Survey Summary Results

Thanks to those who filled out our survey! Here is a summary of the results, grouped by relevant topic rather than by survey question. Numbers in parentheses indicate multiple similar responses.

PVAs

• Salaries must match position responsibilities
• Make sure “required” qualifications (e.g., 2nd masters) are minimal. OK to load preferred qualifications.
• Hiring departments need to critically review job descriptions before automatically posting a vacant position (2); hiring departments should discuss minimum skills and preferred skills to give supervisor input into the qualifications chart; supervisor needs to ensure department is actively involved in the interview with all candidates
• Salary ranges should be made clear in advance, on the job posting.

Recruiting

• More direct contact with library schools including visits (3); especially those with large minority enrollments
• Internships and minority interns (2)
• Recruit in person at ALA and other conferences (2)
• Create split assignments (intriguing and unusual)
• Look in the specific disciplines we for which we are recruiting a Librarian.
• Offer higher salaries or greater benefits (3)
• More outreach to other institutions on a personal level to recruit
• Add links from the staff directory to staff bios/interests to personalize us.
• International candidates shouldn't be weeded out prematurely, especially when they are the strongest candidates in the pool
• Hiring depts should help identify potential candidates, especially in specialized areas

Posting and advertising

• Discussion lists and wide advertising seem effective (4)
• Post a realistic salary setting in PVAs
• Advertising tailored to each position. (2)

Search committee composition

• Search committees should be comprised of staff at all levels.
• Require at least two tenure-track faculty (for tenure-track faculty positions)
• Normally have at least 5 people
• No more than one member of a faculty search committee should be non-faculty.
• At least 2 of the members should have served on a search committee previously.
• The Chair should be at the rank of the position or higher.
• Search committees need good chairs who keep the process moving in a timely fashion. And there needs to be no interference from outside the committee to hinder the committee's progress.
• It is important to facilitate online communication among the group, especially with fast moving searches. Teleconferencing or video conferencing might help.

Guidelines

• The process needs to move faster.
• Search committee certification; seminar for faculty on Chairing search committees.
• Address the differences between what might be appropriate to hiring new faculty to junior positions versus experienced faculty to mid-level and senior positions.
• Have a checklist with a suggested timeline
• Policy is created on interviewing internal candidates. Weight given to internal candidate (with less experience) vs. an external candidate (with more experience) for a specific position?
• Check regularly with the LHRO to make sure that the committee is on track
• Search committee members should not have to pay in advance for lunch and dinner; a Library credit card should be made available for such activities.

Interviewing

• Short notice or timing of the interviews is problematic for departments
• The presentation is the most helpful for people not hiring the person.
• Interview more than one candidate for each position. (4)
• Specify that each interview include meeting with a representative of T&P.
• For positions at the chair level or higher, we should have 1.5-3 day interviews (4).
• Time for campus HR/Benefits, and a real estate agent or promotional tour of Gainesville.
• Presentations: include adequate interaction time; useful if topics are related to the position; one of the best ways to see a candidate in action (as teacher and communicator); should have faculty-consensus subject
• Meeting with all AD’s seen not as necessary as other sessions.
• Other useful sessions depend on the position; previous search interview schedules helpful
• Interviewee should definitely meet alone with the unit he/she would be supervising.
• If the position is for a subject specialist position, do try to get them in with the college that is affected.
• Combine sessions to reduce duplicative questions
• Hiring depts. or HR Office could help with some hosting duties (airport and hotel pickup, campus or town tours) when search committee members are stretched thin.
• Departments should meet before the interview to brainstorm some good questions; interview all the candidates in the same fashion. (2)
• More faculty, especially those in the department, need to participate in the lunch/dinner social events
• I have suggested case study approaches...what would you do if..... What decision would you make if...
• Perhaps there might be some guidelines formulated on how to handle a combo of in-house and outside candidates to keep the proceedings fair and balanced for all concerned.
• Find a way to not print out so much paper.
• We need to be more honest with people during their interviews; e.g. department's history and current situation

Feedback

• Feedback form (with room for open-ended responses) helpful (7/8)
• Require/expect feedback (2/8)
• Feedback should not be anonymous (2/8)
• While comments on a candidate should not be anonymous, those comments could perhaps not be attributed to a particular person in the final committee report.
• Committee to solicit directly (not depending on comments or conversations) the opinion of the hiring department.
• Allow non-faculty members to make a separate recommendation as a group

Roles, Communication, and Selection

• Recommendations of search committees (for hiring) should be given heavy weight by hiring authorities; vote of the faculty for the candidates, as is done in all of the other colleges, should be part of the process. (10)
• Decisions by hiring authorities must be communicated directly to the full committee, especially when they deviate from committee recommendations. (6)
• Roles, especially of the dept chair, are not clear and need to be defined; we don't seem to know whether dept chair should express an opinion or not. (3)
• The dept chair and director should respect the committee's decision to not pursue a particular candidate because s/he didn't meet the qualifications; may the hiring authority change the committee recommendations for interview? (2)
• The hiring department representative on the search should be point person to explaining the department. (2)
• Best times for communication: initial meeting; when the pool is narrowed for calling of references and when those calls have been completed, when decisions are being made about which candidates to bring for interviews; final recommendations. Reduce instances of committee asked to pursue additional candidates. Depends to some extent on the position’ more needed for new/undefined position.
• Always interview at least 2 people. (2) Don't settle for only interviewing local candidates.
• Don't discriminate against applicants who appear to not be US citizens -- verify whether they are cleared to work
• I tend to like candidates with advanced subject expertise, because they seem like solid investments in the future of the institution.
• If we want to build the best faculty we can, we must recruit and interview enough of the right (qualified) people. If we don't care about the quality of our faculty, we can continue to hire on the cheap.

Satisfied with the number of qualified applicants

• Yes (4/15)
• Mixed (4/15) --The number seems to have declined for some positions and increased for others; more specialized searches have been more difficult
• No (7/15)

Satisfied with your experience on the search committee?

• Yes (6/16)
• Mixed (6/16) Sometimes, committee recommendations are not accepted and not communicated back. Roles of committee and hiring authorities are not clear.
• No (4/16) Inconsistencies; inappropriate involvement from above; interference from Directors or HR or anyone else in the search committee’s work or selection.

Library HR Office support

• Provide more guidance with the interview planning
• Be conscious when a search committee chair is a first-time chair
• HR is a support office and is needed to make sure the hiring process rules are followed. They should have no say in the selection other than to make sure the search committee is following appropriate procedures.
• The HR office might be able to analyze hiring data more closely to see what the candidate pools look like.
• Find a more coordinated way to distribute incoming application packages, which contain several documents, beyond forwarding the emails to the committee; delete candidate information from the Outlook folders in a timely manner.
• I would like to see rejected candidates treated better. Our reputation on a national level is pretty poor and I think this is one of the reasons.

Track our work at the Faculty Recruitment Policies and Practices Committee site.

Committee Members:

• Denise Bennett, Chair
• Suzanne Brown
• Steve Carrico
• Chelsea Dinsmore
• Sara Russell Gonzalez
• Matthew Loving
• Nancy Poehlmann
• Missy Shoop
• Flo Turcotte
• Priscilla Williams
• Brian Keith, ex-officio

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Last updated March 18, 2008 - db