SEARCH PROCEDURES FOR DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
(Proposal 12-01) (Proposal 17-07) (Proposal 17-22)
Senate Procedures 803.1.1
| 1. | Initiation |
| 1.1 | The Provost will initiate the search for Dean of the Graduate School and determine if the search will be internal or open to external candidates. |
| 1.2 | Human Resources and Institutional Equity, will provide an orientation for the Search
Committee at the onset of the search, ensure all search committee members have completed the required search committee training, and thereafter be available for consultation as needed. The Committee should discuss 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. |
| 1.3 | A Human Resources representative will be available to the Search Committee to organize paperwork, document activities, advertise the position, and provide search/screening guidelines. |
| 1.4 | The Position Authorization Form "Request for Posting" memo should be completed and sent to the Human Resources Office. |
| 2. | Search Committee |
| The search committee will consist of the following members: |
| CONSTITUENCY | ELECTING BODY | NUMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES |
| Faculty | Graduate Faculty Council | 7 |
| Faculty (at large) | University Senate | 2 |
| Administrator/Dean | Provost | 1 |
| Department Chair | Provost | 1 |
| Staff | Staff Council | 1 |
| Graduate Student | Graduate Student Government | 1 |
| 3. | Search Committee Selection Process and Meetings |
| 3.1 | No committee member can be an applicant. |
| 3.2 | The Provost will request the Graduate Faculty Council to elect all non at-large faculty representatives to the search committee. Such representatives must be from tenured or tenure-track ranks and be members of the graduate faculty. A total of seven faculty representatives shall be elected from the following colleges: |
| College of Engineering | 2 |
| College of Sciences and Arts | 2 |
| College of Business | 1 |
| College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science | 1 |
| College of Computing | 1 |
| 3.3 | After the election of representatives by the Graduate Faculty Council, the University Senate will elect the at-large faculty representatives. The University Senate should strive for a committee balance of disciplinary interests through its elected committee members. |
| 3.4 | The Provost will ask the offices of Human Resources and Institutional Equity to each designate a representative to serve without a vote. |
| 3.5 | Following elections by the Graduate Faculty Council and the University Senate, the Provost will appoint the department chair and the administrator/dean representatives. |
| 3.6 | The Provost will request the Graduate Student Government and the Staff Council to elect their representatives and alternates to the search committee. The Provost's office shall give a copy of these procedures to the representatives. |
| 3.7 | Names of the search committee members shall be published in Tech Today. |
| 3.8 | One of the Provost's representatives will call the first meeting of the search committee. |
| 3.9 | The Search Committee shall elect a chair and associate chair by written ballot, in closed session, at its first meeting. |
| 3.10 | 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. The Search Committee will schedule regular public meetings including an open public meeting to meet each semifinalist candidate. |
| 3.11 | The Committee, in collaboration with the Provost, shall agree on a target date for the final selection of the candidate. |
| 3.12 | All procedures must comply with applicable University policies, procedures, and Human Resources and Institutional Equity practices to ensure equal opportunity to all candidates. |
| 3.13 | 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. |
| 3.14 | It is the responsibility of the search committee to read the Confidentiality Statement provided by Human Resources before the committee begins any search activities. All committee members must sign the confidentiality statement and the committee chair must send the completed statement to Human Resources. |
| 4. | Goals |
| In order to select an appropriate administrator, the Search Committee must consider the published goals of the Graduate School. | |
| 5. | Process for defining candidate attributes |
| 5.1 | Before soliciting candidates, the Committee, with input from the Provost, and a Human Resources representative, will produce the first draft of the position description (e.g., qualifications, expectations of college or department growth, etc.) that is in accordance with the goals and guidelines of the Graduate School and will, establish required and desired qualifications and essential functions and attributes (interpersonal skills, management style, etc.) to be applied to candidates, and weight these criteria by major and minor importance. |
| 5.2 | The Committee will then distribute the position description and the list of required and desired qualifications and essential functions and attributes to all faculty and staff of the University through the colleges and publish them in Tech Today and the Lode. Written comments from the faculty, staff and students will be sent to the Committee for its consideration. A public meeting of faculty, staff and students shall be called to discuss and if necessary revise the job description and criteria. The final description should be published in Tech Today and the Lode. Copies of the comments submitted to the Search Committee will be kept in Human Resources. |
| 6. | Mechanism for identifying candidates |
| 6.1 | To ensure a diverse, well-qualified applicant pool that meets EEO requirements, the Committee should solicit applicants according to procedures established by the Institutional Equity Office and work with the Institutional Equity Officer. |
| 6.2 | A budget for advertising, interviewing, etc. should be agreed upon with the Provost. Major deviations from this should be agreed upon by the Provost in advance. |
| 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 are encouraged to contact colleagues and send them position descriptions. |
| 6.4 | The Committee will screen applicants according to its published job description. 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. |
| 7. | Short list of candidates |
| The Committee, after reviewing vitae, reference letters, and other relevant material, will produce a short list of candidates. After clearance by the Institutional Equity Officer, these candidates will be invited for on-campus interviews. The Committee will obtain independent assessments from references not listed by the candidates. The Committee should solicit faculty help for identifying appropriate reference persons, but the identity of candidates must be kept confidential until they accept a campus interview (semifinalist) invitation. | |
| 8. | Interview process |
| 8.1 | The short vita of each candidate on the short list should be sent to all departments and units of the University. |
| 8.2 | The interview process will include, among other strategies, responding to a hypothetical job situation that reveals how the candidate approaches problem-solving, decision-making, and ethics. |
| 8.3 |
During the interview for the dean of the graduate school, each candidate will be asked to make one presentation, addressed to the Graduate Faculty Council and the staff of the Graduate School, but open to any member of the University community. The presentation might include but is not limited to the following topics: (A) Trends, directions, and opportunities for supporting and expanding graduate education at Michigan Technological University. (B) The direction of education in the graduate programs and the role of the graduate school in the intellectual life of the University. (C) The candidate's administrative philosophy and a plan for meeting the short- and long-term goals of the Graduate School. (D) The debates and trends at the international, national and state level that may affect funding opportunities for the Graduate School. (E) The resources needed to attain the goals of the Graduate School. (F) Questions from the audience. |
| 8.4 | The Search Committee will make appointments for the candidate to meet the Provost, the President, Deans of Colleges, the Human Resources Director, and other appropriate personnel. |
| 8.5 | Faculty, staff, and students will be invited to provide oral and/or written feedback to the Committee, based on the established required and desired qualifications and essential functions and attributes, and on the semifinalist candidates. The Committee will share these comments with the Provost and no one else, consistent with Board of Trustees policy 4.10. |
| 9. | Selecting the final candidate |
| 9.1 | The selection process will begin only after the semifinalist interview process for all candidates is complete. |
| 9.2 | After considering the feedback from the University community, the Committee, following deliberation in a closed session, will develop a list of acceptable candidates, typically 2-5 in number, from the list of semifinalists. 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. |
| 9.3 | Prior to beginning negotiations with any candidate, the Provost will forward their recommendation and information about the committee's recommendation to the President. All academic administrators serve in their administrative role at the pleasure of the President of the University. Upon receiving the President’s approval, the Provost will begin the process of negotiating with the selected candidate. |
| 9.4 | 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 Institutional Equity 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. |
| 10. | Guidelines for negotiating salary and tenure |
| Negotiating salary and tenure will take place following normal University procedures. | |
| 11. | Closure |
| The Search Committee should inform the Senate of any changes it deems necessary in the search procedure. |
Proposal 12-01:
Adopted by Senate: 28 March 2001
Approved by Administration: 12 April 2001
Proposal 17-07:
Adopted by Senate: 31 January 2007
Approved by Administration: 08 February 2007
Administrative edit
School of Technology dissolved into the College of Computing: 19 September 2019
Affirmative Action Office updated to Equal Opportunity Compliance and Title IX Office: 10 February 2020
Schools of Business and Forestry changed to Colleges: 29 June 2021
5/26/22 Institutional Equity changed to Equal Opportunity Compliance and Title IX
Proposal 17-22:
Introduced to Senate: 3/2/22
Adopted by Senate: 4/6/22
Approved by Administration: 6/9/22