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