Suggestions for Hiring of Faculty Members
General Principles:
The process for hiring must be transparent.
The process should be specified in the Department/Centre Rules of Procedure.
Required by the Collective Agreement:
Recommendations regarding hiring are submitted to the Dean for the Dean’s approval (Articles 19.10o, p, q, r, s). The Provost then makes the final decision (Article 19.10t).
According to 19.10c, “Search committees will be composed of the Departmental Committee, a subcommittee of the Department, or members of any and all departments in which the appointment shall take place. Appointments to search committees will be made by Departmental Committees in accordance with their departmental rules (Article 16.03 (b) – Departmental and Centre Committees).”
If anyone has a Conflict of Interest as described in Article 18, it should be declared and managed.
Suggestions for Rules of Procedures:
If the department chooses to constitute a subcommittee for the hiring process, it should be clear in the Rules of Procedures how individuals are nominated. The composition should be confirmed by a departmental motion. All files should be made available to the department. The subcommittee should recommend the short-list to the department and eligible members of the department should vote on the short-list. It should be recommended that all departmental members review all short-listed files and attend all presentations. If possible, members may attend remotely, in exceptional circumstances. Presentations should be videotaped. Eligible members of the department should vote on the candidate to be recommended to the Dean.
The type of vote should be specified: one vote for who to hire/short-list; a two-stage vote for who is acceptable and then a ranking system (e.g., 1 point for 3rd choice, 2 points for 2nd, 3 points for 1st); or, another process. Regardless, it should be clear as to how the vote would proceed and how it would accommodate absentee ballots.
There should be no e-voting as voting is confidential (Article 16.03c). Sealed absentee ballots should be used by those unable to attend the meeting (i.e., Article 21.22a). These ballots count toward quorum.
The CA states that the hiring of part-time instructors is not covered by the agreement (Article 19.01d). BUFA recommends that Departments address the hiring of part-time instructors in their Rules, stating that the Chair and/or an Appointments Committee composed of BUFA members recommend appointments for part-time instructors.
September 6, 2016