The hiring authority (typically the dean, chair or director)
in the department or unit initiates a search for a faculty
or professional staff position by requesting an
authorization to fill a position from the appropriate
Dean/Director or Vice President.
In consultation with the Office of Human Resources
Management (OHRM) as necessary, the Dean/Director and the
appropriate Vice President will agree on the rank, title,
salary and programmatic responsibilities associated with the
position. This is also the time for the hiring authority to
review and be made aware of the diversity and
affirmative action goals for the hiring unit. If the
position carries responsibilities in more than one School or
College, then the appropriate Dean/Director will be
consulted.
An
HRM-1 should be completed
with required information and signatures and forwarded to
the Office of Financial Management (OFM). Once the OFM
approves funding, the forms will be forwarded to the
OHRM where they will be held pending receipt of the
Affirmative Action
Recruitment Plan
and
UP-5 or
UP-5a (outlined below). OHRM
will notify the department that the position has been
authorized for hire. If the hiring officer is confident
that the OFM will approve the budget for the line, the
entire packet (HRM-1, Recruitment Plan, and UP-5 or UP-5a)
can all be submitted together to begin the hiring process.
SEARCH COMMITTEE
The Search Committee is appointed by the department
head, supervisor and/or by the Dean/Director or Vice
President as appropriate. For joint faculty
appointments or positions carrying extra-departmental
responsibilities, the secondary department is
represented on the search committee and is given an
opportunity to help write the position description,
develop the list of organizations to be contacted and
participate in the interview process.
Search committees must reflect the diversity of the
University community, including but not limited to women,
minority and disabled group members. Members serve on the
committee to assist in the outreach to qualified persons for
position vacancies, to develop screening mechanisms in
accordance with the job description, to interview qualified
candidates, and to recommend candidates to the hiring
authority. It is the responsibility of each search
committee, with the support of the Office of Diversity and
Affirmative Action, (ODAA) to promote equal opportunity.
One member of the Search Committee will serve as Chair
and assume ultimate responsibility for moving the search
process forward. In addition, one member of the committee
will serve as ODAA Representative (Appendix
5) and work directly with the ODAA to ensure that the
Search Committee has a clear understanding of its
responsibilities in promoting equal employment opportunities
and affirmative action. The ODAA Representative consults
with the ODAA staff as necessary to support the search
process.
At the outset of the search process, it is recommended that
the Search Committee Chair and the ODAA Representative meet
with the Director of Diversity and Affirmative Action. The
purpose of this meeting is to review:
·
The affirmative action goals of the hiring unit.
·
The procedures for the affirmative action recruitment process,
including special efforts contemplated by the department in
its search for underrepresented groups.
·
The language used in the Vacancy Announcement to ensure that it
meets legal requirements and reflects the
employment/affirmative action requirements of the
University.
·
Any questions regarding guidelines for the search and hiring
process.
It is the expectation that all searches will be conducted in
accordance with an approved recruitment plan. The following
two documents will guide search committees in the
establishment of a recruitment plan.
1.
Affirmative Action Recruitment Plan
This document outlines:
·
The current composition of the hiring department
·
The gender and racial diversity of members of the Search
Committee
·
The recruitment sources that will be utilized in the search
process
·
The screening procedures that have been agreed upon by the Search
Committee with the concurrence of the hiring authority.
The final decision-maker should not serve on the committee.
This could potentially be seen as causing an undue influence
on the search committee.
2.
Announcement of Professional Vacancy (UP-5)
for professional staff or
Announcement of Faculty Vacancy
(UP-5a)
for faculty positions. Please consider the following
when filling out the UP-5 or 5A:
·
For Professional Vacancies, the description of duties should be clear and concise, and all
the required qualifications must be included. Any special
or preferred qualifications or skills should be stated and
based on a rationale that relates to the job description.
·
For Faculty Vacancies,
qualifications shall be directly related to the
responsibilities of the job and, at a minimum, shall include
formal education, previous professional or employment
experience and where applicable, professional
accomplishments and demonstrated competencies.
·
The following statement should be used in all vacancy
announcement qualifications:
“Applicants must address in
their applications their abilities to work with a culturally
diverse population.”
·
Applicants should mail materials to the Chair of the Search
Committee at their department or unit address, with the
exception of internal promotions which are submitted to
Stephen J. Beditz, Associate Vice President, Office of Human
Resources Management, UAB 300.
·
A closing date for accepting applications should be included (30
days minimum from publication date of advertising for a
national, regional, or state search.) For searches that
elect to remain “open until filled”, OHRM includes the
following “Review of applications will begin ___ and
continue until the position is filled.” This statement
means that ALL
applications will be reviewed and assessed until a
recommendation to the hiring authority is made.
·
The items that constitute a completed application must be listed
and can be incorporated in the Special Notes area.
For example, letter of application, resume, contact
information for references who can comment on the
applicant’s qualifications, and any other materials required
by the Search Committee can be included here. Any additional
information, action, or activity required at the later
stages of the search (e.g., a writing sample), must be
described in the Vacancy Announcement.
Once completed, these two documents (Affirmative
Action Recruitment Plan and Announcement of Professional
Vacancy) must be reviewed and approved by the appropriate
Chair, Dean/Director and Vice President who will forward
them directly to OHRM. OHRM will combine the plan and
announcement with the previously submitted HRM-1 and forward
the entire package to ODAA for concurrence. ODAA will
review the recruitment plan and vacancy announcement,
negotiate amendments if any, and communicate approval to the
Search Committee Chair within three working days of receipt.
This paperwork will then be forwarded by ODAA to OHRM where
a posting number will be assigned.
NOTE: United University Professions Promotional
Opportunities
Human Resources Memorandum
#HRM 88-4, dated May 6,
1988, describes the posting requirements for professional
positions in SL-3 or SL-4 and certain positions in SL-5. Positions classified SL-3, 4 and 5 are
posted internally for 10 business days to current UUP
members in permanent or term appointments. Upon completion
of the 10 days, if the decision-making authority does not
choose to offer the position to an internal candidate, the
department must notify OHRM, who will then post the position
externally. The department may also advertise the position
through Graystone Advertising at this time.
ADVERTISING
THE POSITION
Attracting a broad and diverse pool of candidates to
compete for the position is an important component of
the search process. While paid advertisements are not
the only way to search for possible candidates, they are
an important element in the recruitment effort. The
advertisement must include responsibilities,
qualifications and experience. The required items for a
completed application must be the same on both the ad
and the Vacancy Announcement. However, to
minimize advertisement costs, notices may be shortened
to refer candidates to the OHRM website at
http://hr.albany.edu/content/vacancy.asp for
the complete vacancy notice.
The University at Albany has contracted with the
Graystone Group Advertising for placement of approved
advertisements. To contact Graystone for placement of
ads in selected media, go to
www.graystoneadv.com or call (800)
544-0005.
Additional publications that can be used include, but
are not limited to:
• The Chronicle of Higher Education
• Diverse Issues in Higher Education
• The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education
• Women in Higher Education
• Professional journals and newsletters
In addition to paid advertisements, other affirmative
action efforts and recruitment strategies include:
·
Personal contacts with potentially qualified candidates,
including current students or recent graduates of
programs, especially women, minorities and persons with
disabilities.
·
Personal contacts with colleagues, unit heads, department chairs,
etc., in departments similar to the one where the
vacancy exists, in order to seek assistance in
identifying qualified women, minorities, veterans and
persons with disabilities and others who may be
interested in the position.
·
Internet sites as appropriate to the discipline or profession.
·
Departmental mailings to minority and female Ph.D. candidates
identified in the Minority and Women Doctoral Directory
(available in the ODAA).
·
Posting of notices at local, regional and national meetings and
conferences.
·
Letters to graduate schools in the discipline for the type of
position being advertised.
·
Contact with qualified persons who have written letters of
application in the past year.
·
Use of placement services in professional organizations.
The ODAA Representative should carefully review any
advertisements before publication and share them with
the ODAA for concurrence. Additional support in
attracting and recruiting candidates from
underrepresented groups can be provided from the ODAA
recruitment resources list (Appendix 6). The ODAA is an
important resource for best practices in creating
diverse pools of applicants
COMMUNICATION
WITH APPLICANTS
When initial letters of inquiry and/or application
materials are received, the Chair of the Search
Committee, or designee, should:
Acknowledge receipt of the letter of inquiry with a
letter of response (download). Indicate the
search number on the yellow
Group Identity
Data Card
and include it in the acknowledgement letter. The letter
of response should indicate to each applicant which
essential elements of a completed file have been
received and which ones still need to be received by the
application deadline. A follow up letter
(download) can be sent to candidates with incomplete
files.
Typical elements of a completed file include:
·
Letter of application
·
Resume or Vitae
·
Proof of licensure if appropriate
·
Names of references with contact information as requested.
·
Any additional information required in the Vacancy Announcement.
All searches must be conducted in a manner that best
protects the privacy of the applicants. Access to files
is limited to Search Committee members. Files may be
made accessible to other appropriate administrative
officers such as the hiring authority or the ODAA
Director.
Confidentiality
Access to files is limited to search committee members,
the supervisor/department chair, and to the extent
necessary, the department secretary. (Campus members or
employees not on the search committee shall not have
access to the files until finalists have been named.)
The files may, of course, be made accessible to the
necessary administrative officials. STRICT
CONFIDENTIALITY MUST BE MAINTAINED. Candidates
assume that their candidacy is held in confidence. Do
not break this confidence. Likewise, do not break the
confidence of your committee members by discussing
privileged remarks of the committee deliberations.
Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)
The New York State Freedom of Information Law governs
what information about an applicant is considered
public. Search Committee members should refer any
outside inquiries about candidates to the Director of
Media Relations who serves as the University Records
Access Officer,
(518)
442-4980.
NOTE: All questions regarding employment eligibility of
foreign nationals should be directed to the Office of
Human Resources Management.
EVALUATION AND SCREENING OF CANDIDATES
Once the Recruitment Plan is approved, the Search
Committee should meet to develop an Application
Screening Form to assist the committee members in
evaluating the credentials of the applicants. This
form, the contents of which are agreed upon by the
Search Committee and carefully reviewed by the ODAA
representative and approved by ODAA, should list
relevant job-related criteria that are directly related
to the Vacancy Announcement. This form is also helpful
in documenting the committee’s judgments about
qualifications as required by the ODAA procedure. Each
file should be reviewed to assure completeness, to
substantiate academic attainments and experience, to
assess the strengths and weaknesses in the position
criteria, and to eliminate those candidates who do not
meet the minimum requirements. Sample Application
Screening Forms (Appendix 10 and
Appendix 10a) provide examples
of this helpful tool for use in searches.
In cases where there are a large number of applicants,
initial screening using the Application Screening Form
can be conducted by a subcommittee of at least two
members. It is permissible to call candidates as
necessary to seek clarification or discuss
qualifications. The work of each subcommittee should be
reported to and affirmed by the full committee. After
the applicant screening process is complete, the
committee members should submit their screening forms to
the Chair to maintain for the record.
The result of the entire screening process is typically
a “short list” of applicants whose knowledge, skills,
and abilities closely meet the needs of the hiring unit.
APPLICANT FLOW ANALYSIS AND REQUEST FOR INTERVIEWS
The
Applicant Flow Analysis includes the reason(s) for the Committee’s decision in the case of
each applicant and the Committee’s recommendation of the
top candidates for interviews. Once the Search Committee
completes this form, it is submitted through the search
chair or ODAA representative to the ODAA with a copy to
the hiring authority. All applicants not being
considered for interview should have a non-select code
included (See non-select code on the reverse side
of the form.) (download).
The ODAA will add information from the Group Identity
Data Card to the Applicant Flow Analysis and review the
diversity of the applicant pool. The Director may ask to
see applicant files. ODAA will respond to the Chair of
the Search Committee within three working days with
approval for interviews.
INTERVIEWING THE CANDIDATES
To ensure uniform and fair treatment of all
interviewees, interview questions should be developed in
advance and must relate closely to the Vacancy
Announcement. (Appendix
13 and
Appendix 13a) Please note the questions that
cannot be asked (Appendix
14) of candidates. Questions developed and agreed
to by the search committee are forwarded to ODAA.
After the proposed interviewees have been approved, the Search
Committee shall prepare an interview schedule to be
followed for all candidates and make arrangements to
bring candidates to campus for an interview.
A letter confirming interviews (Appendix
15) may be sent to all persons being invited
to participate in this stage of the process. If
candidates have special needs that necessitate
accommodations during the interview process, they should
contact the search chair. An information packet about
the University, the City of
Albany and the Capital Region is available from the ODAA.
In the event there are a large number of final
candidates, the committee may choose to conduct phone
interviews first to reduce the field. Where telephone
interviews are conducted that reduce the number of
campus interviewees, the ODAA representative
should ensure that the reasons for non selection are
documented and reviewed by ODAA.
Persons who clearly do not meet the minimum
qualifications should be notified at this point. (Appendix
16) Other applicants may remain in the pool for
consideration.
The Search Committee should interview candidates as a
whole committee whenever possible. The Chair should also
schedule candidate interviews with the hiring authority,
the appropriate dean/director, vice president and/or
president, other academic or administrative departments,
units, and other pertinent persons or groups as
appropriate.
Contacting references by telephone regarding a
candidate’s qualifications is encouraged. If there are
individuals who are not listed as references whom you
would like to call, you should notify the applicant as a
professional courtesy. A record of all inquiries must
be maintained within the candidate’s file. Under the
Freedom of Information Act, information received by
telephone is available to the applicant upon request.
An example of the format for recording information from
a telephone reference (Appendix
17) is provided for your reference.
CREDENTIALS
AND REFERENCE REVIEW
Human Resources Memorandum
#HRM
90-6, dated April 27, 1990, describes the procedure
to verify and document that a candidate for appointment
has the necessary qualifications for the position. Specifically,
before a department tenders a final offer to a candidate,
they should verify the highest degree by contacting the
institution that granted the degree. The department should
also verify any prerequisite qualifying experience by
contacting the most recent employer. As part of the written
record prepared in support of the selection, the department
should document the results of these inquiries. In order
to assure consistency in this process, the department
should complete the "Verification of Employee Credentials"
form (Exhibit
VI - download)
and include it with the Appointment Request (HRM-2) form
for academic and professional staff.
FINAL RECOMMENDATION FOR HIRE
Upon completion of the interview process, the Search Committee
prepares and submits its recommendation to the hiring
authority, who consults with the ODAA Director on the
proposed hire.
The Search Committee Chair and the hiring authority
consult to determine rank (if applicable), salary, and
any other aspects of the appointment package. An offer
is made by the hiring authority or by the appropriate
Provost or VP. Teaching faculty appointments are made
by the Provost based on the recommendation of the
appropriate dean.
Once an offer is accepted, an Appointment Request
(HRM-2) or
Change of Status Request for current
employees (HRM-3) is generated by the hiring authority,
signed by the dean/director and the appropriate Vice
President and forwarded to the Office of Human Resources
Management. This transaction form activates the
personnel record for the new hire and is critical for
initiating many campus services such as computing and SUNY card.
If inquiries are made by applicants before an
appointment is made, the unsuccessful candidates may be
told the status of the search. Once the position has
been accepted and the candidate has signed an
appointment letter, letters of regret (Appendix
20) should be sent to unsuccessful candidates.
Note: If an offer is declined, the hiring authority
should work in conjunction with the Search Committee
Chair, dean or VP to determine if an offer can be made
to another qualified finalist. The ODAA Director will be
informed of the declined offer.
At the conclusion of the search the Search Committee
Chair, with the assistance of the ODAA Representative,
should fill out the
Affirmative Action Search Report
with the pertinent information on the
finalists and submit it to the ODAA.
All
search file information should remain in the hiring unit
office for three (3) years from the end of the search.
FINAL DISPOSITION
OF THE APPOINTMENT REQUEST FORM AFTER COMPLETION
After the department has completed the Appointment Request,
Form HRM-2, (download or
view
an online example of this form) they should forward
it with the necessary attachments and the "Affirmative
Action Recruitment Report" through the Dean (if applicable)
to the Office of Diversity and Affirmative Action for review and forwarding
to the Office of Human Resources Management.
After
the Office of Diversity and Affirmative Action's review and approval,
the Office of Human Resources Management will review the
Appointment Request. If all documents are in order, the
Office of Human Resources Management will initiate appropriate
payroll action. This will also initiate the distribution
of the employee benefits packet. After clearance
by the Office of Financial Management, the Office of Human
Resources Management will forward the request to the Vice
President and President (if appropriate) with the official
letter of appointment for the Vice President or President's
signature.
EXTRA SERVICE
EMPLOYMENT PROCEDURES
Extra Service is work performed by
an employee that is substantially different from or in
addition to his/her regular assigned professional
responsibilities. These special assignments may be
performed on the home campus or at another state agency,
but must not interfere with the individual’s regular
professional responsibilities.
Additional
information on the procedures applicable to this type of employment
can be obtained by going to the following URL:
http://hr.albany.edu/content/7-2007_EXTRA_SERVICE
POLICY.htm. If a department is contemplating the employment of a person
already employed by the State, they should contact the
Office of Human Resources Management (437-4700) for
further details
before proceeding.
FIRST DAY PROCEDURES:
All professional service personnel should report to the
Office of Human Resources Management within three (3)
days of the first day of employment. This is to assure
completion of the payroll and employee benefit materials
needed to complete the appointment process. All new employees
must also complete an "Employment Eligibility Verification"
(Form I-9) pursuant to the Immigration Reform and Control
Act (IRCA) of 1986 within the first 3 days of employment.
The appointment packet contains details of this requirement.
Please inform the Office of Human Resources Management
of any failure of an employee to report prior to the delivery
of the first payroll check. Unless extenuating circumstances
exist, the department should submit appointment papers
in accordance with the schedule issued in March of each
year by the Office of Human Resources Management. This
schedule requires that appointment papers be submitted
by the employee's first day of employment to insure timely
issuance of the first paycheck and an official appointment
letter. If appointment papers are submitted after the
initial date of service, the employee should note that
the initial paycheck will be delayed to allow for necessary
financial planning. Also, late submittal of an appointment
packet can affect employee benefits, and the new appointee
should therefore be advised to contact the Office of Human
Resources Management to arrange for benefit coverage as
soon as possible.
