Faculty Hiring Checklist – FAQs

Find answers to frequently asked questions below. If you do not see your question below or have other comments about the checklist, we welcome your feedback to refine this pilot program. We have provided a feedback form for your convenience on this webpage.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is responsible for the checklist?

• Hiring Managers and Search Committee Chairs have designated steps and checkpoints throughout the checklist. Upon completion, the checklist should be submitted to the TCU Box designated for your search. Access to the Box is provided upon approval of your search.

We’ve already started our search prior to December 1, 2021. Do we have to go back and start over?

• No. Use the checklist at the stage you are at in the process,

Will these new steps at the front end of the search cause delays in the hiring process?

• We recommend you begin preparing for a search a semester before the search commences, to give you plenty of time to prepare, plan. and familiarize yourself with the steps in the checklist. Remember, this checklist is not intended to create more work, but to create better work.

There is a requirement to include someone from outside our department on the search committee. How do we find someone for that role?

• Consult your dean, college diversity advocate, colleagues within the department and colleagues within the college.

Won’t the requirement to include an out-of-department member on the search committee put undue burdens on faculty of color?

• Hiring Managers should guard against tapping only or primarily faculty of color to provide fresh perspectives on the search process. Consider the diversity of rank, area of expertise, subfield, experience, teaching area and related disciplines.

Do we need to use the hiring checklist for adjunct and visiting lecturer searches?

• No. The Faculty Hiring Checklist is required only for permanent full-time faculty searches.

What constitutes a qualified, diverse applicant pool?

• A diverse applicant pool means the number of qualified applicants for the job approximates the number of qualified applicants reasonably estimated as available in the area for which recruitment efforts are directed. Diversity can come in many forms, including racial or ethnic minorities, women, people with disabilities or LGBTQIA.

Who determines whether a candidate pool is sufficiently diverse? 

• Consult with your dean and college diversity advocate.

Our department bylaws stipulate that all full-time faculty vote to determine the ranking of an offer. Will this new process to solicit input at the finalist stage override our process?

• No. This step does not override department bylaws about voting practices for hiring. Instead, the hiring checklist asks you to gather certain data (ie, input from those who interacted with finalists, typically via a short Qualtrics survey) and to take the data into consideration before deliberating and voting.

How do I access the TCU Box folder to submit the required documents? 

• When a search is approved, the Associate Director of Faculty Services, Appointments and Recruitment (Academic Affairs) will notify the Dean, Department Chair and Hiring Manager and provide links to a TCU Box folder specifically for your search, as well as a link to this website to access the checklist.

How does the checklist integrate with PageUp?

• The checklist is a simple step-by-step form with fillable checkmarks for completing steps and submitting required materials via PageUp and Box. Many of the steps are already in use by search committees.

What documents are required to be submitted?

• Recruitment Plan (submitted to Box)
• Job Advertisement (submitted to Box).
• Interview Questions (submitted to Box).
• Assessment Rubric (Box).
• Faculty Search Requisition (submitted via PageUp.)
• First-Round Candidate Summary (submitted via PageUp).
• First-Round Interview Schedule (submitted to Box).
• Final Candidate Summary (submitted to Box).
• EEO1 Review (submitted to Box).
• Finalists Interview Schedule and Itinerary (submitted to Box).
• Offer Card (submitted via PageUp).
• Onboarding and Mentoring Plan (submitted to Box).
• Completed Faculty Hiring Process Checklist (submitted to Box).

Where can I find examples of Recruitment Plans,  Interview Questions and Assessment Rubrics?

• Examples are available here and in the TCU Box folder. Hiring Managers and Search Committee Chairs will be given access to the Box folder when your search is approved.

Who created the checklist, when?

DATE	ACTION
2017	AddRan College of Liberal Arts began work on a guide for best practices for hiring a more diverse faculty.
2018	AddRan College finalized and implemented the hiring process guide.
September 2019	At the Sept. 5. Faculty Senate meeting, the Provost presented the new Vision in Action: Lead On Academic Affairs strategic priorities, including hiring Dr. Claire Sanders as the first Provost Faculty Fellow for DEI, and the incorporation of “diversity elements and procedures into how TCU does the hiring of faculty and staff (by following best practices and using PageUp platform to collect workflow/hiring information.” (ref: Faculty Senate meeting minutes 9.5.19). The priorities were posted on the provost’s website Provost Strategic Plan and include “DEI integration into PageUp to facilitate faculty and staff recruiting, onboarding, and career development.”
Fall 2019	With Dr. Sanders’ leadership, the Provost’s Office consulted the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to begin work on an inclusive excellence faculty hiring process for Academic Affairs based on the AddRan guide.
2019-20 Academic Year	Dr. Sanders and Aisha Torrey-Sawyer, director the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, led the College Diversity Advocates to draft a faculty hiring process checklist using the AddRan College guide as a template.
March 2020	During a Provost staff meeting, ongoing work to integrate the faculty hiring process checklist with PageUp was discussed and a rollout in Fall 2020 was planned. Rollout was subsequently delayed by onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spring-Summer 2020	Dr. Sanders and Aisha Torrey-Sawyer continued to refine the draft for the faculty hiring process checklist.
June 2020	At the June 30 Chairs Council meeting, the Provost discussed the Academic Affairs “DEI Strategic Hiring Plan” and informed that “Claire Sanders has worked to create best practices for DEI hiring, we are now calling it the hiring checklist. That checklist is a part of all hiring.” (ref: Chairs Council meeting minutes).
November 2020	At the Nov. 2 Provost Council meeting, the Provost introduced the Academic Affairs Inclusive Excellence , website, including “The Academic Affairs Hiring Checklist, with a pilot program beginning Fall 2021.”
February 2021	Dr. Karen Steele, serving as Special Assistant to the Provost, presented the hiring checklist to Provost’s Council.
Spring 2021	The Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences piloted use of the hiring checklist for a search that resulted in four Assistant PPPs. The Hiring Manager and College Diversity Advocate provided feedback to inform the checklist.
September-October 2021	At the Sept. 2 and Oct. 7 Faculty Senate meetings, the Provost discussed rollout of the hiring checklist.
October-November 2021	The Provost Office worked with TCU HR to revise the checklist to work parallel to PageUp since the checklist could not be integrated into PageUp as a step-by-step process. Dr. Steele and Dr. Sanders shared a draft of the checklist with faculty representing experienced hiring managers, associate deans, and faculty senators.
December 1, 2021	Goal: The Faculty Hiring Process Checklist pilot program is finalized and implemented.