/Institutions/Cumberland-University/json/Current-Catalog/University-Policy-local.json

/Institutions/Cumberland-University/json/Current-Catalog/University-Policy.json

Policy > Human Resources > Faculty Policies > Faculty Recruitment and Hiring Policies

Faculty Recruitment and Hiring Policies

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Document Number: FacHR--101

Date Originally Created: 01/18/2012
Revised: 06/18/2018
Revised: 08/31/2019

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General Description

Description:
Information about faculty guidelines and policies relative to HR policy.
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I. Policy Statement
The main work of the university is to create an academic community of learners in support of its mission. The university will only recruit and hire qualified academic and practitioner faculty with demonstrated teaching excellence or potential to deliver rigorous and relevant academic coursework, provide academic advisement to students, to provide service to the university and community, and where appropriate to engage in the scholarship of discovery. The university will endeavor to hire faculty who represent diverse backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and bodies of work to support its goal of creating an academic community in which the healthy discourse of ideas may be achieved.

1. Authority to recruit and appoint faculty
The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University must pre-approve all faculty searches, and appoints all full-time faculty and adjunct faculty.

II. Faculty Recruitment and Hiring Procedures
To ensure that the university policy on faculty recruitment and hiring is met, all persons involved in the recruitment and selection of instructional faculty will adhere to the following procedures.

1. Full-time faculty searches

1.1 Authorization
Before a formal search to fill a faculty position can begin, authorization must be obtained from Dean of the school in which the appointment will occur and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. This authorization is documented on the Request to Recruit form available from the Office of Human Resources.
Once authorization is obtained and the Request to Recruit form is filed in the Office of Human Resources, the responsibility for initiation of formal search procedures rests with the school dean. 

1.2 Recruitment of full-time faculty
On occasion the university may recruit specific individuals for an open position and bypass the following processes. Specific recruitment of individuals may only occur when the attributes of that individual are exceptional and specific enough to the opening to warrant the exception. Personal relationships with existing university employees cannot be the basis for special status in recruitment. (See FacHR-111).  

1.3. Promotion of adjunct faculty
For any open position, the dean will first consider the promotion of any qualified adjunct faculty who have consistently demonstrated excellence in course instruction at the university if the opening matches their credentials and is within their area of experience, and recommend the individual to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Program directors may recommend adjunct faculty to the dean. The dean may choose not to promote any adjunct faculty and to post the position publicly.

2. Advertisement
If no qualified adjunct faculty are offered and accept the open position it will be appropriately advertised. Program directors or deans are responsible for creating a job description and a posting (forms available from the Office of Human Resources) for the university website, and for communicating these to the Office of Human Resources. Postings through external agencies must be approved by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

3. Search committees
The academic dean will appoint a search committee for any posted full-time position. The dean will determine the process and timeline of the search and communicate that to the chair, and may choose to be a member of or chair the committee; otherwise, the committee will be chaired by the program director if a position is available within their program. If the open position is to fill a vacancy due to retirement, the retiring faculty member may not serve on the search committee. The academic dean should make every effort to include at least one faculty member with an appointment in a different school.

4. Candidate vetting
Search committees review application materials, make any logistical arrangements for visits or calls, evaluate candidates, and ultimately recommend a first choice to the dean and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
The expected process includes a review of resumes, phone calls with the Search Committee and a short list (3-6) of top choice candidates, and on-site meetings with the most preferred candidate(s) (1 or 2). The chair of the search committee should include opportunities for the candidate to present a lesson or research talk to other faculty and students and include an evaluation form to solicit comments from attendees. The candidate preferred for the position will be recommended to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs by the academic dean, at which point the Intent to Hire form, CV, transcripts, and Certification of Faculty Qualifications form are submitted. The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, in consultation with the academic dean, will extend an offer of employment to the selected candidate.

2. Adjunct Faculty 
As needed, adjunct faculty may be hired. The university as a matter of good practice will endeavor to limit the number of credit hours delivered by adjunct faculty to 33% of the total credit hours delivered in an academic year, or less.  

2.1 Adjunct faculty searches
Following the same authorization procedure as above (completion of Request to Recruit form), adjunct faculty positions may be posted. Program directors, or the appropriate school dean if the course(s) are offered only in the General Education Core, are responsible for identifying and recommending adjunct faculty to the school dean. If approved, the Intent to Hire form, CV, available transcripts, and Certification of Faculty Qualifications form is submitted to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs for approval.

2.2 Adjunct faculty appointment
Adjunct faculty are limited to teaching nine or fewer semester hours each semester.

3. Renewal of Appointment
If a faculty member’s appointment is to be renewed, a letter shall normally be sent to each faculty member on or before April 15 of each subsequent year specifying the position, faculty rank, the salary, and period of service for the upcoming university fiscal year.

4. Conditions of Appointment
The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will prepare a letter of appointment in coordination with the Director of Human Resources. The letter of appointment shall be offered by the academic deans and shall include the beginning and ending dates of the teaching contract. The faculty member shall accept his or her appointment by signing the letter of appointment. Its return should be posted no later than 14 days following the date of the letter. Acceptance of the teaching appointment by the faculty member includes acceptance of the general conditions of employment set forth in Cumberland University policies, and assignments made by their immediate supervisor. Letters of appointments become void if not returned by the designated deadline. 

4.1 At will appointment
Letters of appointment may be invalidated before the designated end date if the faculty member does not adhere to university expectations of professional behavior, if their conduct meets the requirements of immediate dismissal detailed in university policy, or if they do not fulfill the terms of the appointment. This decision may only be made by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Cumberland University is an at-will employer (see policy), which means that a faculty person may also choose to end their employment prior to the designated end date specified in a letter of appointment.

III. The Role of the Office of Human Resources in Faculty Hiring Procedures
The Office of Human Resources is the official office for and of applications and acknowledgments. That office will ensure the prompt, timely, and accurate posting of open positions on the university website. The Office of Human Resources will ensure that applications will be processed through an online system that receives applications and can store electronic submissions of requested materials. 

The Office of Human Resources will ensure appropriate access through this system to submitted information for program directors, search committee chairs, academic deans, and/or the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs as is appropriate. The university’s online electronic system will notify those with permitted access when applications are received. 
The Director of Human Resources is responsible for training those granted access to use the system.