Search Committee Training and Resources

“Search committees shape the faculty—and therefore the university—for years to come” (Fraser & Hunt, 2011, p. 189). For this reason and consistent with Iowa State University’s mission and statements of aspiration, search committee training is required for all members before persons can be granted access to faculty search materials and applicant files from University Human Resources.

Training is designed to provide committee members with information and resources to ensure they are well-equipped to carry out their service responsibility, in alignment with institutional mission and statements of aspiration. The overall goal is to ensure committee members apply best practices throughout all phases of the search process. Committee members will not be permitted to take part in search committee meetings or discussions until they have completed this required training. Search committee members will retain access to the course in Workday Learn throughout the search process.

The training has two parts:

1. a 90-minute, online Search Committee Training course in Workday Learn. The course includes required readings, a narrated PowerPoint presentation, surveys, and helpful resources for all candidates. Optional resources cover preparing to serve, cultivating an inclusive search process, and conducting interviews. Within the training course, search committees are guided to the following resources:

Required Content

Effective Faculty Recruitment (PDF, 279KB) provides guidelines and best practices to support the search process. Search committee members are encouraged to share the Build Your Career at ISU (PDF, 267KB) document with all candidates. Additional information is described on the Community Resources webpage. Also, please refer to the Faculty Template Rating Matrix.

Optional Content

Appendices (PDF, 285KB) are included to provide useful sample questions and templates to use in the faculty search process.

• Appendix A - Sample Interview Questions (PDF, 123KB)

• Appendix B - Interview Questions What to Ask What Not to Ask (PDF, 108KB)

• Appendix C - Candidate Evaluation Tool #1 (PDF, 110KB)

• Appendix D - Candidate Evaluation Tool #2 (PDF, 137KB)

• Appendix E - Sample Teaching Seminar Evaluation (PDF, 93KB)

• Appendix F - Evaluation of the Departmental Search Process (PDF, 107KB)

• Appendix G - Sample Questions for References (PDF, 75KB)

Committee members are required to complete the online training annually. The certification period restarts on July 1 each year.

2. a 60-minute, synchronous meeting with a Faculty Success Advisor and Human Resources Partner or Coordinator. This meeting will take place after all committee members complete the online Search Committee Training. The meeting may be conducted using different modalities (i.e., in-person, virtual, or hybrid). Committee members are required to attend a meeting for each Search Committee served.

Other Useful Resources and Links

Iowa State University has an institutional membership with The National Registry of Diverse and Strategic Faculty. To access this resource, email your Faculty Success Advisor for the login credentials.

The Survey of Earned Doctorates (NORC, University of Chicago) provides useful information and comprehensive data about U.S.-trained doctorate holders in the fields of science, engineering, and health. Search Committee members may use this resource to learn more about the characteristics of the candidate pool for their disciplines and open searches.

University Human Resources offers helpful resources pertaining to employment practices, guidelines, and policies.

Questions and Assistance

For questions about Search Committee Training, contact your committee chair, your college’s Faculty Success Advisor, or your Human Resources (HR) Partner or Coordinator.

Reference

Fraser, G. J., & Hunt, D. E. (2011). Faculty diversity and search committee training: Learning from a critical incident. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 4(3), 185.