The Campus Interviews
In addition to recommending which persons should be brought to campus for interviews, the committee should be responsible for advising the hiring officer as to the individuals and groups with whom the candidates should meet during their visits. The committee should also be responsible for obtaining feedback from everyone who meets with the candidates or attends a presentation, and for synthesizing this information and making a final set of recommendations to the hiring officer after all visits are completed.
Planning the Itinerary
The itinerary should incorporate these principles:
- All finalists should follow the same schedule, so that all will be reviewed under the same conditions. This means that any internal candidates should follow the same schedule as the external candidates, except of course for trips to and from the airport and tours of the campus and the community.
- The purpose of the campus interview is two-fold: to give the campus community a chance to meet and evaluate the candidate, and to give the candidate a chance to decide whether this would be a good place for him or her to work. This means that, while the candidate should be exposed to many different persons and groups, it should be done in such a way as to make a positive impression on the candidate. It does little good to have conducted a thorough set of interviews and select what the institution considers to be the best person, only to have that person reject the offer because his or her campus visit was too stressful.
- Time spent on campus should not extend beyond two full days, beyond which the candidate's energies are likely to flag and his or her interest in the position diminish. On the other hand, a candidate who doesn't have the energy to keep up with a relatively strenuous two days of interviews may not have the energy to perform the job itself.
- The two days should begin, if possible, with a late-afternoon arrival on campus in time for an orientation dinner with a few committee members, with departure scheduled for late afternoon of the second full day.
- All meals, including breakfasts, should be part of the interview process. A candidate should never have a meal alone.
- In addition to meetings with various individuals and groups, the candidates should present an "open forum" at which they can discuss their views on significant issues related to the position and respond to questions from the audience. The committee should select a general topic that all finalists are asked to address. It may also be useful to videotape the presentation, for the benefit of persons who were unable to attend.
- Two committee members should be appointed to share responsibility for hosting a given candidate. This includes arranging for the candidate's transportation to and from the airport, making sure that the schedule moves smoothly and the candidate gets from one place to another on time, and being responsible for moderating the open forum.
- Although the specific groups and individuals with whom meetings should be arranged will vary depending on the position under consideration, the following will almost always be included in the schedule:
a) A meeting with the Search Committee should be scheduled early on the first
day.
b) An entrance interview with the hiring officer should be scheduled early on
the first day, and an exit interview near the end of the second day. This gives the
hiring officer the opportunity to orient the candidate to the position, and
subsequently to answer questions that the candidate may have and assess the
candidate's degree of interest before he or she leaves campus.
c) A relatively brief meeting with the provost and/or the president
should be arranged.
d) The open forum should be scheduled late in the afternoon of the first day,
with no meetings other than dinner to follow it.
e) The candidate should have thirty minutes of free time prior to the open
forum, to do any last-minute preparation and collect his or her thoughts.
f) Someone should be designated to organize any other open meetings with specific groups, such as students, to make sure that they are adequately attended. A candidate should never be allowed to sit in an empty room for an hour in the hope that someone will show up for a discussion.
g) The candidate should meet with the person who is currently performing the job for which the search is being conducted, since that person is presumably the best informed about its details. If, however, that person is also a candidate for the position, both that individual and the candidate should be asked if they are comfortable having such a meeting. If either would prefer not to do so, someone else should be identified who can provide the information about the position that the candidate will need.
h) The ISU Diversity Steering Committee has asked that meetings be scheduled in which the candidates can discuss, informally, their views and experiences regarding diversity with interested staff and students.
i) If the position will include a tenured faculty appointment - e.g., in the case of a dean - the candidates should meet with representatives of the department that would be their academic "home." Dinner at the end of the first day can provide the opportunity in a relatively informal setting.
- If possible, time should be set aside for off-campus candidates to be given a guided tour of the university and of the local community.
Arranging and Publicizing the Visits
Arrangements
The hiring officer should be responsible for arranging
visitation dates with each finalist. No more than two candidates should be brought to
campus in a given week, and they should be scheduled so as to avoid any possible overlap.
For this reason, visitation periods of Sunday through Tuesday, and Wednesday through
Friday, generally work best.
Informing the Visitors
The finalists should be informed at the time the
visit is arranged that their names and the dates of their visits will be publicized,
which means that their candidacy will now become public knowledge. They should also be
informed about the general nature of the schedule and specifically about the open forum,
as well as about any other meetings for which they may need to prepare in advance.
Detailed information pertaining to the university and the community, as well as the
specific unit that the position will administer, should be sent to the candidates well in
advance of their visits.
Publicity
The university's News Service should be provided with information
about the finalists, as well as the times and locations of their open forums, for release
to the local news media. (It should be noted, however, that the Iowa State Board of
Regents requires that the Regents be informed of the finalists for major administrative
positions a week before any public announcement is issued.) A strong effort should be
made to insure that all members of the university community who may be interested in
meeting and hearing the candidate know about the visits and about the open forums. Each
person who is scheduled to meet with the candidates, either individually or in small
groups, should be provided with copies of the candidates' vitas in advance of the
meetings.
Preparing for the Visit
Evaluation Procedure
The committee should prepare a simple form with which
to obtain feedback from those who meet the candidates or who attend the open forums. A
sample of a recommended form is included as Appendix C. It's usually sufficient to learn
whether the evaluator considers the candidate to be acceptable or unacceptable for the
position and, if acceptable, whether the evaluator is strongly impressed or only mildly
so. A place for comments on perceived strengths, as well as concerns or drawbacks, should
also be provided. Although the forms can be submitted anonymously, it's helpful to know
the general category into which the evaluator falls, such as faculty member, staff,
student, etc.
Meeting with the Search Committee
As indicated above, the Search Committee
should meet with the candidate early in the interview schedule. It may be helpful for the
members to agree in advance on some key questions to be asked, and perhaps also on which
members will ask which questions, to insure that all candidates are asked the same
questions. A useful introductory question for the candidate is, "Why are you interested
in this position, and what would you bring to it?" It's also desirable to allow the
candidate a few minutes near the end of the meeting to ask questions of the committee.
