Guidelines for Hiring Practices

Departments will work in consultation with the DOF’s office to request faculty searches and hires that fill important departmental and college needs in the curriculum.
Departments will work constructively with the Dean of Faculty as needed in order to help ensure a broad and diverse applicant pool and attract candidates who are committed to inclusive teaching, through the following steps:

The Dean of Faculty will hold a training workshop for department chairs, search committee members, and other members of the department who will be interviewing candidates; the chair of the Presidential Initiative Faculty Steering Committee; and the Associate Deans of Faculty on adherence to the non-discrimination provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System), NCES (National Center for Education Statistics), and SEDS (Social and Economic Data Science) data that can be made available from Human Resources on searches, and on best hiring practices, as structured in these guidelines, to attract a broad and diverse candidate pool in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, and political beliefs.
Departments, in their faculty job advertisements, are encouraged to incorporate language in the manner they deem most appropriate to their circumstances and needs:

Referencing CMC’s commitment to equal opportunity and to cultivating an inclusive educational environment through actively encouraging applications from a diverse set of candidates.¹
Indicating that they seek candidates who can demonstrate a commitment to teaching, mentoring, and inspiring students representing a broad range of socioeconomic backgrounds, political opinion, genders, races, ethnicities, nationalities, sexual orientations, and religions.
Soliciting a teaching statement that addresses the candidate’s ability to teach, mentor, and inspire students representing a broad range of backgrounds.

Departments will work with the Dean of Faculty to post faculty job advertisements in additional venues to ensure they are seen by diverse candidates.

Search committees will integrate into their interview process a discussion with, and evaluation of, candidates regarding their commitment to engaging with students from a broad range of diverse backgrounds.
Search committees are requested to submit descriptions of each short-listed candidate’s fit with the selection criteria in the job description to the Dean, concurrent with submission of the short list to the Department for further reviewing and interviewing, consistent with Faculty Handbook Section 3.2.3.2, #2:

After reviewing application materials, the Search Committee recommends a list of candidates to the Department for further reviewing and interviewing by the Department and the Search Committee, and concurrently submits the list and supporting documentation to the Dean of the Faculty for a preliminary review of the candidates’ fit with the job description. If the Dean of the Faculty disapproves a candidate or candidates as not fitting the job description, the Dean shall explain the reasons in writing to the Search Committee and the Department. Normally, the Dean of the Faculty participates in the campus interview process and forwards their comments to the Search Committee and the Department in a timely fashion.

Departments are strongly encouraged to include students in the on-campus interview process by soliciting feedback concerning whether they believe the candidate can successfully engage with students from a broad range of diverse backgrounds.
Search committees shall provide the following information to the Dean for inclusion in a report to the faculty at the end of each academic year on the application of these guidelines to searches conducted that year:

The job advertisements;
The number of applications and a listing of the venues in which advertisements were placed and their measurable results (i.e. numbers of applicants who indicated that they saw each advertisement);
A description of whether and how their departments discussed with candidates their commitment to engaging with students from a broad range of diverse backgrounds;
A description of whether and how their departments received feedback concerning whether students believed the candidates could successfully engage with students from a broad range of diverse backgrounds.

The Dean shall also include the following information in their report:
A compilation of the written materials and PowerPoint slides used at best-practices workshops prior to the commencement of that year’s searches.

¹ Or alternatively “from members of historically underrepresented groups in higher education” instead of “a diverse set of candidates.”

Approved by the Faculty December 2, 2022