PROCEDURES INVOLVED IN APPOINTMENT PROCESS
Maintenance and Creation of Positions
Maintenance and Creation of Positions
School-wide priorities for development of the faculty are discussed periodically by the dean and the Senior Faculty Council, and positions in the respective fields are discussed by the chair and senior faculty of each department. Decisions about the size and balance of the faculty, including the availability of tenured positions, are confirmed by the dean and the president or the president's designee. When positions are available, the text for position descriptions and advertisements or announcements are agreed upon by the department chair and the dean before the positions are announced. As part of this process, the dean and department chair confirm the reviews that should be conducted for individuals holding term appointments and whether the positions they hold will be maintained and available for reappointment or promotion.
Guidelines for the procedural steps required for filling individual faculty positions are described below. Depending upon the nature of the appointment, the process normally will include several of the following steps:
Notice
Where notice is required, the position shall be advertised in national
journals and an effort made to bring the position to the attention of
underrepresented classes of applicants. For tenured positions, letters
may be sent to other schools in addition to, or in lieu of, the advertisement
in national journals. Such letters shall describe the position and invite
nominations, particularly of women and minorities.
Search
When a search is required, the dean or the department chair shall name
a faculty search committee to conduct the search. When a department
chair becomes vacant, the dean will decide whether to conduct a search
or to appoint an internal candidate. For tenured positions, the committee
normally shall include one or more Harvard faculty from outside the
department conducting the search. Except in the case of a targeted search,
the committee shall consider applicants and nominees generated from
all sources, and curricula vitae or applications shall be reviewed for
individuals being given further consideration. The committee shall assemble
exhibits of teaching and creative work in design and/or scholarship
for the most qualified candidates and, if feasible, the most promising
candidates should present their work in personal interviews before the
final recommendation about appointment is made. At the conclusion of
the search, the committee shall submit a report summarizing the process
and its conclusions, as described in "Documentation" below.
Review
For cases involving promotion when a search is not required, the department
chair shall name a faculty committee to review the candidate. At the
conclusion of the review, the committee shall submit a report summarizing
the process and its findings, as described in "Documentation"
below.
Peer Letter
As part of a search or review, the committee may seek letters of appraisal
from peers. In such cases, the committee shall ask the candidate(s)
to submit the names of references and shall request letters from some
or all of the individuals on this list. The committee shall also seek
additional letters from individuals it selects.
Blind Letter
Where required for tenured appointments, the committee shall send a
"blind" letter to individuals knowledgeable in the field,
who are likely to represent diverse perspectives, seeking their evaluation
and ranking of specific individuals and requesting recommendations of
others whom they consider equally qualified, particularly women and
minorities.
Targeted Letter
In cases where a targeted search has been authorized, the committee
shall send a letter, in which a candidate selected by the committee
is identified along with a list of comparisands, to individuals knowledgeable
in the field, who are likely to represent diverse perspectives, seeking
their evaluation and ranking of specific individuals and requesting
recommendations of others whom they consider equally qualified, particularly
women and minorities.
Departmental Review
Except in circumstances in which the full senior faculty of the department
served as the search or review committee, the chair of the department
shall convene the full senior faculty at the completion of the search
or review to consider the recommendations and shall solicit their individual
opinions about the proposed action.
Recommendation by Department Chair
For each appointment, reappointment, promotion, or decision not to reappoint,
the department chair shall, where required, submit a brief letter providing
a personal recommendation that shall be transmitted with documentation
from the search or review, as described in "Documentation"
below.
Notification of the Senior Faculty Council (SFC)
Initial appointments to assistant professor and reappointments to assistant
and associate professor require notification, but not review, of the
Senior Faculty Council.
Review by the Senior Faculty Council
When required, the recommendation by the department chair, together
with documentation of the search and/or review process, shall be presented
to the Senior Faculty Council which serves as the standing Faculty Committee
on Appointments. The Council will review the file and give its recommendation
by individual vote to the dean about the proposed appointment or change
of status. For tenured appointments, each member of the Council shall
provide the dean with a brief letter concerning the proposed action
and these letters shall be forwarded, along with the other materials
required, for the presidential review.
Reappointment of an Adjunct Professor or Senior Lecturer
In the case of the reappointment of an adjunct professor or senior lecturer
the dean can choose to appoint an ad hoc committee to review the case
and advise him. The makeup of the committee is at the discretion of
the dean.
Recommendation by the Dean
After considering the recommendation of the department chair and, where
required, of the Senior Faculty Council or of the dean's ad hoc committee,
and if the dean decides in favor of the action, he or she shall recommend
approval to the Governing Boards.
Presidential Review
An appointment to a tenured position requires a presidential review.
The dean shall confer with the president or the president's designee
and agree upon the form of the review and the faculty and/or outside
consultation, if any, that will be sought. In those instances where
the president or the president's designee convenes an "ad hoc"
committee to advise on the appointment, the dean shall withhold recommendation
for or against the appointment until after the president's review has
been conducted. At the conclusion of the presidential review, the dean
shall recommend to the president or the president's designee for or
against the appointment, and the president or the president's designee
shall recommend for or against the appointment to the Governing Boards.
Approval by the Governing Boards
Where required, the Joint Committee on Appointments of the Governing
Boards shall review the case for each recommended appointment. The approval
of the Joint Committee on Appointments of the Governing Boards must
be obtained before an appointment can begin or be announced.
For appointments, reappointments, or promotions that do not require notice and search procedures and for a review that results in a decision to allow the appointment to conclude at the end of its current term, the chair of the department shall submit to the dean the candidate's curriculum vitae, appropriate exhibits of scholarly/creative work, and a brief letter describing the nature of the appointment or change being recommended and the nature and results of the consultations taken in reaching the recommendation. (See Appendix III for a checklist of required materials.)
For appointments requiring notice and search procedures, the chair of the department shall submit to the dean a current copy of the candidate's curriculum vitae, the summary affirmative action report, appropriate exhibits of scholarly/creative work, and a report prepared by the search committee, along with a brief letter providing the department chair's recommendation for or against the action and describing the results of the departmental review and the reasons why any members dissented or abstained. The report should provide documentary evidence of adequate search and review procedures and, normally, should include the following (See Appendix II for a checklist of required materials.):
The department's view of the kind of appointment it wishes to make and why such an appointment is needed, as well as the attributes or specialties it was looking for in the candidates.
An outline of the notice and search procedure. (This should indicate the composition of the committee conducting the search and the procedures followed to establish a list of candidates. There should be a description of the efforts taken to bring the position to the attention of potential applicants, along with evidence that women and minority group members were encouraged to apply. There also should be a description of the information used to make preliminary evaluations and an indication of the number of applicants and the number of women and minorities involved.)
The short list of individuals considered to be best qualified for the position. (Information about individuals given serious consideration should be provided, including short summaries of their qualifications. The names and summary curricula vitae for leading women and minority contenders should be included.)
A brief summary of the reasons behind the committee's recommendations. (The nominee should be compared explicitly to others who were seriously considered and the reasons for preferring the nominee set forth. The statement should also explain how the nominee fits the school's needs in both teaching and the area of creative work. The statement should provide the reasons expressed by any members who dissented or abstained from the committee's recommendations.)
Information pertinent to affirmative action should be summarized and included with the report. (See Appendix V for a detailed description of the information to be provided.)
Depending upon the nature of the appointment, appropriate exhibits of scholarly/creative work should also be appended.