Many colleges and universities now require faculty search committees to use rubrics when evaluating faculty job candidates, as proponents believe these "decision-support tools" can reduce the impact of bias in candidate evaluation. That is, rubrics are intended to ensure that candidates are evaluated more fairly, which is then thought to…

This study examined how a professional development initiative on racial equity facilitated the expansion of faculty members' agency to use a critical race-consciousness lens to disrupt White supremacy in faculty hiring policy and practice. I analyzed interview data from faculty members who participated in a 10-month professional development…

Various concerns regarding the vitality and racial/ethnic composition of the academic profession have prompted new study of faculty search committees and hiring paradigms, most notably examining the term "fit" in candidate appraisals. Yet no study utilizes a candidate evaluation framework to investigate whether or not faculty members…

Over the last three decades, interdisciplinary cluster hiring programs have become popular on research university campuses as an approach to fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. These programs have not yet been rigorously evaluated across multiple institutions and multiple thematic fields. The paper reports the results of a survey of 199…

To increase the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce, U.S. education policy has emphasized the pathways from education to STEM careers. While some scholars argue that employers prioritize the degree, and not institutional affiliation, in hiring graduates, the argument needs to be warranted with more recent data…

This study aimed to discover how trust is established during the decision-making processes of boards of trustees at private historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). This study also aimed to address if and how board composition and individual board members' value systems play a role in the decision-making process and work of the board.…

Preliminary considerations (position description, salary, campus politics), organizing the committee, conducting the search, and the interview are discussed to combine in the planning of a successful search committee. (PG)

Community colleges employ over 100,000 full-time faculty members, or one fifth of all faculty members in U.S. post-secondary education (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2001; Huber, 1998). These faculty members provide instruction in a wide range of programs for approximately 37% of all postsecondary students in the U.S., including…

A sample of letters of recommendation regarding job applicants or staff members in view of promotions were rated independently by senior professors showing a tendency on the part of most judges to disagree with regard to the value of the letters. Relationships between letters and type and quality of university were also examined. (JT)

This study examines whether specific interventions account for the hiring of diverse faculty above and beyond hiring done in academic areas specifically focused on race and ethnicity. Using data from approximately 700 searches, the authors investigated the hypothesis that at institutions with predominantly White populations, hiring of faculty from…

A study of responses to affirmative action at a large university revealed that using estimates of the minorities available at prestige schools led to smaller departmental hiring goals, and that once such goals were met the subsequent pursuit of minorities was abandoned. Recommendations are derived from the findings. (JT)

Allows those involved in affirmative action policy making activities to have a better understanding of the real concerns of both the minority candidates and the institution. (Author)

This article critically analyses administrative searches through the experiences and perspectives of candidates and search committee chairs at a predominantly white university. A model of filtering is advanced that describes how candidates are included and excluded and how the perspectives and consequences differ for black female, black male,…