Lake Superior College

Policy: Chapter 4 - 4.1.2 UnClassified Hiring Process

Purpose:
It shall be the goal of the college to recruit and maintain the highest quality employees and promote diversity in all of its manifestations during the search and selection process. The Affirmative Action Officer or committee representative and appropriate Administrator will be involved in all phases of the search process to ensure this commitment is maintained. This commitment challenges us to affirmatively seek candidates of protected classes, without regard to age and from many cultural backgrounds.

Implementation: Human Resources, Administrators, Affirmative Action Officer.

Section 1: Approval of New Positions
New full-time unlimited faculty positions will be determined by the appropriate Dean and the Vice President of Academic Affairs through the development of a yearly staffing plan and careful review of historical enrollment trends and future enrollment projections. The appropriate Administrator will consult with each department or program to develop a staffing plan which may initiate a decision to open a full-time unlimited faculty position. The staffing plan shall be the basic statement of faculty staffing needs for the fiscal year.

Other new unclassified positions or replacements will be determined by the appropriate Administrator. The appropriate Administrator or Supervisor will draft the position description and help develop the minimum qualifications for recruitment. The requisition form will be completed, signed by the appropriate Administrators and forwarded to the Human Resources office. All new hires will be discussed by the College's Executive Council, forwarded through the Meet & Confer process as appropriate and approved by the President.

Section 2: The Search Chair & Committee
A.  The chair of the committee will be appointed by the President. The chair shall work with the department staff and unions to establish a search committee upon approval of the position. [The Search Committee Handbook describes in detail the issues a chair needs to consider in forming a committee (i.e. stakeholders, in-field expertise, ability to commit to the process, etc.)]. The chair will request volunteers to sit on the search committee. The volunteers will then notify their Union Representative of their participation. The committee should include: representatives from all bargaining units, and may include a student and a community member. The search committee shall have at least six members, including the chair. The final selection of committee members will be approved by the President.

B.  All members of the search committee must agree to make themselves available during all aspects of the hiring process, or they should not serve. All members shall also attend an orientation facilitated by a representative from Human Resources before the process begins. The committee members must agree to maintain confidentiality during the entire search and interview process and take an active role in all aspects of the search for qualified candidates.

Section 3: Advertising/Post
A. Post the vacancy as proscribed in contract language and in the MnSCU Career Opportunities, which also provides notice of the vacancy to the appropriate State Union.
B. The Affirmative Action Officer and search committee will work with a representative from Human Resources to post vacancy notices, in-house and selected newspapers, publications; and college career centers in an effort to work toward stated affirmative action goals. This may include personal recruitment efforts on the part of committee members to encourage candidate application.
C.  A representative from Human Resources will send out vacancy notices which include the following: position title, brief description, minimum qualifications, and date of appointment, application deadline, affirmative action/equal opportunity statement and material necessary to complete an application file.

Section 4: Applicant Pool Development & AA Certification
A.  The Human Resource Office shall send all applicants the Supplemental Personal Data form to be returned to the Affirmative Action officer. The Human Resources office can also screen all applications to ensure they are complete and will prepare committee member files and worksheets based on the committee's criteria for the screening process.
B.  Once the pool of applicants is complete, the State monitoring report form will be completed by the Affirmative Action Officer and reviewed with the search chair, prior to the screening of the applicants. The information needed to complete this form will be gathered from the Supplemental Personal Data forms returned by applicants. The Affirmative Action officer will contact the Administrator and a representative from Human Resources if there is a concern about diversity among the pool of applicants. The search process continues when the pool of applicants has been certified by the Affirmative Action Officer.

Section 5: Screening
Each committee member will review the applications using the criteria agreed upon. The committee may request Human Resources to pre-screen the applications for minimum qualifications or other criteria. After all committee members have completed the screening review, the search committee will meet and work to identify the semi-finalists to be interviewed. A rule of thumb: a maximum of five interviews per position is advised.

Section 6: Interview
A. The search committee establishes the schedule for the interview process and creates the questions to be used in each interview. The chair of the search committee is responsible for conducting the interview process, ensuring that only appropriate questions and comments characterize the interview, etc. Interview questions are standardized and used for all candidates.
B. The Human Resources staff will contact all semi-finalists to arrange the interviews and travel if necessary. If the candidate accepts the interview, Human Resources will send a letter of confirmation including the interview schedule and directions to the college.
C. Candidates for administrative positions will be reimbursed for travel expenses unless the candidate rejects an offer of employment.
D. The process of interviewing should consist of some combination of the following activities:

Committee interview session
Simulated teaching demonstration, presentation or other sample work demonstration for other positions
Interview with the appropriate Vice President
Written assignment examination or work sample portfolio
An open forum for administrative positions, a meeting with another constituent group for other positions.

E. Other activities intended to help the candidate understand the college and community will be developed. These may include:

A meeting with a representative from Human Resources
A tour of the department and campus
A meeting with appropriate staff
Relocation information regarding housing, community orientation etc.
A meeting with all Executive Cabinet members for administrative positions
A meeting with the college President

Section 7: Recommendation of Finalists
A. Following the interviews, the search committee will determine which of the semi-finalists meet all the criteria and are acceptable candidates to recommend to the President. This determination should be based on the following factors:

The candidates' credentials
Interview results
A work sample demonstration, teaching demonstration or other work sample exercise appropriate to the responsibilities of the position.

B. The chair will request Human Resources to perform reference checks on finalist candidate.

Reference checks performed and summarized by Human Resources for all non-administrative positions. A private referencing firm will complete references for administrative positions.

Section 8: Final Appointment
The search committee chair in consultation with the appropriate Vice President shall use the Search Committee Summary Form to recommend the unranked list of finalists to the President. The search committee chair will include evaluative comments (strengths and weaknesses ) regarding each candidate and a summary of reference checks. The President will make the appointment.

Section 8: Outline of Steps & Time Lines
STEP                                                                     SAMPLE TIMELINE
a. Tentative staffing plan complete/position approved End of January
b. Search committee formed & convened                   February
c. Position posted/advertised                                     February (10 day minimum)
d. Committee orientation & selection criteria               Mid February
e. Complete applications deadline or review by date    End of March
f. Certification of pool with AAO                                  End of March
g. Applicants screened/finalists selected                      April
h. Interviews completed                                             April
i. Candidate selected                                                  April
j. New employee orientation                                       Upon hire or start Fall

QuickLinks

Home
Admissions
Business Services
Financial Aid
Records
Student Services
Technology