8. Administrator Recruitment

Search committees for college chairs and directors follow the university guidelines for academic appointments.

Chair Recruitment

Generally, as with all searches for faculty positions at UNC Charlotte, the search for a department chair will be as broad as resources permit. Thus, the initial step on the occasion of a vacancy or impending vacancy will be for the dean of the college, in consultation with the department involved, to determine whether or not a position is available to permit an unrestricted search or whether the new chairperson is to be appointed from among those already holding appointments on the UNC Charlotte faculty.

In some circumstances, the Dean may recommend to the Provost and the Chancellor that an Acting or Interim Chairperson be appointed in order to provide opportunity for a thorough search. Such appointments ordinarily would be for a period of less than one year, but, in unusual cases, could be renewed.

Search Committee Procedures for Chairs

The appointment of department chairpersons is a shared responsibility of faculty and the University administration. In order to protect and preserve the interests and prerogatives of faculty and administration in the appointment of department chairpersons, the following procedures should be followed in all chairperson searches within the College of Arts and Sciences.

1. The initial responsibility of the department is to determine with the Dean whether the new chairperson is to be appointed from among those already holding appointments to the university faculty or whether an unrestricted search will be conducted.
2. Departmental Search and Screen Committees will be composed of five to seven members, with a majority appointed from the department faculty seeking the chairperson and at least two from outside the department. The Departmental faculty seeking the chairperson should provide the Dean with a sufficient number of names of faculty members, both inside and outside the department, to insure that the Committee will be appropriately represented. The Dean will appoint the Search and Screen Committee from those nominated by the department. In those cases for which this procedure is judged by the Dean to be inappropriate (as, for example, in the case of a very small department) the Dean of the College, the department faculty, and the Vice Chancellor for Academic affairs must agree to an alternate procedure.
3. The Chairperson of the Search and Screen Committee will be selected by the members of the Committee from its membership.
4. All work of the Committee, including its discussions, correspondence, and consultation with the departmental faculty will be considered confidential personnel matters and all rights of privacy will be respected. The Committee and departmental faculty, prior to the initiation of the search, will establish its procedures for monitoring appropriate confidentiality.
5. As a general rule, the operation of the search, typing letters, assembling records, circulating credentials, and arranging meetings will be conducted under the direction of the Chairperson of the Committee by staff within the Dean’s Office.
6. Following completion of its work, the Committee should submit to the Dean the names of two or three candidates for departmental chairperson, all of whom are qualified to meet the responsibility of the position and are acceptable to the faculty of the department. If the Committee deems it beneficial to the decision-making process, it may list acceptable candidates in order of priority, expressing the degree of preference.
7. If the Dean is in agreement with the Search Committee and departmental faculty as to the acceptability of the recommended candidates, the Dean will forward his/her recommendation to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and the Chancellor. If the Dean is not in agreement with the recommendation of the Committee and departmental faculty as to the acceptability of the candidates, he/she will request the Committee to provide additional candidates.
8. The Chancellor, on approval by the Board of Trustees, will appoint the department chairperson to three-year terms. Reappointment to subsequent terms does not require a search process. A recommendation for the reappointment of non-reappointment of a departmental chairperson will be submitted by the Dean to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs after consulting with departmental faculty and receiving a formal recommendation from them.

Interviews of Chair Candidates

1. This process is a recruitment process. We are interested in attracting the best candidates to our campus. Consequently, Departments should not “air dirty laundry.” Candidates should be treated professionally at all times. Candidates should feel, at the end of the visit which the Department of XXXXX at UNC Charlotte would be the best place for them to do the work they want to do.
2. The visit should last two days, with the candidate arriving the night before the first day. Prior to the visit, the candidate should have received an itinerary or a draft itinerary of the visit. The finalized itinerary should be given to the candidate immediately on his/her arrival.
3. Departments should prepare a packet of information about the Department and send this information to the candidate prior to his/her visit. Departments should consult with the Dean about appropriate materials that should be included from the Dean’s Office and from the University.
4. The candidate should be met at the airport and escorted to the hotel. After that the candidate should be escorted from one meeting to the next. AT NO TIME SHOULD THE CANDIDATE BE EXPECTED TO FIND HER/HIS WAY FROM ONE MEETING TO ANOTHER. THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IF THE CANDIDATE NEEDS TO WALK FROM ONE BUILDING TO ANOTHER. This policy includes internal candidates.
5. Departments should be sure that the candidates meet all relevant university personnel, both within the Department and outside. This is especially important for faculty members who do interdisciplinary work.
6. One of the lunches will be a boxed lunch in the Dean’s Office for the chairs and directors in the College. The Dean’s Office staff will handle the logistics for this lunch.
7. At minimum, the candidate should be scheduled to meet with the following people:
   • Search committee
   • Sitting Chair of the Department
   • Other Chairs and Directors (brown bag lunch in the Dean’s Office, see #6)
   • Dean’s Office executive staff and dean
     • At least one week prior to the visit, the Department should send to the Dean’s Office the job ad, the candidate’s application letter, the candidate’s cv, and the letters of recommendation. All these documents, except for the letters can be sent electronically. Please send them to the Dean’s administrative assistant, unless advised differently.
     • At the beginning of the two-day visit, a first meeting should be scheduled that will include the Dean’s Office executive staff. This meeting should last one and a half hours. The candidate should be provided an organization chart of the college (to be provided by the Dean’s Executive Assistant). At the end of the two-day interview, an exit interview of one hour should be scheduled with the dean.
   • The Provost (Please send the same materials to the Provost as has been sent to the Dean.)
   • Undergraduate and graduate students, as appropriate
   • Department faculty: in both small and large groups
   • Other university units: sponsored programs, international programs, etc., depending on the area.
   • Faculty or administrators from other units in the university who will be colleagues of the candidate (see #5)
8. Other experiences that might be included in the visit: Campus tour Tour of the city Meeting with a realtor Visits to local schools Community members Other?
9. Candidates should not be asked to pay for meals during the campus visit. Sometimes reimbursement for meals is qualified by the Travel Office, and resolving this kind of issue can be complicated. In any case, professional courtesy is better shown by covering the candidate’s expenses during his/her visit. (Travel and hotel receipts are ok for the candidate to submit.)
10. The candidate should give at least one public presentation for the Department and interested non-Departmental faculty. The presentation should address the qualifications the candidate brings to the position of Chair of the Department. There should be time for Q&A.
11. The Search Committee should get input from all constituencies and provide a final recommendation to the Dean. The search committee should also provide all the raw data to the Dean. Comments need not be signed, but everyone should be encouraged to do so.

Chair Compensation and Workload

The Dean and the Chair negotiate length of appointment, teaching responsibilities, and compensation at the time of appointment.

Director Recruitment

College recruitment of directors for college programs and centers generally follow the guidelines outlined for recruitment of department chairs.

The Dean and the Director negotiate length of appointment, teaching responsibilities, and compensation at the time of appointment.