Social Justice

Department of Social Justice

PART I
SUMMARY OF THE MAJOR STEPS IN THE TYPICAL EMPLOYMENT PROCESS FOR FACULTY, FACULTY EQUIVALENT/ACADEMIC PROFESSIONALS (FE/AP), AND OTHER NON-CLASSIFIED POSITIONS

A. AUTHORIZATION TO RECRUIT

    1. Authorization requested
    The appropriate departmental representative requests authorization to recruit from the WVU Tech Campus President or the President’s designee.
    2. Once authorization to recruit is granted, the position must be properly established before recruitment efforts are initiated.

B. DEFINITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT CATEGORIES

    1. Non-classified – to be deemed non-classified, a position must meet one of three criteria, as outlined in HEPC Series 8, Section 2.1.7.
    2. Faculty Equivalent/Academic Professional - FE/AP positions are faculty-like positions in which the work assigned is essentially academic in nature, or which supports the teaching and research goals of WVU Tech; these positions are most often assigned to academic units.
    3. Faculty - For purposes of this document, faculty positions include tenure, non-tenure, clinical, and library tracks. Non-tenure track positions include lecturers and positions that use visiting, clinical, research, or adjunct as prefixes.

C. CREATING/ESTABLISHING NEW POSITIONS

Non-classified & FEAP Positions

    1. Position is created/established prior to any recruitment activity
    A position must first be created/established and approved, as appropriate, by HR C&C, Social Justice, and/or the Provost’s office before recruitment begins. There is a special position description form for NC and AP positions. It must be completed in full and submitted, along with the NC-AP coversheet, to HR C&C (NC) or the Provost’s Office (AP). These forms can be found on the Human Resources web site.

    2.Administrator must approve before position description submitted to HR
    Obtain all necessary approvals/signatures from the appropriate director, dean or VP. Submit the form to HR C&C.

    3. Position Description reviewed
    Depending upon the type of position, the description may be reviewed by the Provost’s Office and/or HR C&C and Social Justice.

    4.Decisions and Notification
    Approvals: For all new NC and AP positions, HR C&C establishes a salary range (using both external and internal comparable data) and the position is created in Oracle. Email notification is sent to the initiating department, EBO and appropriate parties.
    Disapprovals: Should the requested position be disapproved at any of the steps noted above, HR will work with the requesting department to find a workable solution.

D. ESTABLISHING AND ORGANIZING THE SEARCH PROCESS

    1. Search Committee formed
    If approval to proceed is granted by the appropriate administrator, the administrator will appoint a Search Committee and Chairperson.

    2. Social Justice Search Representative (SJSR) appointed

    3. Role of the Social Justice Search Representative

      • The SJSR is not a regular member of the Search Committee. The responsibility for Affirmative Action in the search process rests with the search committee, not with the SJSR.
      • The SJSR has an advisory role from the start of the process.

E. RECRUITMENT AND ADVERTISING GUIDELINES

    1. Final preparations to begin recruitment phase of search
    The Chairperson consults with the appropriate administrator, the SJSR and then with the committee to discuss use of the completed position description, advertising of the position, budget, time requirements and other criteria for the search procedure.

      • Requirements for Position Description and advertisements
      The Position Description, Appendix B, and all subsequent advertisements or notices regarding the position, must meet the requirements detailed in Part II of this document.
      • Sample ad copies are available in Appendix C
      •Departmental budget for search expenses determined
      All expenses incurred in the search process are paid by the unit for which the search is being conducted. Appendix D presents a set of expenditure guidelines for the search process.

    2. Good faith efforts made
    Good Faith Efforts to Attract a Diverse Pool of Applicants are an Integral Part of the Recruitment Plan

      1) The following forms of advertising are expected:
      Non-classified and FEAP Positions

      • Position announcements must be posted for a minimum of ten (10) working days in the following locations:

        -In the Human Resources Jobs Bulletin
        -On the bulletin board in Human Resources Employment Unit
        -In the hiring unit on a prominently displayed bulletin board

      • Advertising in the Chronicle of Higher Education is required for all administrative positions.
      Full-time Faculty Positions

        • Faculty positions are posted on the Provost’s web site (http://www.wvu.edu/~acadaff/fpo/positions.htm.)
        • Faculty positions should be advertised in publications that have national circulation

      2) Additional advertising and outreach encouraged
      Additional forms of advertising and outreach are used to further increase the diversity of the applicant pool for all Non-classified, FEAP and Faculty positions. Applications and nominations are solicited through personal and professional contact networks. Use of Internet list serves that target minorities, women, and other protected groups, is required. List serves should be targeted by discipline and position type.

      Appendix E has an extensive list of WWW resources. (Care should be taken that sites advertised as free actually are free)

      The Provost’s office has a pool of funds available to facilitate the interviewing of minority and women candidates.

    3. Implementing the Recruitment Plan


      • Ad copy may be sent to the Human Resources Liaison who will place the ad in the designated publication or it may be placed by the staff person assigned to the committee.
      • At the same time the appropriate form for posting in the WVU Jobs Bulletin should be submitted to the Human Resources Employment Unit for Non-Classified and FEAP positions.
      • The Search Committee develops a schedule of activities and organizes necessary clerical and resource support.
      • Appendix F includes a series of sample letters which facilitate routine processing of applications and nominations.

F. PRE-INTERVIEW SEARCH & SCREENING GUIDELINES

    1. Criteria established for screening applications
    The criteria should be directly linked to the qualifications and experience requirements set forth in the Position Description, Appendix G.

    2. Applications and nominations are processed as they are received
    As completed applications are received by the Search Committee, a letter of acknowledgment and a Self-Identification Form (SID), found in Appendix H, should be sent to each applicant.

    3. SID forms collected
    The SJSR collects the returned Self-Identification Forms (SID) for compilation of statistical information.

    4. Applications sorted
    The committee sorts applications in an initial screening process taking into consideration any candidates from underutilized groups.

    5. Pool of qualified applicants determined

    6. References checked
    The committee requests and reviews references for candidates to be interviewed. Appendix I has a sample list of questions.

    7. “Short list” of candidates developed
    The search committee, in consultation with the administrator and the SJSR, develops a “short list” of candidates to interview.

    8. Pool of finalists determined
    Telephone or video interviews may be held with the “short list” of candidates to determine the pool of finalists.

G. INTERVIEW GUIDELINES FOR ON-CAMPUS

    1. On-campus interviewers determined
    The Search Committee identifies individuals, groups, and external constituencies to be included in the on-campus interview process.

    2. Interviewers receive interview evaluation form
    The Search Committee develops a written interview evaluation form in conjunction with the SJSR to be distributed to all interviewers prior to the actual interviews. Appendix J.

    3. The Search Committee invites candidates to campus for interviews.
    The Chairperson of the Search Committee should contact each candidate to extend the formal invitation for an interview.

    4. The SJSR reviews “Do’s and Don’ts” with the committee
    Appendix L presents a document entitled Do's and Don'ts for Interviewing Job Applicants that should assist interviewers in making appropriate pre-employment inquiries.

    5. On-campus interviews are held.
    Several basic guidelines should be followed in all on-campus interviews. These are detailed in Part II of this document.

    6. Senior Administrator interviews candidates
    A Senior Administrator in the Office of the VP for Academic Affairs must interview candidates for senior rank or immediate tenure.

H. FINAL CANDIDATES AND OFFERS OF EMPLOYMENT

    1. Search Committee meets immediately after interviews

    2. Search Committee submits report to administrator
    The Search Committee submits to the appropriate administrator a written report containing the strengths and weaknesses of each of the final candidates (all those candidates who were interviewed).

    3. The appropriate administrator selects a final candidate.
    If the administrator considers none of the candidates acceptable, she/he may ask the committee to reconsider the reserve pool.

    4. Search and Selection Activity Report completed
    The Committee Chair and the SJSR work together to complete the “Search and Selection Activities Report” form, found in Appendix M.

    5. Submission of the Search and Selection Activities Report and the Draft Offer Letter

    6. No offers of employment extended prior to approval
    All Searches: No verbal or written offer can be made until the letter is approved and the Search and Selection Activity Report is approved by the Social Justice office.

    Annotated sample offer letters for faculty positions may be found in Appendix N. The sample offer letters in Appendix O may be modified as appropriate for non-classified positions.

    8. If the offer is rejected

      • Should the candidate reject the offer, the hiring unit immediately notifies Social Justice and the Human Resources Classification & Compensation Unit.
      • The position may be offered to the next candidate by following the procedures outlined in Steps 3 through 7 in this section.
      • A new Search and Selection Activity Report is required but all of the supporting documents need not be resubmitted.

    9. Internal Searches
    For internal searches for Chairpersons, Assistant, and Associate Deans, refer to Appendix P.

I. CLOSING THE SEARCH

    1. Remaining candidates notified
    The Search Committee notifies all remaining candidates of the selection of an individual to fill the position. Appendix Q.

    2. Search files closed
    The search files are closed and the files are kept for at least 3 years from the date of appointment.

J. INITIAL PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW EMPLOYEES
Note: All candidates must meet immigration/work eligibility requirements before beginning work for WVU or to being put on payroll.

    1. Appropriate forms submitted
    The hiring unit forwards the Assignment/Salary Administration Form to the Payroll Department with a copy of the acceptance letter and Search and Selection Activities Report.

    2. Scheduling occurs
    Upon receipt of the salary administration web form in HR, the Employee Data Services (EDS) team from Finance will schedule:

      1) a processing date for the employee, and
      2) a benefits orientation session (if the employee is benefits-eligible) within the first month of employment.

    3. Required training attended
    All new employees must attend a New Employee Orientation workshop which includes a session on Sexual Harassment Awareness.

K. ADVANCEMENT AND FUTURE SALARY ADJUSTMENTS

    The appropriate President, Vice President, or Executive Officer must approve any future salary adjustment, other than that which is a part of a regular University adjustment program.

    Current WVU employees may advance in one of the following ways:

    1. Application for promotion on a traditional career ladder

    2. Application for promotion or transfer through a competitive search

    3. Position Review

    Note: None of these three processes guarantees that the employee will advance. Rather they are opportunities for the employee to receive consideration for advancement