Faculty Recruitment Procedures

The following procedures have been established to implement Vassar College’s Commitment to Nondiscrimination and Equal Employment Opportunity, as stated above:

1. Before the search for candidates is begun, a job description should be prepared, clearly stating the credentials and skills required for the position to be filled. All applicants for the position must be uniformly evaluated in terms of this description. Only if it is found that no satisfactory applicants meet the job requirements as specified may the description be changed. In such cases a new search is initiated.
2. All positions must be advertised, except in special cases approved by the faculty director for institutional equity . The text of an advertisement must be sent to the Office of the Dean of the Faculty. After being checked for accuracy in the particulars of the position, the description and advertisement will be sent to the faculty director for institutional equity for approval. The Dean of the Faculty’s office places the ad in several venues (including two discipline-specific venues as identified by the hiring committee), but it is the responsibility of the hiring committee to work with the faculty director for institutional equity to ensure that the position description is disseminated extensively. The extent of advertising and outreach will depend upon the nature of the position. A part-time position will be less extensively advertised than a full-time one; a substitute position less fully than a replacement or a new position.
3. In seeking candidates to fill appointments, departments should be extensive in their advertising. This includes publicizing their requirements through professional associations, job boards, university departments, and other sources that reach potential candidates from a wide variety of  backgrounds and cultures. Advertising and all other communications seeking candidates must include the college’s statement on its nondiscriminatory hiring practices. The Office for Institutional Equity will assist the departments in identifying a list of organizations and individuals that chairs and directors can contact in their search for candidates from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
4. Application materials submitted for the job opening will go directly to the department or program. It is the responsibility of the department or program to document all phases of the search process (interviews, applicants brought to campus, recommendations and appointments made). At regular stages in the search process, the department/program will forward this documentation for review by the faculty director for institutional equity and/or the dean of faculty, as specified in the Faculty Recruitment and Hiring Manual.
5. Before making recommendations for appointment, departments and programs must be able to state that established criteria have been applied to all candidates. Such criteria should include: qualifications for the specific position; quality of the records of candidates as student and teacher; nature of letters of recommendation, including evaluation of the judgment of the recommenders; estimates of ability for the position at Vassar offered by colleagues, students, the faculty appointments and salary committee, etc. Before any recommendation for appointment is made, departments and programs must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the dean of the faculty that they have followed in letter and spirit these search and evaluation procedures.
6. Beyond the application materials, which will be stored on the recruitment system, the search chair must maintain any additional data on all candidates, those not hired as well as those who are hired, including the evaluations made by departments, students, FASC, etc. Records should be sure to show the individual’s name, the date(s) of interviewing, and the search committee’s assessment.