Office
of
Affirmative
Action
&
Equal
Opportunity
474 Oregon Hall, 5221 University
of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-5221 • (541) 346-3123 • TTY (541) 346-6203
AAEO Unclassified Appointment Search
Guidelines
The
University of Oregon recognizes the value of diversity within the university
community. The University of Oregon Mission Statement states that the university
strives to enrich the public that sustains it through "a dedication to
the principles of equality of opportunity and freedom from unfair discrimination
for all members of the university community and an acceptance of true diversity
as an affirmation of individual identity within a welcoming community."
The University of Oregon Affirmation of Community Standards, endorsed by the
President, the Faculty Advisory Council and the UO Student Senate, in March
2000, affirms the university's commitment to "promote the diversity of
opinions, ideas and backgrounds which is the lifeblood of the university."
This commitment to diversity was recognized by President Frohnmayer in his
May 20, 2002 report to the campus regarding ethnic and racial diversity at
the University. He reiterated that "racial and ethnic diversity are essential
components of quality and success in academe. We know that students who are
exposed to people of diverse backgrounds, experiences and world-views become
better critical thinkers and expand their opportunities to contribute successfully
in their careers. Assuring that our demographics reflect the richness of our
broader society is both morally right and necessary for our ability to contribute
meaningfully to a cosmopolitan civilization."
Given this commitment to
diversity, we offer these guidelines to help ensure that searches meet both
the letter and spirit of our commitment to ensuring equality of opportunity
and increasing the diversity of our workforce. These guidelines identify those
steps in the search process with affirmative action and equal opportunity
implications, and describe what needs to be done to ensure compliance with
affirmative action and equal opportunity obligations. The purpose of
this resource is to provide search committees with written guidelines regarding
what is necessary to meet affirmative action and equal opportunity obligations
at each step of the search process, suggestions as to effective outreach and
recruitment strategies for searches, and samples of search process correspondence.
This resource is not intended to address all requirements and expectations
related to unclassified searches. Search committee members should work
closely with the respective department head, dean, and/or director to ensure
that they are aware of and comply with the appropriate institutional and/or
departmental expectations.
STARTING
THE SEARCH
OUTREACH AND RECRUITMENT
THE SELECTION PROCESS
UO
POLICY STATEMENT
3.140
COMPLETING THE HIRE
CLOSING
THE SEARCH
STARTING THE SEARCH
Notice of Academic/Administrative Position
Opening (NAPO)
A complete NAPO Packet includes:
-
Notice of Academic/Administrative
Position Opening (NAPO)
-
Position description, with HR approval
if position is a new officer of administration position
-
Full Job Announcement for posting on
HR job page
-
Proposed advertisement
-
Search committee membership (with gender
and race/ethnicity of members, if known)
-
Proposed recruitment strategy and scope,
with specific efforts targeting women and/or people of color where those
groups are under-represented within the department, organizational unit, or affirmative action job group.
Defining the Position
Development
of an accurate and timely position description plays a critical role in
guiding the search process and in creating opportunity for a diverse applicant
pool. It is important to involve people with valuable insights regarding
the position and with diverse perspectives in defining the responsibilities
and the minimum and preferred qualifications for the position.
To ensure compliance
with the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is particularly important that
a position description accurately reflect the essential functions of the position.
Too Narrow?
How a position is defined will have an impact on the depth, breadth,
and diversity of the applicant pool. A narrowly defined position description
will result in a more limited applicant pool and may have a predictable
consequence of discouraging candates from diverse backgrounds or with diverse
or non-traditional research interests. Where a unit needs a very specific kind
of expertise and experience, it may be appropriate to define the position
narrowly. Even where the needs of
the unit are highly specific, it is important to define the position as
broadly as possible in terms of the knowledge, skills and experience necessary
to be successful in the position.
Too Broad?
It is equally important to define a position with enough specificity
to guide the selection process. Since selection tools and criteria need
to be grounded in the position as announced, a very vaguely defined position
will provide insufficient guidance both to prospective applicants and to the
search committee.
Commitment to Affirmative Action
As a federal contractor, the UO has affirmative action
obligations and is specifically required to include language in its employment
announcements indicating that the University is an equal opportunity employer.
To meet that requirement, employment ads must include the UO authorized Policy
Statement "The University of Oregon is an equal opportunity, affirmative
action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the
Americans with Disabilities Act." For journal and newspaper ads, the
following abbreviated statement may be used: "EO/AA/ADA institution committed
to cultural diversity."
In support of its commitment to affirmative action
and equal opportunity, the UO Unclassified Appointments
Process (previously known
as the Academic Appointments Process) requires that every job announcement
include a statement about the university's commitment
to affirmative action and equal opportunity and the successful candidate's
responsibility to work
effectively with faculty, staff and students from diverse
backgrounds. (Unclassified
Appointment Process § 4.5) Such
statements convey to prospective candidates the university's commitment
to
its diverse community, and provide a basis for considering a candidate's
experience with and/or demonstrated commitment to supporting that diversity as one criterion
in the
selection process. See Sample
Statements.
In addition, the Unclassified Appointments Process requires that stated qualifications
for department head, dean, administrator or anyone with staff management responsibilities
include the ability to effectively administer affirmative action policies
and supervise in a culturally diverse workforce, or words to that effect. (Unclassified
Appointment Process § 2)
Establishing
a Search Committee
Diverse Membership. The search committee should be composed
of individuals from diverse backgrounds in order to provide variety of perspectives,
as well as sensitivity to affirmative action issues. When possible, women and minorities from
within the hiring unit should be represented on all search committees.
Where that is not feasible, the appointing authority may consider
enlisting the aid of women and minorities from other departments within
the school,
college or other organizational unit. (Unclassified
Appointment Process § 1)
A representative of the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity
(OAAEO) is to be invited to the search committee’s first meeting
to discuss affirmative action and equal opportunity
aspects of the search process.
(Unclassified
Appointment Process § 2.5)
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OUTREACH AND RECRUITMENT
Effective
outreach and recruitment is critical to a successful search if we are to find
the best possible candidate for the job. Where
women and/or people of color are under-represented within the job group of
the position for which a search is being conducted, we have a specific obligation
as a federal contractor to engage in a good faith effort to correct that under-representation.
This effort begins with an outreach and recruitment plan that includes
efforts specifically geared to attract women and/or people of color as applicants.
See general suggestions related to outreach
and recruitment.
The
NAPO
should describe a hiring unit’s
preliminary outreach and recruitment plan, with targeted efforts aimed at
attracting a diverse applicant pool consistent with the university's commitment
to diversity.
In developing its recruitment strategy,
the hiring unit needs to be aware of minimum recruitment requirements.
(See
Unclassified
Appointments Process § 1.7).
After OAAEO has
reviewed and approved the NAPO it will provide information regarding any identified
under-representation in the relevant job group.Where women or people of color
are under-represented, the hiring unit needs to consider whether additional
outreach and recruitment efforts may be necessary and appropriate to constitute
an appropriate good faith effort.
OAAEO will identify possible avenues of outreach and
recruitment for consideration by the hiring unit.
An absence of outreach efforts specifically targeting
any under-represented protected group will raise questions about the sufficiency
of the unit’s required good faith effort and may lead to a delay in the
search while the hiring unit engages in additional outreach and recruitment.
All outreach and recruitment efforts
should be documented in the search file.
Applicant
Data Request Cards inviting candidates to self-identify protected status
for purposes of affirmative action monitoring are to be sent to applicants
as applications are received. If the cards are sent out late in the search,
the hiring unit loses the opportunity to assess whether its outreach and
recruitment
efforts have been successful in attracting a reasonably diverse pool.
Provision of self-ID information is voluntary.
However, the university is required to track and analyze applicant
statistics; therefore, applicants should be encouraged to return the card
and reassured as to the confidentiality of the information.
(Unclassified
Appointment Process § 2.4)
UO also has an obligation under the Jeanne
Clery Disclosure Act to notify applicants of the university’s
annual report on its campus safety and security program. Hiring units should send a letter acknowledging
receipt of applications that includes the Jeanne Clery notification and transmits the Applicant Data Request
Card.
Sample
letters for sending Applicant Data Request Cards and Jeanne Clery
notice.
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THE
SELECTION PROCESS
When
it comes to selecting the most qualified candidate from among the applications
received, the focus shifts from affirmative action to equal opportunity. It
is critical that the process used to select from among applicants ensures
that all applicants are afforded equal consideration for the position, based
on specific job-related criteria. It
is equally important to adequately document that process.
Before reviewing
the applications, the search committee chair is to call OAAEO to inquire about
the makeup of the applicant pool. If the
applicant pool is not appropriately diverse, advice is to be sought for strategies
to increase the diversity of the pool consistent with affirmative action goals.
(Unclassified
Appointment Process
§
2.6)
Selection Criteria
Prior to applicant screening and interviewing, the search
committee is to develop the criteria by which candidates will be evaluated, basing
the criteria directly on the elements in the position description as well as on
the stated qualifications of education and experience. (Unclassified
Appointment Process § 2)
Use of well thought-out selection criteria promotes
fairness, non-discrimination (because of the care taken
to ensure that criteria
are as free as possible from irrelevant bias), appropriate consideration of
the value of diversity within our workforce, and ultimately,
hiring of the
best qualified candidates. The following are important considerations in developing
appropriate screening/selection criteria:
Throughout the selection process, it is important
that those involved consider the possibility of unintended personal or institutional
bias, examine their assumptions regarding measures of excellence and how those
might create bias, and otherwise engage in self-reflection, both individually
and as a group.
Screening criteria need to be grounded in the position
as announced and not include considerations unrelated to the position and/or
not documented earlier in the process.
Care should be taken to ensure that criteria are
free from unnecessary considerations that negatively affect members of protected
groups, i.e. considerations related to disability, gender, ethnicity, race,
religion, age, sexual orientation, etc.
It is appropriate to weight or prioritize the
criteria, but care should be taken to ensure those weights are based on the
qualities necessary for success in the position and not on any preconceived
assumptions about who might be interested in or appropriate for the position.
Screening criteria should not be defined in a
way that is needlessly conventional or rigid and that may have the unintended
consequence of eliminating candidates with transferable knowledge and skills
and non-traditional career paths. Narrowly conceived criteria are likely to
frustrate progress toward diversity because members of under-represented groups
may be more likely to have traveled non-traditional career paths or to have
framed non-conventional research questions.
How well a candidate meets a particular criterion
should be based on actual performance by the candidate in recent past performance,
as opposed to assumptions based on where the candidate earned his/her degree,
the accomplishments of his/her adviser, personality (friendly/stand-offish,
self-confident/overbearing/timid, etc.), or other non-job-related considerations.
Selection Matrix or Similar Tool
While not specifically required, a selection matrix
or criteria review sheet that lists each of the selection criteria and allows
for an evaluation of a candidate’s strength relative to each criterion
provides a means of ensuring that each candidate is evaluated against a common
set of job-related criteria. Use of a selection matrix should not limit committee
members from making a global assessment of the overall job-related strengths
of each candidate. The global assessment, however, must be consistent with
specific performance criteria. Regardless of whether a search committee uses
a selection matrix or some other tool to evaluate the relative strengths of
candidates, it is important to document the job-related reasons supporting
the selection or elimination of candidates during the search process. Should
a search committee use a selection matrix or similar tool, a copy of that
selection tool with the consolidated input from all members of the search
committee can be submitted in satisfaction of section D.4. of the Affirmative
Action Compliance Statement that requires a brief explanation of reasons for
non-selection of candidates not selected for interview.
Example
of applicant rating form
Affirmative Opportunity
While not specifically required under current university
policy, search committees are encouraged to contact
the OAAEO when a short
list of candidates has been developed and the search committee is in the
process of deciding how deep into that short list to
conduct initial interviews.
(Unclassified
Appointment Process
§
3.6)
OAAEO can review the proposed short list and advise
a search committee about whether there would be any difference in terms
of
diversity depending on how deep into the short list the committee elected
to conduct interviews. For example, it might be that there is no gender
or
racial/ethnic diversity among the top four short-list candidates; including
the next two or three most highly ranked candidates may maintain gender
and/or
racial/ethnic diversity in the pool. In that case, the search committee would
be encouraged to consider interviewing the top seven candidates, rather
than
just the top four.
Interviews
The search committee designs interview questions related
to the selection criteria. The same basic questions should be asked of
all
candidates. The guidelines regarding selection criteria apply to interviews
as well. (Unclassified
Appointment Process § 2)
References
The search committee determines questions to be asked
of references, and assigns calling duties to a committee member or members,
if so instructed by department/unit head.
(Unclassified
Appointments Process § 3.9)
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UNIVERSITY
OF
OREGON
POLICY STATEMENT
3.140 HIRING OF
WOMEN AND MINORITY FACULTY MEMBERS
Search
committees and hiring authorities for faculty positions need to be aware of
the provisions of UO Policy
Statement 3.140
which provides in part:
If there are minorities or women included
on a small list of finalists for a faculty position, then the best qualified
of them shall be chosen, unless it is determined that some other candidate is
demonstrably better qualified for the position or that no candidate is adequately
qualified.
W
hen a proposed appointee to a faculty
position is a minority or a woman, the person chairing the meeting considering
the candidate should first seek to determine the views of the individual faculty
members on the professional qualifications of the candidate. If it is apparent that a majority of the faculty
group favor appointing the candidate, then even if a substantial number may
be opposed to the candidate (and notwithstanding the possibility that the group
might be prepared to exclude the candidate from further consideration out of
deference to the opinions of those opposed), the person chairing the meeting
shall ask that no final negative decision be made until the matter has been
discussed with the dean of the school or college and the provost.
COMPLETING THE HIRE
When the search is completed and a tentative
selection made, the recruiting department/unit requests the Applicant Data Request
Cards and a blank Affirmative Action Compliance Statement from OAAEO.
[Instructions]
The department/unit prepares and sends
to OAAEO the RTO Packet:
Hiring authorities may tell a selected candidate of
their intent to hire the candidate pending the approval of all necessary paperwork
as long as it is understood that this is a conditional offer.
No offer is official until the Request to Offer has been signed by the
appropriate VP.
CLOSING
THE SEARCH
Once a search has been successfully completed
or otherwise closed, it is important to close the search by gathering search-related
materials into a search file. All documentation
related to the search including, but not limited to, the materials identified
below, must be gathered into a search file, marked as a search file, and retained
by the department or other organizational unit for a period of three years.
Failure to maintain search materials as legally required could lead to
an assumption of unlawful discrimination in a legal challenge.
-
The
Position Description, Job Announcement and advertisements for the position.
-
Documentation
of outreach and recruitment efforts made in connection with the search.
-
Resumes
and other application materials submitted by all candidates who applied for
the position.
- All
correspondence with and/or related to candidates who applied for the position.
-
Documentation
of having sent Applicant Data Request Cards to all candidates and all Applicant
Data Request Cards returned by candidates for the position.
-
Selection
criteria developed by the search committee as well as any selection matrix,
criteria review sheets, or other complete notes reflecting the evaluation
of candidates using those selection criteria.
-
Telephone
and on-campus interview questions and notes.
-
Reference
check questions and notes.
-
Notes that reflect search committee deliberations
of the relative merit of candidates for the position, to the extent such notes
exist.
-
All forms required in the academic search
process.
Refer to the UO
Records Retention Schedule for more information on retention requirements.
