be asked to present at a seminar open to the public, hosted by the department in which the Dean is likely to be given a tenured position. The presentation might include but not be limited to the following topics:
-
- Trends, directions, and opportunities for research in the field of the candidate's expertise.
- The course(s) the candidate would like to teach, if time permitted.
- Direction of education in the department (e.g., what should and will be the attributes of the college's graduates ten years from now).
- Responses to questions from departmental faculty, staff, and students.
8.5. The Search Committee will make appointments for the candidate to meet the Provost, the President, the Vice President for Research, the Department Chairs of the college, the Academic Deans and other appropriate personnel as selected by the person initiating the search. The Board of Trustees may also request an interview.
8.6. The Search Committee will schedule and appropriately publicize at least one open public meeting for the candidate.
8.7. Faculty, staff, and students will be invited to provide oral and/or written feedback to the Committee on the entire slate of semifinalist candidates, based on the published position description, qualifications and attributes. The Committee will share these comments with the person who initiated the search and no one else, consistent with Board of Trustees policy 4.10.
9. Selecting the final candidate(s)
9.1. Selection of the final candidate(s) will begin only after the on-campus interview process for all semifinalist candidates is complete.
9.2. After considering the feedback from the University community, the Committee will develop in closed session a list of acceptable individuals from the list of semifinalists.
9.3. For semifinalists who are acceptable after the campus interview, the Committee will obtain independent assessments from references not listed by these candidates, which would be a part of the due diligence verification process. The Committee should solicit faculty help for identifying appropriate references. As a professional courtesy, the Search Committee must inform these semifinalists prior to the due diligence checks. These checks are only required for the selected semifinalists. The names of independent references will not be disclosed. If a semifinalist refuses to allow due diligence checks, the semifinalist should be informed that this refusal limits the committee’s ability to complete its evaluation and that the semifinalist will be withdrawn from consideration. All questions asked and issues raised must be job-related and should be similar for all candidates.
9.4. The Provost will meet with the Search Committee to review its final list of acceptable candidates. If the Provost is unable to proceed based on the list of candidates provided, the Provost may choose to reopen the search for additional candidates or fail the search and restart the process.
9.5. Prior to beginning negotiations with any candidate, the Provost will forward their recommendation and information about the committee's recommendation up through their supervisory chain-of-command. All academic administrators serve in their administrative role at the pleasure of the President of the University. The Provost will convey the committee’s recommendation and their own recommendation to the President. Upon receiving the President’s approval, the Provost will begin the process of negotiating with the selected candidate. Prior to making a final offer, reasons for non-selection based on the required and/or desired qualifications listed in the job description must be reviewed by Equal Opportunity Compliance for the candidates not recommended for hire. Human Resources will confirm that reference checks were conducted and that all approvals were received for the President and Provost before approving the hiring documentation.
9.6. As of the writing of this procedure, notes must be kept for three years.
10. Negotiating salary and tenure
10.1. The Provost or President will negotiate with the chosen candidate(s). Should negotiations with the candidate(s) be unsuccessful, the Committee and President or Provost will meet to reach a consensual decision on the selection of a new finalist(s) from the list of semifinalists. The search will be reopened if no acceptable candidate is found.
10.2. The President or Provost will negotiate tenure with the Chairs and Deans of appropriate academic units, and will make any recommendation of tenure to the Board of Trustees.
10.3. An explicit part of the negotiation will be salary as a tenured faculty member should the candidate resign as dean.
10.4. Other professional benefits will be negotiated between the candidate and the appropriate administrative officer(s). The Search Committee will be informed of the final accepted offer.
10.5. Closure: The Search Committee should inform the Senate of any changes it deems necessary in the search procedure.
Proposal 19-01:
Adopted by Senate: 8 May 2002
Approved by President: 24 May 2002
Proposal 3-07:
Adopted by Senate: 11 October 2006
Approved by Administration: 20 October 2006
Proposal 19-07:
Adopted by Senate: 31 January 2007
Approved by Administration: 8 February 2007
Proposal 12-13:
Introduced to Senate: 23 January 2013
Friendly amendment added: 23 January 2013
Committee amendments: 6 February 2013
Approved by Senate: 6 March 2013
Approved by Administration with editorial changes: 1 April 2013
Senate approved editorial changes: 10 April 2013
Changed Board of Control to Board of Trustees: 01 March 2016
Proposal 31-20:
Introduced to the Senate: 19 February 2020
Approved by Senate: 25 March 2020
Approved by Administration: 30 March 2020
5/26/22 Equal Opportunity Compliance changed to Equal Opportunity Compliance and Title IX
Proposal 26-22:
Introduced to the Senate: 3/2/22
Approved by Senate: 4/6/22
Approved by Administration: 6/9/22