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Faculty Handbook


 Search Handbook       

Recruitment and Selection Process for Instructional and Administrative Faculty

Old Dominion University is committed to a policy of positive affirmative action in the recruitment of women and minorities and of nondiscrimination in employment practices. Faculty and faculty administrator/faculty professional hiring is to be conducted in accordance with the laws of the United States of America; the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia; the mission of Old Dominion University; and the Affirmative Action plan of Old Dominion University. Equal opportunity for employment shall be provided to all applicants on the basis of their demonstrated ability and competence without regard to race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex (including pregnancy), political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identify, genetic information, disability, religion, or veteran status.

  1. General Guidelines

               These guidelines apply to all searches: instructional faculty, professional faculty, administrators, chairs, and deans.

    1. Advertising a Position

                 The recruitment process for Instructional and Administrative faculty positions may be initiated by the hiring manager* in the online Position, Action, Performance, Evaluation and Recruitment System (PAPERS) at https://jobs.odu.edu/hr. In this automated process, hiring managers will have the ability to officially request that a position is advertised by creating a Posting. When creating a Posting, the hiring manager will have the ability to identify specific recruitment sources they wish to use to supplement the Posting, determine what materials candidates should submit as a part of their application package, and designate individuals to serve as the search committee chair as well search committee members.

                 *For instructional faculty positions, the hiring manager is normally the department chair.

                 Once the Posting for an administrative faculty position is created, the hiring manager will submit the Posting to the Budget Unit Director (BUD) for review and approval. For an instructional faculty position, the department chair will submit the Posting to the Dean for review and approval. Upon approval, the Posting for an administrative faculty position will be submitted to the Department of Human Resources for approval; the Posting for an instructional faculty position will be submitted to the Academic Services Analyst in Academic Affairs for approval. If an exemption from advertising in the Chronicle is requested, the request will be forwarded to the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity in PAPERS.

                 Once the position has been approved by Human Resources or Academic Affairs, a system-generated e-mail will be submitted to the hiring manager. The announcement will be posted on the University's website and other recruitment sources as requested. All announcements will be posted as on-line advertisements unless print ads are specifically requested in the Posting request.

                 User guides with step-by-step processes on how to create a Posting, dispense candidates and initiate a hiring proposal in PAPERS are located at the link below, which also can be found on the PAPERS homepage under the Department of Human Resources website.

                 http://www.odu.edu/content/odu/facultystaff/employee-services/papers.html

                 Please Note: Hiring managers, BUDs and department chairs should have conversations with their Vice President or Dean regarding the approval to advertise their positions before creating a Posting in PAPERS. This should be done through the appropriate chain of leadership.

    2. Review of Candidates

                 Before evaluating candidates, search committee members should complete the On-line Search Committee Training. Search committee members will not have to repeat the training if the training was taken within a twelve-month period. The following is a link to the training, which is located on the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity's webpage:

                 https://www.odu.edu/facultystaff/employee-services/managers/recruiting/search-committees/search-committee-training

                 Once the application review date that is outlined in the Posting has passed, the search committee may proceed in creating a matrix to evaluate all the candidates that applied for a position by using minimum and preferred qualifications listed in the announcement. The search committee will also be responsible for developing a set of core job-related questions for telephone and campus interviews. An Interview Question Guide is available on the Human Resources web page at:

                 http://www.odu.edu/content/dam/odu/offices/human-resources/docs/intervquestguide.pdf

                 After the candidates are evaluated, the search committee may proceed in conducting telephone interviews. These informal interviews do not require approval from Academic Affairs, Human Resources or Institutional Equity and Diversity.

                 After telephone interviews are completed, the search committee chair will dispense each candidate to the appropriate status in PAPERS and return the Posting to the Human Resources Recruiter or the Academic Services Analyst in Academic Affairs. This process of dispensing candidates is inclusive of submitting candidates that are recommended for campus interviews to Human Resources or Academic Affairs and the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity for review and approval. Once the interview pool is approved, the search committee chair will receive an email that the search process may proceed with the campus interviews. It is at this point the search committee may contact applicants to invite them to the University for formal interviews.

                 IMPORTANT NOTE: The announcement is removed from the University website when the search committee chair returns the Posting to Human Resources or Academic Affairs and dispenses the candidates. Once the announcement is removed from the website, additional candidates will not have the ability to apply for the position.

    3. Acknowledgement Letters and Other Letters to Candidates

                 Candidates will receive a system generated email for each position for which they officially apply. This e-mail acknowledges that the University has received their application submission and will thank them for applying to an employment opportunity with Old Dominion University. Other system-generated decision letters are emailed to the candidate at the end of the process when a final selection is made for the position.

                 Candidates for administrative faculty positions will also receive an email if they answer questions incorrectly notifying them if there are disqualifying screening questions as part of the Posting.

                 The search committee will not have to request additional data from candidates (formally called the Data Gathering Letter) since this data is now voluntarily submitted by candidates when they initially apply for a position.

    4. Employment References and Verification of Credentials

                 The search committee should verify the credentials and conduct references for candidates who are being seriously considered for a position and have been offered a formal interview. At least two references should be obtained on the applicant selected to be hired. It is strongly recommended that the references for the selected candidate are from the current employer and at least one former employer. Letters of recommendations are not supported as references for this process.

    5. Selection of Candidate (Hiring Proposal)

                 The search committee chair will dispense and submit the final candidate recommended for selection and the finalists to the hiring manager for review and approval in PAPERS. If approved, the hiring manager will initiate a Hiring Proposal for the selected candidate. In the Hiring Proposal, the hiring manager will have the opportunity to propose a starting salary, propose an effective date and attach documents such as the references and the Board of Visitors summary. Once the Hiring Proposal is completed, the hiring manager will submit the proposal to the appropriate Vice President or Dean for approval. The Vice President or Dean will then submit the request to the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity. Final approval is given by Human Resources or Academic Affairs.

                 Once approved, the Hiring Proposal will be returned to the hiring manager. The hiring manager will receive an email informing them that they may proceed with the verbal offer. If the candidate accepts the verbal offer, the hiring manager will return the Hiring Proposal to Human Resources or Academic Affairs so an offer letter and other new hire materials can be mailed to the new hire.

                 If there are salary negotiations, the hiring manager must receive approval from the appropriate Vice President or Dean and from Human Resources or Academic Affairs before offering a candidate a salary different than the salary that was originally requested in the hiring proposal.

                 If the candidate declines the offer, the hiring manager will return the Hiring Proposal to Human Resources or Academic Affairs noting that the candidate declined the offer. The hiring manager will make the decision to initiate a Hiring Proposal for an alternate candidate or advertise the position again.

    6. Moving and Relocation Expenses

      1. Instructional Faculty: Hiring managers will have the opportunity to request information regarding moving and relocation expenses for a selected candidate in the Hiring Proposal. Departments will partner with Procurement Services to procure any moving services needed for the new employee. More detailed information will be provided to the hiring manager during the selection process.

      2. Administrative Faculty: Department chairs, Deans, and hiring managers in the Office of Research should contact the Academic Services Analyst in Academic Affairs to discuss moving and relocation expenses. Hiring managers in all other vice-presidential areas should contact the Administrative Faculty Recruiter in Human Resources. More detailed information will be provided to the hiring manager during the selection process.


    7. Retention of Records

                 Recruitment records to include interview questions, notes regarding the responses, the screening matrix and other recruitment documents must be retained for three years from the date of the interviews. These records are subject to audit. After three years, the records can be destroyed within the guidelines established by the Library of Virginia.

  2. Internal Searches (for faculty administrator and faculty professional searches only)

               Internal searches may be conducted when a sufficient pool of potential qualified candidates exists. Requests to conduct an internal search must be approved by the appropriate Vice President or the Dean (if the position is in one of the colleges) and submitted by email or memorandum to the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity for final approval. The advertisement must be posted on the University's website for a period of at least two weeks. When appropriate, faculty should participate in internal searches.

               Internal searches are conducted using the automated PAPERS process described in section I.

  3. Exceptional Opportunities

               University procedures allow an exemption to search requirements when a special opportunity arises to hire an exceptionally well-qualified candidate for an instructional faculty or faculty administrative position. Requests to hire an exceptionally well qualified candidate for an instructional faculty position without conducting a search must be approved by the President or designee in consultation with the respective Dean, chairs, faculty, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity. Requests to hire an exceptionally well qualified candidate for an administrative faculty position without conducting a search must be approved by the President or designee in consultation with the appropriate Vice President, unit head, and the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity.

               If approval is received from the President or designee, the appropriate Vice President may make an informal offer to the candidate. Once the candidate accepts the informal offer, the following steps must be taken to initiate the formal offer of appointment.


    1. Submit the Authorization for Securing Instructional Faculty Form (formerly Form 7) or the Authorization for Securing Administrative and Professional Faculty Form (formerly Form 7A).

    2. Submit the Recommendation for Reduction in Probationary Period Form, if applicable, for tenure-track faculty only (formerly Form 8).

    3. The Office of Academic Affairs will issue the formal offer of employment for faculty, and the Office of Human Resources will issue the formal offer of employment for faculty administrators.

               If assistance with moving and relocation expenses is to be offered to the candidate, the Request to Authorize Moving and Relocation Expenses Form (formerly Form 11) must be submitted.

  4. Emergency Hire Appointments

               The University will, under special circumstances, offer one- and two-year emergency hire contracts for academic (non-tenure track) instructional faculty positions and administrative faculty positions. These appointments may be made without a formal search. The maximum number of consecutive years an emergency hire appointment may be offered to any given individual will be three years, regardless of the position(s) held by the individual. An appointee is eligible to compete for a renewable position in a formal search.

               Special circumstances include:

    1. Funding difficulties that limit long-term commitments

    2. Unexpected employment situations such as deaths, resignations, failed searches

    3. Unexpected enrollment increases

    4. Time and timing required to plan for a programmatic change, to define a new or revised plan or position

               Emergency hire appointments for administrative faculty positions must be recommended by the unit head and approved by the appropriate Vice President and the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity. Emergency hire appointments for instructional faculty positions must be recommended by the appropriate chair and Dean and approved by the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. A memo detailing why the emergency hire appointment is necessary must be submitted to the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity. If approved, the steps outlined in section III above on Exceptional Opportunities must be taken to initiate the formal offer of appointment.

  5. Dual Career Opportunities

               Old Dominion University is committed to assisting dual career couples when one member of the couple has an offer of employment at the University and both are considering relocation to the area. For additional information, including implementation procedures for hiring managers, please refer to the Dual Career Resource Document.

  6. Pay Transparency Policy Statement

               The University will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants not already in the public domain as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants not already in the public domain to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the University's legal duty to furnish information.

           For good cause shown, exceptions to the provisions of this policy may be made by the President in consultation with the appropriate Vice President and the Vice President for Human Resources when circumstances warrant such exceptions.

 - Approved by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
October 1, 2004
-Revised and approved by the President
May 17, 2010
- Revised, renamed and approved by the President
February 2, 2017
Revised May 27, 2021
Revised January 28, 2022

          


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