The Role of the Search Committee
At the present time, it would be almost unthinkable to consider filling a major university administrative position without carrying out an open search conducted by a representative committee. While the final selection is the responsibility of the administrator to whom that position reports, the search committee's involvement in all stages of the process is important in assuring the university community that every effort was made to produce a strong and diverse pool of candidates, and that the person ultimately selected for the position was the best person available. The committee must understand, however, that it is a search committee, not a selection committee; the final selection will be made by the hiring officer, not by the committee.
|
|
A search committee
ordinarily performs the following tasks:
- It makes sure
that a broad range of qualified applicants apply for the position and are considered for it. - It screens
the applicants to assess their ability to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the position. - It recommends
to the hiring officer those candidates to be invited for campus interviews. - It organizes and participates
in the interviews of the finalists. - It conveys
to the hiring officer an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the finalists.
Each of these tasks is described in detail in the following pages, and a tentative timetable for their implementation is presented here. Not all of these steps may apply to every search, but they constitute recognizable benchmarks in the search process that can be tailored to meet the needs of individual searches.
