FACULTY RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

You are always recruiting!

The professional relationships and collaborations you create with students, trainees, postdoctoral scholars and colleagues today lay the groundwork for effective and excellent recruitment months, or even years, down the road.

When you are giving a talk or presentation, particularly outside of UW:

– Consider sharing a slide like this one to tell the audience a bit about yourself and why you are at the UW.

– Ask your hosts for an informal time to gather with students, trainees/postdocs and early career faculty to socialize, learn about them and build connections.

Who should be on a search committee?

The members of a faculty search committee should broadly represent the key collaborators for the person who is hired, and they should have roles and expertise that will enable different perspectives to be shared throughout the search process.

Consider inviting at least one person from a different division, section or department to serve on the committee, as well as a student or trainee representative.

HOW a search committee is formed signals the values of the hiring unit. Please see here for different models for forming a search committee.

In alignment with the mission and values of UW and UW SoM, it is everyone’s responsibility to learn and implement best practices in recruitment.  Be mindful not to overburden individual colleagues with a disproportionate number of committee assignments or other service obligations. If faculty members are needed on the search committee because of their clinical, leadership, research, and/ or teaching expertise, where might they be relieved of other duties? Please be mindful that the responsibilities of shared governance, which include serving on search committees, should be distributed equitably amongst faculty and not selectively assigned based on protected characteristics. Learn about our obligations under university, state, and federal laws here.

What is the search committee charge, and why is it important?

A charge is the opening message to the search committee from the hiring authority (e.g., Department Chair, Division Head, or Dean).

An effective charge contains the following:

– Goals and timeline for the search

– Expectation that all search committee members will maintain strict confidentiality of all committee discussions throughout the process

– Expectations for the committee and its scope of work

Is the search committee in an advisory role to the hiring leader?

From whom should the committee hear to inform their search? For example, will there be listening sessions or discussions with the faculty, staff, postdocs, trainees, etc. of the hiring unit?

What are the expectations for outreach to create a broad pool of qualified applicants who can advance the mission of UW SoM?

At what point will the search committee’s work conclude and transition to the hiring authority? Is the search committee expected to provide a ranked or unranked list of top applicants at that time?

– Relevant availability data for the field or subfield. National databases and academic/professional associations are a good starting point for finding availability data. Two resources to explore are AAMC and NSF databases:

AAMC Physician Workforce Data Dashboard

NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates (see “Detailed Field of Doctorate” tables)

– Discussion of the School’s expectations for running the search process, including the importance of following all university policies

This includes the university’s Executive Order 81, which provides this Statement of Nondiscrimination:

“The University prohibits discrimination in all programs and activities, including education, employment, and patient care, based on an individual’s actual or perceived protected characteristics. Protected characteristics include race, color, creed, religion, national origin, citizenship, sex, pregnancy, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. Upon learning of conduct that may constitute discrimination, the University will take prompt and effective action to address it, remedy its effects, and prevent recurrence.”

EO 81, state law, and federal law prohibit discrimination and preferential treatment based on protected characteristics. Search committees cannot use protected characteristics such as race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin as a criterion or factor for selecting or not selecting particular applicants, candidates, or finalists.

Moreover, search committees should not attempt to gather data about applicants’ identities that is not part of their submitted application materials (e.g., by searching for applicants’ profiles or photographs on the internet) and search committees should not attempt to determine the size or composition of their lists of candidates for preliminary or final interviews based on protected characteristics (e.g., by using some form of racial or gender distribution quota).

A good record-keeping plan will help your search run more efficiently by:

cutting down on unnecessary emails;

minimizing confusion from multiple circulating versions of the same document; and

ensuring compliance with federal, state, and university policies.

Search committee chairs and their administrative partners should review this webpage early in the process and make a clear plan for how search records will be managed.

In 2015, the UW Faculty Senate passed this Resolution which states that search committees should have access to anti-bias training. In the SoM, the Dean has affirmed our commitment to this work by requiring that all search committees complete training in anti-bias and best practice strategies. All faculty leadership search committees should have a live training. Contact the Assistant Dean for Faculty Recruitment and Retention to set this up as soon as the committee is formed to allow enough lead time for scheduling.

All other faculty search committees can reach out to the Assistant Dean for Faculty Recruitment and Retention at any time with requests for committee training and/or any questions. Given the high volume of ongoing searches and requests, search committees may opt to use this pre-recorded training from The Office of Healthcare Equity for their search as an alternative.

In 2025, these required trainings will evolve into a new series format with updated content, offering both in-person, virtual and pre-recorded options.

A job ad is more than a check box in a long list of tasks for a faculty search. It is an opportunity to tell potential applicants who we are, what we do, and signal our enthusiasm for welcoming highly qualified and collaborative colleagues to the School of Medicine.

A strong job ad typically includes:

Expansive thinking and language that will attract a broad pool of qualified applicants from a range of backgrounds.

Is it clear that applicants with a range of relevant expertise and interests in your field are encouraged to apply?

How have you highlighted our mission and values?

A clear and well-informed description of the position, including potential funding, research, educational, and career advancement opportunities, as well as possible collaborators across UW.

As above (“Preparation”), the search committee should understand the context and needs for the faculty position after hearing directly from the existing members of the department, division, section, etc.

How to post a job and work effectively in Interfolio:

Interfolio is the system through which we ensure consistent, fair and legal recruitment practices at UW.

Start here for information on posting ads through Interfolio, and to access multiple Interfolio user guides.

Work with your Academic Human Resources specialist early and often to make sure that the Interfolio job posting process proceeds smoothly with a clear timeline.

Here is a list of requirements and reminders to help you avoid some common reasons why Interfolio ads are sent back for revision before being approved.

Interfolio divides posted job ads into three major sections: Position Description, Qualifications, and Instructions.

Position Description

Describe the specific position, hiring unit (e.g., department/division), and university.

Use inclusive, inviting language that will appeal to a broad range of applicants.

Highlight why your department/division would be a great place to work.

Describe potential collaborators across UW and SoM; for example, research centers, outreach programs, and/or faculty development resources.

A word of caution about “preferences”: The Department of Labor will consider all education, experience, skills, and qualifications listed in the job posting to be requirements, even if the advertisement says they are “preferred” or “ideal” or otherwise not a minimum qualification.

Preferences for the position should be rewritten as anticipated job duties in the Position Description, or otherwise listed under Qualifications.

Qualifications

State the minimum qualifications for the position (e.g., minimum degree(s), required experiences or training, etc.).

Applicant Instructions

Describe the materials you want applicants to submit for review, and make sure these align with your assessment criteria (see “Assessment”).

All applicants for faculty positions are required to submit 3 items: a cover letter (letter of interest), CV, and diversity statement.

These materials should be discussed by the search committee early in the search process. Depending on the specific field or subfield, as well as the academic rank of the position, application materials may also include: a research statement; a teaching philosophy statement; a sample of scholarship; a specified number of letters of recommendation or a specified number of names and contact information for potential references.

Diversity Statements

Faculty Search Committees are required under the UW Faculty Code to request a statement that describes the applicant’s past and planned contributions to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in their professional roles. The diversity statement should not seek information about protected characteristics, nor should it ask how the applicant would contribute to diversity based on their identity/identities or protected characteristics.

The diversity statement is a relatively new genre—both for the applicants who need to write them and for the hiring committees who need to assess them. The statement is intended to be “part of a comprehensive evaluation of scholarship and research, teaching, and service” (UW Faculty Code Chapter 24-32) and should not be used on its own for assessment purposes. It is helpful to provide a concise prompt that asks for the kinds of information the committee wants and that offers clear parameters for the writer (e.g., a word or page limit). This is an example of a prompt asking for a diversity statement that aligns with the UW Civil Rights Compliance Office’s Human Resources and Employment Practices Checklist:

“The University of Washington is committed to creating a community where individuals from all backgrounds and experiences have equal opportunities to participate, succeed, and feel a sense of belonging. We request that each applicant write a statement about their experiences in helping to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for research, teaching, mentoring, and/or service. In a 1-page statement, the applicant should detail their experiences or plans for supporting the success of students from all backgrounds.”

If you have questions about the specific language for these kinds of prompts, please consult your Academic HR representative.

See below (“Assessment”) for a sample rubric to assess diversity statements.

Required Language in Job Postings

Official University of Washington statements will be appended to all job advertisements posted through Interfolio. These statements address the university’s status as an Equal Opportunity employer and its commitment to diversity. These statements also provide links to the university’s privacy notice, information about benefits, and information about disability services. You can find more information here.

Your goal is to circulate the job ad as widely as possible. To this end, using a variety of avenues of communication is vital. In addition to posting on professional job boards and in scholarly publications, consider posting on a wide range of listservs, websites and social media accounts of relevant professional groups or organizations. Please maintain a detailed and complete record of where ads have been posted.

Search is a verb! Activate your professional networks.

Members of the search committee, along with other faculty members of the unit, should personally contact colleagues at UW and other institutions to seek nominations of qualified potential applicants.

Ask all members of the unit (e.g., department faculty) to inquire about promising graduate students, post-docs, or early career faculty from a wide range of backgrounds. Send announcements and request nominations from departments at institutions that serve a broad range of populations and to sections of regional, national, or international organizations that are engaged in work to advance inclusive excellence in care, teaching, and research.

Ask current faculty, graduate students, post-docs, and alumni to help market open positions by taking copies of job ads to academic conferences and meetings they attend, as well as to the other institutions they visit to give lectures or seminars.

Have unit leadership personally contact qualified potential applicants. These communications can include the offer to have the search committee chair speak with potential applicants on the phone or over Zoom.

There should be a throughline between the mission, vision, and values of your unit, the job ad, and the assessment rubric and plan used by the search committee. This means that there should be consistent themes and content across all stages of the search process.

A search committee has 2 key responsibilities in the assessment of applicants:

– First, a search committee is responsible for developing a clear and consistent assessment rubric (i.e., the criteria by which they and other decision makers evaluate applicants’ qualifications and potential); and

– Second, a search committee is responsible for a clear and consistent assessment plan (i.e., the process by which they evaluate applicants, make selections at each stage of the process, and ultimately make recommendations to the voting faculty and/or to leadership with hiring authority).

When the job ad is being written, to ensure consistency and alignment between the job description and assessment criteria

An assessment rubric should be finalized by the search committee prior to the review of applications, to ensure that the process remains fair and focused on the key qualifications determined ahead of time (see “Preparation” above)

For “open rank” searches (i.e., “assistant or associate,” “associate or full,” or open to all ranks), consider creating more than one assessment rubric, given that different levels of experience and achievement may be expected from applicants at different stages of their careers.

They save time

They keep evaluators focused on the priorities for the search

They help ensure consistency across reviews of multiple applicants

They are a starting point and guide for search committee discussions

They help mitigate the impact of personal and collective biases and provide a structure by which all applicants can be assessed fairly

– Want to learn more about common biases that impact faculty searches? See this excellent summary (Section 3.1) from the UW Handbook for Best Practices in Faculty Searches.

Here are sample rubrics for you to use and adapt to your search.

– Generally, the search committee should aim to develop a rubric with 5-8 criteria (or domains). This range strikes a balance between being comprehensive and efficient in assessment.

– Some committees may choose to have a single rubric, whereas others may find it helpful to have multiple rubrics for different stages of a search.

This “staged” approach with separate rubrics should be determined ahead of time and applied in the same way for all applicants.

Some committees find it useful to “scaffold” their rubrics so that they use 2-3 criteria in the first round of assessment (e.g., application screening) and then add additional criteria in subsequent rounds (e.g., interviews).

Consider and discuss these questions as a search committee:

– What are the goals for this hire in terms of clinical work, research, teaching, leadership, service, and/or outreach?

– Is there a prioritization amongst these goals for the department or division?

– How are the unit’s mission, vision, and values reflected in each goal?

– What types of evidence will demonstrate achievement or future potential in each area?

– What would constitute a low, medium or high ranking within each area?

This is a sample rubric to assess diversity statements.

A caution about assessment criteria:

– Assessment criteria should focus on applicants’ qualifications, such as knowledge, skills, experience, and expertise, and/or their potential for future contributions, not on actual or perceived protected characteristics.

– It is permissible to ask applicants about unique experiences and perspectives as they relate to anticipated faculty responsibilities and duties.

– Be careful not to use any assessment criteria as a proxy for assessing applicants’ identities or protected characteristics, based either on their self-disclosures in application materials or on the committee’s assumptions.

Once again, up front discussion and consensus by the search committee are key to creating and implementing a fair assessment plan

Consider and discuss these questions as a search committee before any applications are reviewed:

– When will the committee begin reading and assessing applications? As best practice, wait until the priority deadline (e.g., at least 30 days after initial posting) to begin.

– How will committee members define, disclose and handle potential conflicts of interest (COI) or potential bias or perception of bias, such as a prior relationship with an applicant or with an applicant’s adviser? This issue can be especially challenging if the pool includes internal applicants.

Start by reviewing this handout which defines COI and provides guidance for search committee members

See this one-page handout for recommendations on working with internal applicants

– At what point in the process will the committee review letters of recommendation or contact references? Research suggests that, although they can provide useful information, letters of recommendation may reflect their authors’ idiosyncrasies and biases—rather than provide an “objective” assessment. A practice to consider here could be to wait until the committee has made its own initial assessments of other application materials before reviewing letters of recommendation, or to request letters later in the process (e.g., after first-round interviews). Do the letters affirm the committee’s assessments? What information do they add?

– Many SoM faculty searches proceed in multiple stages; for example:

Application review

Invitation for virtual interviews

Invitation for in-person interviews

– The search committee should determine ahead of time how, and approximately how many, applicants will move from each stage to the next

– It is also a best practice to keep the larger unit (division, department) posted on the progress of the search at different stages

Preliminary (first round) interviews are an efficient way for committees to meet a range of qualified candidates who have moved forward after initial screening and discussion by the committee.

– To help make preliminary interviews consistent, fair and effective:

Avoid offering “courtesy” interviews to applicants who do not meet the pre-determined criteria for the job, including internal applicants.

– Conduct all interviews in the same format, under similar conditions, including interviews with internal applicants.

– Search committee chairs should review the list of fair and unfair inquiries with all interviewers.

– Determine interview questions ahead of time. Assign 1-2 questions to each committee member, and ask the questions in the same order each time.

You can find lists of potential interview questions here. Note that many questions ask applicants to provide an example of their work or behavior as opposed to merely describing it.

Examples of diversity-related questions that align with the UW Civil Right Compliance Office’s HR and Employment Practices Checklist include:

“Our University is committed to creating a community where individuals from all backgrounds and experiences have equal opportunities to participate, succeed, and feel a sense of belonging. Describe how your academic, extracurricular, or other relevant experiences support this commitment.”

“Describe how your experiences have prepared you to contribute to a welcoming and inclusive environment at the University.”

Applicants who move forward after preliminary (or first round) interviews are often invited for campus visits.

This provides additional opportunities for applicants to showcase their accomplishments and professional qualities, as well as a chance for the hiring unit to showcase its people and their values in action, and to help potential recruits feel welcomed and see themselves as a part of the community.

At this stage, interview itineraries likely contain both assessment and recruitment activities.

– These activities should provide broad exposure and interaction with people within the hiring unit, SoM, and campus and community allies.

– The search committee chair should be clear with all applicants which components of the final interview are part of the assessment. This could include: a job talk, research seminar or presentation, teaching demonstration, meetings with students and/or trainees, and meetings with key leaders in the hiring unit. Provide finalists with a detailed itinerary of all assessment activities, as far in advance as possible.

– Itineraries for applicants at this stage should be identical in terms of assessment activities, including for all internal applicants. For example, if one finalist is scheduled to meet with a curriculum committee as part of their assessment, all finalists should be scheduled to meet with the same curriculum committee.

– Unlike assessment activities, which must be uniform for all finalists, recruitment activities can be tailored to the needs or requests of specific finalists. Similar to assessment activities, recruitment activities should be planned in advance to ensure that all finalists have similar opportunities for making meaningful connections.

– It is important to maintain clear and open communication with finalists before, during, and after the final interview, and it is important to be honest about the unit’s expectations for clinical service, teaching, research, and administrative responsibilities, as well as about issues of funding, space, or other resources.

– A best practice is to interview internal candidates first in order to avoid any potential perception that internal candidates have an advantage from having seen firsthand or gathered information about the other candidates’ final interviews.

Tips for successful campus interviews

– Ask candidates some questions ahead of time to help make their visit more comfortable and welcoming, for example:

How would they like to be introduced/addressed?

What accommodations do they need?

Do they have dietary restrictions or preferences?

What would they like to know/see?

Who would they like to meet?

What questions do they have about the visit and process?

– Provide adequate time for meals and breaks throughout the day.

– Allow for transit time between locations on the itinerary.

– Consider lunch panels with a group of faculty, staff and students/trainees in which attendees share something about their work while the candidate has a chance to eat. This provides broad exposure to the department or division, and avoids putting the applicant “on the spot” for the entire time.

– Provide venues for finalists to ask questions in a casual environment

– Highlight campus-wide and community partners and resources:

UW SoM Office of Faculty Affairs (a resource for new and established faculty with a wealth of information on schoolwide career advancement opportunities, teaching and learning resources, and well-being programs)

UW Medicine Office of Healthcare Equity (open to all at UW Medicine, a resource for education, action and transformation to advance healthcare equity)

Teaching@UW (The UW Center for Teaching and Learning supports instructors at all levels, from graduate teaching assistants to full professors and offers a range of programs, including workshops and consultations)

The Whole U (For UW faculty and staff, a resource for holistic wellness, building community, and perks)

Check back soon for additional resources on faculty retention and success.