Faculty Search Activities Guide

The Faculty Search Activities Guide has been updated to reflect recent changes in federal regulations, institutional systems, and evolving best practices in tenure-track faculty recruitment. These revisions aim to ensure compliance, promote consistent and inclusive practices, and streamline operational efficiency across all schools and colleges.

Key Updates:

1. Posting Hiring Ranges to Comply with MA Pay Transparency Act
   To comply with the Massachusetts Pay Transparency Act, all faculty job postings must include a hiring range beginning in October 2025. Hiring ranges will be communicated to schools and colleges by Academic HR ahead of the 2025–26 search cycle.
2. Discontinued Use of Availability Estimates and Central Shortlist Review
   Availability estimates will no longer be used to assess applicant pool diversity, and central approval of shortlists by the Provost's Office/Academic HR has been eliminated. This change is intended to ensure compliance with changes to federal requirements and to reduce administrative burden without compromising institutional values. Shortlists should continue to be submitted via APWS for approval by the Dean and to facilitate engagement with the Infrastructure Support Group (ISG), as needed.
3. Transition to PageUp for Search Workflow
   The search workflow will transition fully to PageUp, the university’s centralized applicant tracking system. This transition will take place over the course of the 2025–26 academic year in connection with Human Resources’ PageUp reimplementation and the planned decommissioning of APWS after AY25–26. APWS will continue to be used for shortlist and finalist approvals until the transition is complete.
4. Updated Guidance on Candidate Statements
   Rather than requiring separate diversity statements, search committees and deans are encouraged to invite candidates to describe, in a cover letter or separate personal statement, how their work aligns with the university’s values and goals as outlined in the Strategic Plan – For the Common Good. The guide also incorporates the system-wide anti-discrimination statement for use in job announcements and advertisements.
5. General Revisions and Streamlining
   The guide has been revised to remove outdated steps, incorporate recent updates, reduce administrative burden and ensure consistency with institutional processes and legal requirements.

These updates reflect the university’s ongoing commitment to fair, inclusive, and mission-aligned faculty hiring, while ensuring compliance with evolving requirements and operational needs. 

At the University of Massachusetts Amherst, we recognize that our ability to lead as a flagship public research institution depends on the talent, vision, and diversity of our people. In today’s global academic landscape, attracting and retaining exceptional faculty requires more than filling positions — it requires cultivating a thriving, inclusive community where all members can succeed, collaborate, and grow.

This guide reflects our renewed commitment to recruiting and retaining world-class, diverse faculty by advancing a community grounded in success, wellness, and inclusivity. Each search is an opportunity to strengthen our academic excellence, expand our global reach, and further our goal of becoming an agile and synergistic organization. We strive to build teams of scholars and educators who enrich our campus through interdisciplinary collaboration and who are empowered by a shared sense of purpose.

Successful faculty hiring also relies on thoughtful stewardship of resources — human, financial, and institutional. Through clear guidance and practical tools, this guide helps ensure that each search is conducted with intention, transparency, and efficiency.

Designed for both search committee members and the administrators who guide and support their work, this guide:

• Describes the key stages of the search process;
• Clarifies the roles and responsibilities of all participants;
• Provides best practices to operationalize our commitment to diversity, equity, and excellence.

Ultimately, our recruitment practices must do more than fill a need — they must drive us forward. This guide is a resource to help us meet that charge.

All faculty searches must be included on the approved hiring plan before they can begin. If a proposed search is not on the current hiring plan, the Dean must consult with the Provost and obtain approval before proceeding. Examples of searches that may be approved outside the hiring plan include direct Spousal appointments, such as a spousal hire.

The Dean of the School or College is the designated appointing authority and will communicate to the Department Chairs the searches that have been approved for their respective area as reflected on the approved hiring plan. The Dean may formally delegate some or all search-related responsibilities to others such as an Associate Dean or Department Chair. To initiate the search, the Dean or designee will appoint the search committee, the search committee chair and a search committee staff member, if available. As part of this communication, the Dean or designee conveys the precise criteria for filling the position.. This “charge to the committee” also includes directions regarding the evaluation of recommended finalists following the interviews.

The charge should include the following information:

• Official and/or working title and rank of position in question.
• Anticipated hiring range of the position which will be included in the job posting and advertisement.
• Expectation for use and form of statements solicited from candidates addressing how their work aligns with campus values and goals as outlined in the University’s strategic plan.
• The Deans’ view of the position’s scope and short- and long-term challenges and opportunities.
• Policy for handling late or incomplete applications.
• Extent of the Dean and/or Dean’s Office involvement in the search process (approval of requisition prior to posting, etc.)
• Preferred number of finalist candidates to visit the campus and a general idea of the conduct of the campus visit.
• Utilization of references, letters submitted with application or names of references to be contacted at the discretion of the Search Chair.
• Expectations regarding offers of tenure upon hire for associate professor, professor, or open rank searches and how relevant materials will be collected to ultimately support an expedited tenure file
• Form in which the committee’s final recommendations are to be brought forward: a narrative summary of the finalists’ strengths and weaknesses and whether or not a ranked list of acceptable finalists is required.
• Funds available for advertising and for candidates’ travel, hotels, and meals.

The Search Chair in cooperation with the Department Chair will submit to the Dean for prior approval the following information to ensure it is in line with the charge:

• Position (job) description and a copy of the advertising plan including the position announcement.
• Essential and preferred criteria for selection; criteria that are important to the department and to UMass Amherst.
• Time frame for completing the search (the committee should formulate and distribute a timetable to appropriate constituencies, including the Provost’s Office).
• Duties of the search committee chair and individual committee members.
• Committee administrative and logistical support needs beyond department capability.

Once charged, the search committee chair is responsible for the following:

• Compiling the initial search documentation.
• Coordinating outreach to increase the applicant pool, including telephone calls and emails.
• Ensuring that all committee members clearly understand the requirements of the position.
• Ensuring that all committee members clearly understand their confidentiality obligations.
• Call and chair search committee meetings, if applicable.
• Ensuring that accurate documentation of the search process is kept.
• Maintaining contact with the appointing authority about relevant search information.
• Communicating with candidates and finalists on behalf of the University.
• Submitting the committee’s final recommendation to the appointing authority.

All members of the search committee are charged with the responsibility to assist in the filling of a position by performing the following tasks:

• Help to identify and contact potential applicants who could contribute to the campus values and goals.
• Screen applicants and selecting candidates for interviews.
• Design and participate in the interview process, including the inclusion of eligible department faculty when applicable.
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality about search committee proceeding.
• Contribute to assessing the strengths and weaknesses of final candidates for recommendation to the appointing authority.

Individuals who provide administrative support to the search committee, or record keepers, are tasked with the responsibility of assisting the search committee by performing the following tasks:

• Initiate actions in the appropriate University systems
• Schedule and participate in candidate interviews
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality about the search committee’s proceedings
• Provide record-keeping for the search including dispositioning the candidates in PageUp.

Developing an Inclusive Position Advertisement

The position advertisement is the candidates’ first exposure to the department and the institution. It is an important opportunity to signal our commitment to fostering a university environment that positively affirms the contributions of multiple perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. All position descriptions must include the following anti-discrimination statement:

The University of Massachusetts Amherst welcomes all qualified applicants and complies with all state and federal anti-discrimination laws.

For junior faculty searches, the following language should also be used to maximize our chances of landing outstanding faculty with experience supporting the mission as articulated in the university’s Strategic Plan:

We are seeking talented applicants qualified for an assistant professor position. Under exceptional circumstances, highly qualified candidates at other ranks may receive consideration.

For senior faculty searches (at the rank of associate professor and above in which an offer of tenure upon hire may be considered), the following language should be included:

Candidates should include materials that address the standards and criteria for tenure at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as described in our Academic Personnel Policy (also known as the “Red Book”).

Asking candidates to describe how their work aligns with the university’s values and strategic goals——offers an opportunity to highlight our institutional commitment and invite applicants of all backgrounds to demonstrate how they can contribute to an inclusive and vibrant academic environment. These reflections are not used to exclude candidates, but rather to gain insight into the ways candidates foster respectful collaboration, support student success, and help advance departmental and institutional priorities. Search committees may request that candidates address these themes within their cover letter, or teaching, research or service statements, as appropriate (see Appendix A).

Committees are also encouraged to avoid overly narrow qualifications or subfield restrictions that may unintentionally limit the applicant pool, and instead focus on framing that invites broad participation and alignment with institutional priorities.

Developing an Applicant Evaluation Plan

Using the "charge to the Search Committee", a plan should be developed as to how candidates’ qualifications will be evaluated as compared to minimum and preferred qualifications, in order to select the applicants to be interviewed. The plan should describe how the committee will use these qualifications to make distinctions among candidates. The committee may weigh preferred qualifications with varying importance; they may determine equivalencies or substitutions when allowed by job advertisements. A well-documented evaluation process in which each candidate’s qualifications are compared with the qualifications specified in the job ad or position announcement should withstand the scrutiny of any individual attempting to challenge the process’s legitimacy.

Each search must demonstrate a good faith effort to recruit, interview, and hire qualified candidates through an equitable and inclusive process. The evaluation plan established for the search should describe how applicants will be assessed based on their qualifications and the extent to which their work aligns with the university’s values and strategic goals, including contributions to student success, inclusive excellence, public engagement, and interdisciplinary collaboration. In addition, a tentative plan for the stages of the interview process (phone/video interviews, on campus interviews, etc.) and the ideal number of candidates for each stage should be outlined. To learn more and for a sample evaluation sheet (see Appendix B).

It should be noted that all members of the University community who are engaged throughout the search and hiring process must represent the University of Massachusetts with the utmost professionalism and with an eye toward an equitable and inclusive process.

Given what we know about the relationship between the composition of search committees and the goals we seek to advance, a comprehensive search committee training (see Search Committee Training below) is offered to ensure that all members of the search committee are equipped to contribute effectively to department hiring goals.

Tips on Forming a Search Committee

• Committee chairpersons should hold same or higher rank as the vacant position, however exceptions are often made.
• The size of the committee often reflects the importance of the vacant position (the more important the position, the greater the number of committee members), but keep in mind the challenges of scheduling and ensuring full participation by large committees.
• Consider the composition of the search committee and whether it is representative of the campus.
• Determine whether each potential appointee has sufficient time to devote to search committee duties.
• Ensure that some members of the committee possess technical expertise sufficient to make astute comparisons among applicants.

Search Committee Training

All search committee members must have completed the Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Improve Diversity and Excellence (STRIDE) faculty recruitment training within the last three academic years in order to gain access to applicant files. In the event a search committee member is unable to complete STRIDE training prior to the commencement of a search, an exception can made by the Dean on a case-by-case basis. The STRIDE trainings will provide critical information to ensure the equitable treatment of candidates in the search process. The College Diversity Officer is available to meet with the Search Chair to provide additional information and support, including but not limited to the search process, policies/procedures, bias, diversity, and veteran’s preference requirements.

Changes in the Search Committee

Changes in the composition of the committee throughout the search should be avoided in order to ensure continuity in the assessment of candidates; therefore, a faculty member who may not be able to serve to the search’s end should not accept appointment to the committee. A committee need not get approval to make a single substitution for a departing member, but the committee chair must record the timing and reason for any such substitutions. Any further substitutions require approval of the Dean’s Office.

Faculty Conflicts of Interest and Recusals

Faculty who have mentored, published with, written grants with or had a personal friendship with applicants must disclose these relationships to the search committee, department chair, and Dean. The Dean will review the disclosure and will, with guidance from the Provost’s Office if needed, determine if the faculty member should recuse themselves during the search process. If a faculty member has mentored, published regularly with, written multiple grants with and/or had a close personal relationship with the applicant, they should be prepared to (or will be asked to) recuse themselves from the search process; such faculty should never participate in evaluative discussions of such applicants. Under no circumstances should a member of a search committee provide a reference letter for an applicant. For more information on determining if a faculty member must disclose a prior relationship during the search process, please see Appendix C – Conflicts of Interest and Faculty Recusals.

The Search Committee in consultation with the Department chair develops a Search Plan. Developing a proactive plan (rather than having a “plan-as-you-go” approach) will yield better results and help accomplish a stronger and deeper connection between academic excellence, quality candidates, and diversity. To further this aim, the search committee should develop a recruitment and advertising plan (not merely a list of where the ad will be posted) that demonstrates a proactive search and recruitment strategy.

The record keeper, in consultation with the search chair and appropriate school or departmental personnel representative creates a requisition in the University’s applicant management system, PageUp.

• Number of Positions (position number, reason for the position, current/previous incumbent, posting title, reason for the position). Multiple positions with the same rank and specializations may be posted using one requisition.
• Position details
• Funding information (Speedtype).
• Search Committee (search committee chair and search committee members.) Record keepers must enter in search committee names to grant access to applicant materials. Search committee members must have completed the necessary STRIDE training prior to gaining access to applicant materials.
• Posting Details (Identify advertising sources). Positions will automatically post to the University’s job site and Diversity Jobs.
• Infrastructure Support Group (ISG) Information – Record keepers must upload the ISG questionnaire form (available in PageUp) and identify infrastructure needs, including (proposed office/lab space, whether the proposed space is currently vacant, and research requirements including position’s needs related to animal, human subject or other research needs.) As much as possible, the requisition should specifically address any significant implications for the hire’s space, equipment, and support-service costs. For more information on searches for faculty with infrastructure needs, please see Appendix I.

If a proposed hire will require facilities beyond a simple faculty office, the Dean must contact the Provost’s Office directly at the time of submitting the initial requisition to discuss facilities. Ideally, the Dean will be able to combine all of the space requests within her/his school so that the Provost’s consultations with those responsible for planning in the Office of the Chancellor, and the offices of Design & Construction Management and Facilities Planning can be comprehensive. It is critical for Deans to review the space/renovation issues well in advance with the appropriate offices and to present to the Provost’s office the most accurate forecasts of these expenses, and identify the resources available to support them, at the time of the request for a search. Please see Appendix I for more information on searches for faculty will infrastructure needs.

Any search launched is contingent, with no offer possible until solid confirmation of all space needs and associated costs is in hand. No one will be offered a position without a clear facilities and services pathway signed off on by the Provost’s office, which will in turn coordinate with the Office of the Chancellor, Facilities and Campus Services, and other offices when relevant (e.g., Animal Care Services, etc.).

Once the record keeper provides the information in PageUp, the search plan will be routed to the Provost’s Office, the ISG group, and Talent Management (HR) for review and approval.  The record keeper should consult with the respective department head or Dean’s office to determine if any additional approvals are needed. Schools and Colleges may instruct their departments to include the Department Chair and the dean’s office, but will be responsible for ensuring that the respective individuals on the approval path received the required training in order to access the PageUp system. Assuming all required offices approve the search plan, record keepers will be notified from PageUp that the search may proceed to the posting and interview phase. The record keeper will work with Talent Acquisition to post the position in PageUp and the committee proceeds to advertise, actively recruit, and review applications.

The search committee, in consultation with the Search Committee Chair will review the applicant pool and determine which applicants meet the advertised minimum qualifications. Applicants who meet the minimum requirements for the position should be dispositioned in PageUp as “Meets Minimum Qualifications.” All applicants who do not meet the advertised minimum requirements of the position should be dispositioned in PageUp as “Screened- No Longer Under Consideration.” Individuals who are placed in this status will be automatically sent an email from PageUp informing them that they have been removed from further consideration. All applications should be handled similarly. Specifically, the procedure for considering incomplete applications should be determined and consistently applied. However, an applicant’s review should not be harmed by letters of recommendation sent late or other actions beyond the applicant’s control.

Social Media and Candidate Evaluation

Publicly available content on social media may be used in assessing candidates. All applications must be handled in the same way, review of social media should not be done selectively. If the Search Chair wishes to consider social media in the decision-making process they must document how that assessment was carried out. The Search Chair should be able to articulate a reason for a social media search related to the nature of the position (e.g. public-facing position, department leader, etc.).

Points to consider:

• Decide in advance the scope and purpose. Use the job description to indicate relevant information to consider.
• Remind yourself of the protected characteristics that cannot be considered in evaluation of candidates and take steps to safeguard against their use in the evaluation process. If you are not sure about how to do this refrain from using social media in evaluation and/or contact Human Resources for assistance.
• Review more than one social media platform, e.g. Facebook (social) and LinkedIn (professional)
• Print or take a screenshot to document the steps taken in your review.

Internal Employees

Depending on the number of qualified candidates which are expected to apply, the Search Committee may conduct preliminary interviews to further reduce the candidate pool down to the candidates who will be invited for campus interviews. Preliminary interviews are commonly done via phone or video interview (Skype, Zoom, etc.). The modality used for the preliminary interviews should be consistent for all candidates. Prior to conducting phone or video interviews, there should be a decision as to how to appropriately evaluate the candidates during this round. Applicants who are invited to preliminary interviews should be dispositioned as “Preliminary Interview” in PageUp. If the applicant participated in a phone or skype interview but is no longer under consideration as a result, the candidate should be dispositioned in PageUp as “Preliminary Interview- No Longer Under Consideration.” An email will not be automatically sent to the candidate by moving them into this disposition so the record keeper should consult with the appointing authority or designee to determine how the candidate will be notified.

The search committee develops a schedule of job-related questions which do not request information already available in the vita except in the form of clarification or explanation of vita information. The interview process requires careful planning to ensure that the questions are not directed toward eliciting information prohibited by law. Notes from the phone or video conversation are added to an applicant's file as documentation for the subsequent disposition of the application. Confidentiality about applicant and reference materials must be maintained even after the search has been completed. Unsolicited correspondence received that is not relevant to an applicant's qualifications for the job may be discarded by the search committee.

For each round of interviews, there should be a reasonable effort to treat candidates consistently. “Consistently” in this context does not always equate to exactly alike. Instead, a committee should consider whether candidates are given similar opportunities to highlight their experiences and advance their candidacy.  It would not be okay for half of the candidates to get 2 hours with the search committee and the other half only get 45 minutes with the search committee, as this could have a significant negative impact on those candidates getting less opportunity to interact with the committee.

Likewise, significant absences of search committee members from interviews or other encounters with candidates can also have an adverse impact and should be avoided.

Guidelines for Interview Questions

A key component of a successful interview process is strong interview questions that seek to tease out professional characteristics which are directly related to the requirements of a position. There are a variety of question types that can used during a search.  For example:

• Informational/Background questions ask candidates to provide additional context to their specific accomplishments, background, and experiences.
  • Example: Please describe your experience working with online learning platforms. What courses have you adapted for an online platform? What were the challenges associated with that adaptation?

The search committee will collaborate to develop a set of questions that will assist the committee in assessing the scholarship, teaching, and service capacity of the candidates. For all searches, the core interview questions should be developed prior to interviews and the same set of questions should be used with each candidate. However, as interviews are dynamic and unique to each candidate, follow-up questions and questions directly related to a candidate’s CV are encouraged. For more discussion of interview questions (see Appendices E and F).

References

The appointing authority or designee determines if the application will include letters of reference or names of references to be contacted at the discretion of the search committee. Applicants for entry level positions or junior faculty positions are usually better evaluated if letters of reference are immediately available because references speak to potential while CVs focus on accomplishments. However, applicants for senior-level positions with extensive experience enumerated on the CV may hesitate to apply for positions in which they are required to provide reference letters before they know if their application has received some interest from the search committee. Confidentiality for the applicant for senior-level positions may be more critical. For potential hires at the rank of associate professor or professor in which an expedited tenure review is anticipated, search committees should collect relevant documents during the recruitment so that the applicant search materials can also be used as the basic file for a tenure review (See Appendix J).

Even if reference letters are obtained, telephone reference checks are encouraged because they enable the committee to secure specific information about the applicant. The committee develops a standardized protocol of questions and includes those questions necessary to the individual applicant's situation. Notes of the reference call are included in the applicant's file. Interviewed candidates should be notified that phone calls may be placed to persons who are not identified as references but who may also be knowledgeable about the candidate. When conducting reference checks by telephone, references must be informed whether the candidate has waived or not waived his/her right to have access to reference materials. This information can be found in PageUp.  See the reference check checklist in Appendix E and for information on off-list reference checks, please see Appendix F, Off-List Reference Checks.

Generally, individuals on the short list show significant accomplishment and/or promise. A holistic assessment of the many qualifications of each candidate is strongly encouraged. Reviewers should favorably consider an individual’s record of conduct that includes the candidate’s prior work with students and colleagues with broadly diverse perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds in educational, research, or other work activities. In addition to weighing other qualifications, reviewers should favorably consider experience of overcoming or helping others to overcome barriers to an academic career or degree that a candidate would bring to UMass. The search committee must make every effort at every stage of this process to give candidates an opportunity to demonstrate their strengths and potential contributions, even if this involves, when in doubt, providing a campus interview opportunity. 

Before the Search Committee schedules campus visits for short list candidates, the committee chair and/or record keeper should forward its recommended shortlist to the Department Chair and the Dean for final approval through APWS. The Search Committee chair and/or record keeper should upload a brief memo assessing the qualifications of the short list candidates The applicant materials (CV, application materials) must also be uploaded into APWS.  For searches where the Infrastructure Support Group (ISG) is expected to participate in interviews (as noted on the requisition), the search committee chair should engage with ISG once the list of campus interviewees is finalized. This ensures ISG can schedule and take part in the interviews as planned.

Before the first candidate visit, any remaining issues of budget, space, services, and start-up—to the extent that they are identified—should be resolved by the Provost and ISG.

Individuals on the  short-list should be dispositioned in PageUp as “Campus Interview (Short list).” Individuals who were interviewed but no longer under consideration should be dispositioned as “Campus Interview – No Longer Under Consideration.” There is a built in communication template titled “Amherst Interviewed Not Selected for Hire” that record keepers may use to notify applicants.

Changes or Addendums to the Short List

In the event the search committee wishes to add additional applicants to the short-list they should coordinate with their departments, dean’s office, and ISG, as necessary.

The visits of candidates invited to campus should show off our quality and diversity and should strive to be substantially the same from one candidate to the next. Candidates who participate in campus interviews for a given position should ideally receive access to the same levels of decision makers.

During the campus interviews, it is sometimes difficult to ask each applicant identical questions. However, every attempt should be made to treat all candidates equitably. Although different questions may become necessary, every attempt should be made to elicit equivalent information in every area identified as critical to the position. Evaluation sheets should be developed and used by interviewers to transmit assessments of the relative strengths and weaknesses of each candidate. These sheets should be submitted promptly to the search committee chair after the interviews have been conducted.

There is no specific required interview itinerary for applicants; this is left to the discretion of the hiring unit. However, each candidate who participates in an on-campus interview must be guaranteed equal access to the decision makers in the search and appointment process. The appointing authority decides whether to interview all candidates invited to the campus, or just the finalist pool. That decision is made when the appointing authority gives the charge to the search committee at the initial meeting.

All application materials for individuals on the shortlist should be available to the full faculty. To accomplish this goal while maintaining appropriate confidentiality, departments must adhere to the following guidelines:

• The department will maintain in a secure online location a copy of (to the extent applicable but not limited to) confidential letters of reference, application letters, CVs, teaching and research statements, transcripts. The online location should be accessible only to faculty authorized to view the materials.
• Any departmental faculty who wish to view the online documents may do so, however the following is expected:
  • Faculty will not disclose or distribute the contents of confidential applicant information to anyone outside the department’s faculty or academic administration.
  • Faculty will not disclose or distribute the contents of confidential applicant information to any of the candidates, including the candidate who may ultimately be employed.
  • Faculty will not make physical or digital copies of any application materials (downloading documents does not constitute making a copy).
  • Faculty will not contact any of the parties who provided confidential references.
  • Faculty will abide by University policies in using the information disclosed in the materials. Faculty will adhere to the University’s guidelines on impartiality/objectivity in the University’s non-discrimination policy.

Following the completion of all campus interviews, the search committee should solicit feedback from the department faculty and present (orally or in writing) the committee’s assessment of the candidates to the department faculty in order to receive the assessments of the faculty, students, and other stakeholders. (For example, the search committee should actively solicit the assessments from other programs or interdisciplinary groups with which the new position will be affiliated.) Such feedback may be obtained at a meeting of the department faculty or by using a survey instrument such as Qualtrics. 

Ultimately, the committee should hear and capture the sense of the faculty. Faculty input to the search committee can be confidential but not anonymous and may include a faculty vote in accordance with departmental bylaws. The purpose of voting and ranking, if applicable, in the discussion, is to facilitate department conversation about the candidates to assess consensus as well as disagreement, identifying minority and majority viewpoints, which contribute to the search committee’s assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate.

The committee prepares a search recommendation memo that reflects the views of the departments’ faculty at large based on robust discussion and incorporates other assessments received. The assessment of strengths and weaknesses should sufficiently convey the hiring units’ wishes to the appointing authority.

The memo should:

• briefly describe the process used narrow the field of acceptable candidates at various stages of the process, including whether the candidate pool adequately reflected the availability data at each stage of the search (minimally qualified, preliminary interview, campus interview);
• summarize the departmental discussion of finalist (including the diversity of views expressed);
• describe the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate.

When describing candidates’ strengths and weaknesses, the committee’s rationale must:

• focus strictly on their qualifications for the job itself. Do NOT comment on their race, ethnicity, accent, personal appearance, clothing, personality, age or maturity, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, or marital status;
• take great care to ensure that the contributions of candidates are assessed equitably. For example, do not discuss the leadership qualifications and experiences of male candidates without explicit and equivalent attention to the leadership qualifications and experiences of female candidates.

BEFOREwriting their own recommendations to the Provost, Department Chairs and Deans must closely review search committee recommendations. The process will move much faster if the Chair, or, as a last resort, the Dean has made sure that all recommendations focus on qualifications for the job and do not make inappropriate references to protected personal characteristics.

The most important aspect of the recommendation is the candidate's professional accomplishments, potential for future achievement, potential for contributing to the success of our students, potential for contribution to building an inclusive environment, and expected contributions to the department's stature. The memo should address the following information that informed the department’s selection.

• when and where degrees were obtained;
• current position and other related professional experience;
• publication portfolio or record of creative achievements, specifically its contribution to the field;
• record of external support through grants;
• achievements including fellowships and prizes;
• teaching experience, including evaluations if available;
• experience as mentors for postdocs/junior faculty/graduate and undergraduate students;
• any other aspect of the candidate’s professional accomplishments.

It is always advisable to extend a search if the campus interviews resulted in a shared sentiment that the candidates did not sufficiently advance the institution’s interest. However, when multiple candidates are similarly strong, the committee should signal that to the appointing authority (Dean).

Once the recommendation is developed, the committee will submit the memo in APWS to the Department Chair. Once completed, the Dean will provide preferred rankings through APWS which will be routed to the Provost’s Office for ISG approval, if required by the requisition. The Provost’s Office will review the recommendation as well as the proposed terms of the offer and determine if the hire is approved.

Individuals who are approved as finalists should be dispositioned in PageUp as “Finalist.”

Communication with Top Finalists

Neither the committee members nor anyone else in the department or college may communicate with finalists regarding terms of employment, salary, or working conditions before receiving explicit authorization from the Provost. There may be no “informal” or “unofficial” offers contingent on subsequent approval. The Provost must review and approve the formal offer letter prior to its delivery to the candidate.

An offer of employment and the specification of the terms of an offer require the Provost’s prior approval and must not be prematurely, contingently, or speculatively conveyed to a finalist. Inquiries to check whether a candidate is still available are permitted, but they must be done for all finalists and not just the committee’s preferred candidate.

After the Provost’s Office has approved the hire, the Dean or designee may then extend verbal offers to candidates in accordance with the Provost’s approval in APWS and begin negotiations. Candidates who are being offered employment should be encouraged to consult with the MSP as an independent resource to discuss the various benefits and advantages of working as a faculty member at UMass Amherst. 

All written offer letters must be approved by the Provost’s Office. Academic Human Resources provides template offer letters that must be used for tenure-track appointments. Once an identified candidate is dispositioned as “Recommended for Hire” the record-keeper must initiate a PageUp offer card. In addition to providing the relevant information on the offer card, the record keeper must attach the draft offer letter and start-up spreadsheet. The offer card will be routed to the appropriate individuals in the Provost’s Office for approval. 

The record keeper is responsible for appropriately dispositioning all candidates including any offers made, offers declined, any offer accepted, and must identify the person actually hired. 

Multiple Simultaneous Offers

In general, the Dean or designee may not make simultaneous offers to finalists. However, in some highly competitive fields where the demand for qualified candidates far outstrips the supply, the Dean or designee may ask the Provost for permission to make multiple simultaneous offers with the hope of hiring one person. Such a hiring strategy must be approached cautiously because of the risk of exceeding available financial resources.

Background Checks and Vaccination Requirement

If the employment offer is accepted, the background check is carried out by the vendor engaged by Human Resources for this purpose. All offers are contingent on successfully passing a background check and compliance with the University’s vaccination policy. The background check is comprehensive and includes criminal, financial, professional, and educational checks.

The following steps are required to close the search:

1. The search committee chair will send rejection letters to all unsuccessful applicants thanking them for applying, if this has not been done at an earlier stage.
2. The record keeper will organize the search material and prepare it for storage in the hiring unit. The search committee staff person will retrieve and discard materials such as work samples, extra copies of resumes, and individual rating sheets. The final search file, which is retained by the hiring department for three years after the job begin date, should contain:

• Personnel Requisition form
• Search Proposal Memo
• Copies of all advertisements as printed or electronically published
• Minutes of committee meetings (if kept)
• Summary (group) rating sheets
• Interview Notes
• Memorandum from search committee/personnel committee to the appointing authority regarding finalists. Be sure to briefly describe process used through various stages of process.
• Memorandum from the designated appointing authority to Dean recommending offer.
• Successful candidate's applicant file will be in PageUp.
• Waiver of Right of Access to Letters of Recommendation forms are in PageUp (successful candidate, whose form must be placed in his/her permanent personnel file).

Search committees are encouraged to craft faculty job advertisements that reflect the university’s mission and values in a way that inspires a broad and highly qualified pool of applicants. Inclusive and values-based language signals the department’s priorities and encourages candidates whose work contributes to a dynamic, equitable, and forward-looking academic community.

The following sample statements may be included in advertisements to convey the department’s commitment to inclusive excellence, student success, interdisciplinary collaboration, and public impact:

• “The Department is committed to building a vibrant and inclusive academic community that reflects and advances the university’s strategic priorities.”
• “The Department welcomes candidates whose work demonstrates a commitment to student success, community engagement, and inclusive research, teaching, and service.”
• “Applicants are encouraged to describe how their work aligns with the goals and values outlined in the university’s strategic plan, including advancing equity and inclusive excellence.”
• “We seek candidates with a demonstrated ability to engage students from diverse backgrounds and to contribute to a learning environment that supports all students.”
• “Positive consideration will be given to applicants whose research, teaching, or service supports the university’s commitment to public impact, inclusive innovation, and social responsibility.”

These examples are adaptable across disciplines and can be tailored to reflect specific departmental goals while remaining consistent with the university’s broader mission. Committees are also encouraged to avoid overly narrow qualifications or subfield restrictions that may unintentionally limit the applicant pool, and instead focus on framing that invites broad participation and alignment with institutional priorities.

Research indicates that without clear guidelines, evaluation criteria and priorities may shift in the process of the search, potentially disadvantaging some candidates. One way to avoid this is to establish clear evaluation criteria ahead of the evaluation process along with a shared understanding of how the different criteria will be prioritized in the search. Ideally, the committee in consultation with the department should have an explicit evaluation mechanism spelled out prior to reviewing any files. Evaluation criteria should not restrict the search beyond the scope stipulated in the job ad and charge of search. A sample evaluation sheet is included below for references, though of course the needs and objectives of each search will vary.

Applicant’s name:___________________________________________

Please indicate which of the following are true for you (check all that apply):

• Read applicant’s CV.
• Read applicant’s statements (re: research, teaching, etc.).
• Read applicant’s letters of recommendation.
• Read applicant’s scholarship (indicate what).

Please Rate the Applicant on Each of the Following:

Excellent, Good, Neutral, Fair, Poor, Unable to Judge

• Evidence of research productivity.
• Potential for scholarly impact/tenurability.
• Evidence of strong background in [relevant fields].
• Evidence of [particular] perspective on [particular area].
• Evidence of teaching experience and interest (including grad mentorship):
• Potential to teach courses in core curriculum.
• Potential to teach the core curriculum on [particular area] (including creation of new courses).

Other Comments?

Faculty who have mentored, published with, written grants with or had a personal friendship with applicants must disclose these relationships to the search committee, department chair, and Dean.

The Principles Underlying the Above Prescription are Simple:

1. Neither professional nor personal relationships between applicants and evaluators should influence the selection decision.
2. Neither professional nor personal relationships between applicants and evaluators should appear to influence the selection decision.
3. When such relationships exist, the evaluator must disclose the relationship.

Past or present professional relationships between search committee members and applicants should not mean that the members are entirely excluded from the search process, but the potential conflict of interest must be disclosed and eliminated, mitigated, or managed.

Generally, That Means:

• Search committee members engaged in a personal relationship with an applicant must disclose the relationship to others involved in the evaluation of the candidate and must recuse him/herself from any deliberations involving that particular applicant. In most cases, a search committee member with a personal relationship with an applicant who has reached the shortlist should recuse him/herself from the committee’s work, including deliberations over other applicants.
• Search committee members engaged in a professional relationship with an applicant must disclose the relationship to others involved in the evaluation of the candidate and must recuse him/herself from any deliberations involving the applicant. A search committee member with a close professional relationship with an applicant who has reached the shortlist need not recuse him/herself from the committee’s work but should remove him/herself from all discussions of that applicant but may vote along with other department faculty on all applicants.
• A search committee member with a distant professional relationship (few collaborations, collaborations older than five years, or collaborations on papers with very large numbers of co-authors) with an applicant who has reached the shortlist need not recuse him/herself from the committee’s work and may participate in all discussions of that applicant and need not abstain from voting on any applicant.

A key component of a successful interview process is strong interview questions that seek to tease out professional characteristics which are directly related to the requirements of a position. There are a variety of question types that can used during a search.  For example:

• Behavioral questions ask candidates how they handle particular aspects of their work.
  • Example: Describe a difficult situation that arose when you were teaching and how you dealt with it.
• Situational questions ask candidates to describe how they would respond to a particular situation or fact pattern.
  • Example: Imagine that you are getting ready for a conference presentation in three days, a grad student preparing for the same conference has asked for your help, and the parent of a student in your undergrad class has left a message demanding to talk about why their child got a D.   How do you handle the situation?
• Informational/Background questions ask candidates to provide additional context to their specific accomplishments, background, and experiences.
  • Example: Please describe your experience working with online learning platforms. What courses have you adapted for an online platform? What were the challenges associated with that adaptation?

• Get the candidate's permission in writing to check references.
• Ask the candidate if you can seek references from individuals not listed on their reference list.
• Ask if there is anyone you should not contact and why you should not contact that person.
• Ask the candidate to notify individuals that you will call them for a reference.
• Ensure that all references are individuals who have worked with the candidate in a professional capacity and who are not relatives or close friends of the candidate.
• Ensure that at least one reference is a former or current supervisor of the candidate.
• Ask the candidate if they are professionally acquainted with any of UMass Amherst’s employees.
• Ask probing questions covering areas such as:
  • whether the candidate possesses the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for this position
  • how well the candidate works with others, manages conflict, handles professional relationships, etc.
  • the candidate's work ethic.
  • whether the candidate is eligible for rehire and why the candidate left the position in question.
• Document all reference-checking activities in the official search file.

Part of the university’s duty to exercise due diligence in hiring includes conducting reference checks beyond those individuals who are initially offered by the candidate.

However, there should be a methodology as to how off-list reference checks are completed. They should not be conducted by casually contacting random members of the candidate’s home unit/department without appropriate safeguards and notification to the candidate. We advise that the search committee chair or the department chair should conduct these checks and must adhere to these guidelines:

• Candidates must be advised that the committee plans to contact people who are not on the candidate’s reference list and that the individual’s candidacy may not be otherwise advanced. If the candidate objects, the committee may decline to further consider that candidate.
• The reference checks must be conducted for all applicants still under consideration at that stage of the search. The check may not be made of only select candidates among those still under consideration. For this reason, and to preserve the confidentiality of the search process, doing off-list reference checks is often best restricted to all candidates tentatively selected for the shortlist before the shortlist is finalized and campus invitations are issued. These reference checks may then influence whether each candidate moves from the tentative to the final shortlist for campus interviews.
• Any person conducting the reference checks should do so only in an official capacity, acting with explicit authorization by and on behalf of the committee.
• Like on-list reference checks, these checks should have reasonably consistent questions for each candidate and focus on professional, rather than personal attributes.
• The reference checks must be documented in the search file. These reference checks should include a short statement as to why the reference was selected (senior member of department, supervisor, collaborator, etc.).

There are several situations where it is appropriate or necessary to appoint without a search.

These generally relate to one or more variables: immediacy of need, temporary nature of appointment, or specific demand of funding source. A request for a waiver of search procedures must be initiated by the Dean with final approval from the Provost for tenure-track positions and Talent Management for non-tenure track positions like a full-time Lecturer. In the following situations the appointing authority would probably choose to directly appoint rather than search:

• Spousal/partner hires (See Appendix H).
• Recruitment of a truly extraordinary scholar (e.g., a National Academy member)
• Part-time permanent positions less than 0.5 FTE, like a one-course lecturer.

Instructions for Tenure-Track Search Waivers

Purpose

The University of Massachusetts Amherst recognizes the increasing importance of accommodating dual career families and the considerable benefit of such accommodation to the University in attracting and retaining faculty. Although accommodating the spouses and partners of faculty members will not always be financially feasible, the University is committed to an effort to facilitate such arrangements and has therefore adopted a Partner Employment Program.

Scope

Partners of candidates for faculty and librarian positions may be hired as faculty, librarians or administrative staff within the same administrative units or across Department and College/Library lines as part of this program. Waivers of search may be granted when partner employment is part of a hiring offer resulting from a national search, or is part of an attempt to retain a current academic employee. All participants hired under the Partner Employment Program must be fully qualified for their hiring status and must be approved by the host units.

Funding

Each year, the Provost’s Office plans to provide partial, temporary salary support to hire spouses/partners of tenure-system faculty for recruitment or retention purposes. The amount typically provided by the Provost’s Office is 50% of the base salary floor of a Lecturer, per Article 26 of the MSP collective bargaining agreement. This subvention will be provided for three years only. All appointments under the Partner Employment Program will be subject to the availability of funding.

Instructions for the Partner Employment Program are as follows:

1. The host unit will prepare a position description after the participant has been interviewed satisfactorily by the host unit. Once the initiating and host units, dean(s) and the PEP participant have agreed to a job description and salary, the proposed position details will be submitted by the Dean to the Provost for approval of(a) the offer and (b) funding.
    
2. In considering funding, the Provost’s office may ask the respective Dean to prioritize requests. In selecting which requests to support, the Provost’s Office will consider the following (unranked factors):
   • Strategic importance of recruiting the primary hire.
   • Value to the campus of the position created for the secondary hire.
   • Academic qualifications of both partners.
   • Number of other spouse/partner hiring subventions that the college has received recently, relative to the college’s overall hiring volume.
3. Funding, if approved by the Provost, will follow the terms described in the Funding section above. Because funds are limited, the offer may be approved without a Provost-level subvention.
    
4. If the appointment is for a faculty or librarian position, the participant will be a member of the Massachusetts Society of Professors bargaining unit, and all personnel actions and evaluations will follow the terms of the MSP contract.
    
5. If the appointment is for an administrative position, terms of other bargaining agreements will be adhered to, as appropriate.
    
6. Documentation of all hires under the Partner Employment Program will be maintained in the Provost’s office.
    
7. When a hire with tenure is made under the Partner Employment Program, such a hire shall be subject to normal University tenure processes.

Five College Opportunities

The chief academic officers in the Five College Consortium, including the Provost, have developed arrangements to facilitate hiring by one institution of the spouse/partner of a new faculty member at another institution. The financial arrangement provides support for a lecturer position for the spouse partner for a period of three years. The salary for the trailing spouse is split three ways: 50% from the institution that hires the trailing spouse (and therefore receives the benefit of their services), 25% from Five Colleges Inc. endowment income, and 25% from the institution with the leading spouse hire. To explore the possibility of such an arrangement, or other opportunities at the four colleges, the Dean should contact the Provost.

When hiring new members to our faculty, we want to make sure that they are fully supported for a successful start at our institution. This support includes infrastructure, such as research lab space, computational facilities, compliance requirements etc. To ensure that we can provide the necessary support and do so in a timely manner, the university has formed an Infrastructure Support Group (ISG) that is engaged in the hiring process for those searches that have candidates with infrastructure needs. Departments are responsible for engaging in this process to ensure that offers are not held up or denied due to unresolved infrastructure issues.

Identification of Infrastructure Needs During Requisition Phase

When setting up a Hiring Requisition in PageUp, the Facilities Plan should identify anticipated infrastructure needs for the proposed new hire. These include:

• The specific lab space/ studio that will be utilized,
• Research involving vertebrate animals, human subjects, cell or tissue samples, chemical, biological or radioactive materials, or clean room facilities, and
• High-speed, performance, or large-volume computing.

While not all potential candidates may have all these needs, the requisition should identify if it is expected that any potential candidate may have any of these needs.

If a lab/studio need is identified, the requisition must indicate the building and room number to be utilized for the hire. Departments are encouraged to work with their Dean’s office to ensure that the space proposed aligns with College/School plans. The ISG will visit lab/studio spaces to assess their suitability for hires and to assess the scope of any changes to the space that might be necessary before approval of the requisition. ISG reviews all tenure-track requisitions in PageUp and will indicate on the requisition if they need to be involved further during the search. 

ISG Meetings During Interview Phase

All candidates that come on campus for a search that has identified ISG needs during the requisition must be scheduled for a 30-minute meeting with members of the ISG. The purpose of this meeting is to understand the specific candidate’s infrastructure needs. These meetings are also an opportunity for the campus to let candidates know about core facilities and other research infrastructure available that might be relevant to their needs. These meetings do not assess a candidate’s qualification, but merely focus on their infrastructure needs and typically take place for 30 minutes

To schedule ISG meetings, please coordinate with the Provost’s office.

ISG Report

Once all interviews for a search have been completed, the ISG summarizes the infrastructure need of every candidate in an ISG report. This report also identifies concerns about being able to provide specific candidates with their infrastructure requirements in the space that has been identified for the search (e.g., extensive renovations that are costly and/or could delay the start date, safety concerns related to research, etc.)The ISG report is shared with the department head and the dean, who may share the report with the search committee if they wish. The suggested use of the information in the ISG report is to consider the campus’ ability to accommodate specific candidates when deciding on candidate rankings. If a candidate has needs that are difficult to accommodate, it is suggested to start a conversation with the dean’s and provost’s office as soon as possible.

ISG Meeting During Second Visit

When candidates with infrastructure needs come for a second visit to campus, they must meet with representatives from the ISG in the proposed lab/studio space. This meeting will allow the ISG to note the specific changes that may be necessary for a lab/studio before the candidate arrives on campus.

ISG Approval for Offer Letters

Before offer letters can be approved, all infrastructure needs have to be addressed and both temporary and permanent space assignment confirmed. If space renovations are necessary, the dean’s and Provost’s Office need to be aware of them, have approved the scope of work and must have committed the necessary resources. Equipment, IT, Safety and similar needs should be reflected in the startup package.

Offer Acceptance

When a candidate accepts their offer, it is critical that the department inform the Provost’s Office so that any necessary clean-up/modifications/construction can be planned and started right away. Note that even simple clean-up and painting may take months due to scheduling, and renovations of space may take up to a year.

The MSP collective bargaining agreement provides for an expedited process for granting a faculty member tenure upon hire. The process is intended to be easier and less burdensome than a typical tenure process because the candidate was hired with the expectation that they will be tenured at UMass. 

This expedited process is limited to circumstances where the individual has already been awarded tenure at an institution with comparable standards to UMass Amherst. Generally, a comparable institution would include any US institution of higher education that is classified as “Doctoral Universities: Very High Research Activity” or “Doctoral Universities: High Research Activity” in the most recent Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. To determine an institution’s Carnegie classification, use this lookup function. On a case-by-case basis and upon request of the dean of the school/college, the Provost may approve an expedited tenure review for candidates who are not from institutions as described above. Tenure at hire in all other situations shall follow the standard tenure process. Tenure at hire in all other situations shall follow the standard tenure process. 

Expedited Tenure Review Process

During the search and hire process, the search committee should require at least three (3) letters of recommendation for the candidate. As soon as the offer is accepted, the Department Personnel Committee (DPC) in the hiring department shall be informed by the Dean that the individual is being hired with the expectation of tenure because they have already achieved tenure at a comparable institution. Department Personnel Committees should review Article 12.21 of the MSP collective bargaining agreement as needed.

The expedited tenure review shall commence immediately after the offer is accepted and shall follow the same process as regular tenure decisions, with these exceptions:

• In coordination with the Dean’s office, the newly hired faculty member assembles an abbreviated file that includes their CV, personal statement (or the statement of research, teaching, and service that was submitted as part of their application) and evidence of teaching effectiveness from their prior position, such as teaching reviews. The candidate can also add any other materials they deem relevant to the review.
• Instead of soliciting new external and internal letters, the department chair may instead upload the letters of reference that were solicited as part of the search process. If the candidate waived the right of access to these letters, they shall not be visible to the candidate.
• After the letters of reference are added to the file, the department chair releases the file to the DPC and it advances through the standard review process.
• Recommendation memos at each level of review should emphasize that the review is based on an abbreviated record because the candidate has previously been reviewed and awarded tenure at an institution with standards and procedures that are similar to those of UMass Amherst. Recommendation memos need not be as comprehensive as they are in non-expedited tenure cases. For example, it is unnecessary to review the full research output of a highly accomplished senior scholar or scientist.

At the discretion of the hiring department in consultation with the Dean’s office, departments may offer a new employee a reasonable transition allowance to cover their personal moving, relocation and employment transition costs if the employing department considers the payment necessary to employ a highly qualified and/or highly recruited individual. Schools and Colleges should deploy transition allowances uniformly to ensure equity in access.

If a transition allowance is paid, it should be enumerated in the faculty offer letter and the allowance will be taxable to the employee and paid via payroll. Transition allowances must be funded out of the budgeted start-up for the appointment. The University is unable to reimburse employees for moving expenses or paying commercial movers directly. Please see the President Office guidelines for more information.

Departments, in consultation with their respective Dean’s office, may provide an early start for new tenure-system faculty on academic year appointments so that they can set up their lab, studio and/or office spaces, consult with colleagues, prepare their courses, and engage in other work-related activities prior to the start of the academic year.

These “pre-hire” appointments may be for one or two months prior to the new employee’s tenure-track appointment start date, but must be at the individual’s academic year title, rank and salary rate. The percentage of employment may, however, be reduced to reflect the amount of effort expected. The individual then transitions to their full-time academic year appointment on September 1st (or January start date for spring hires) with the associated tenure-system title, starting salary, and rank. The pre-hire appointment does not count toward the faculty member’s tenure clock.