Faculty Search Process Guidelines

Case Western Reserve University is required by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) guidelines to maintain specific summary information about the search process, applicants and hires. The requirements below must be adhered to and submitted in total to the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Engagement for the granting of Affirmative Action approval. Failure to comply could have costly implications for any contracts with the federal government.

CWRU updates the faculty search process and information yearly. 

All searches must be carried out in a manner that provides national coverage. Advertisements must be posted in a public domain for a minimum of six (6) weeks, and must be current (less than one year old).

To meet OFCCP reporting requirements, the process and current forms must be used. 

The chair of the search committee is responsible for ensuring that complete records are kept during the search, and that all search files are kept for five years from the dates of appointment of the candidate selected. Please save all originals for your files.

There are multiple steps and six forms to complete for each faculty hire.
 

**PLEASE NOTE** As of September 1st, 2020, the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Engagement requires that the chair of the search committee meet with Heather Burton, PhD, Senior Director of Faculty and Institutional Diversity, to discuss strategies to broaden their outreach efforts in order to diversify the candidate pool before an advertisement or search committee will be approved for posting.

Instructions are below. If you have questions or need assistance with this process, contact Karyn Newton at 216.368.2532 • karyn.newton@case.edu

Step 1:

Complete forms 1, 2 and draft an advertisement. To assist the search committee please see Writing an Advertisement.

Send the completed Form 1 and 2 and the ad copy to karyn.newton@case.edu. The ad should be sent in a Word Document.

Stop: The Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Engagement will reach out to the search committee chair to schedule a time for them to meet with the Senior Director of Faculty and Institutional Diversity to discuss recruitment strategies. Approval to post will be granted after the meeting takes place and all forms are approved. In order for the search committee to be approved, it must have a minimum of three members, and have both women and underrepresented minorities.

Historically Underrepresented Minorities (URM) are defined as US-born citizens who identify as Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, or American Indian/Alaska Native. All other race/ethnicity categories or non-US citizens are considered as a Non-Underrepresented Minority (Non-URM).

In compliance with the OFCCP, your ad will be posted to the following websites free of charge after your search and ad have been approved. These websites are:

Step 2:

After you have received approval for your ad, you may post it to any additional websites and print publications of your choosing at your department's/school's cost. Send the completed Form 3A, along with copies of the ads your department placed in additional publications (if any), to karyn.newton@case.edu

Step 3:

Start to complete Form 3B by listing all candidates who have applied for the position on the “All” tab. List all candidates who meet the minimum criteria as specified in the ad on the “Qualified” tab. Individuals whom the search committee wish to contact for an initial interview should be listed on the “Interview” tab.

Please note that all applicants who have provided an email address must be sent a link to the university’s online Affirmative Action Survey in a timely fashion. The survey should be sent individually to each applicant or BCC to the applicants. The Affirmative Action Survey is located here.

STOP. After the application deadline (at least six weeks after the initial date of posting), send the Form 3B with the “All”, “Qualified”, and “Interview” tabs completed in electronic form to karyn.newton@case.edu for review and approval of the candidate/interview pool PRIOR to contacting candidates to schedule initial interviews.

Step 4:

After you receive approval for the candidate pool as listed on the “Interview” tab, proceed with initial interviews.

Step 5:

Once the search committee has determined their finalists, complete the “Finalists” tab on Form 3B and submit to karyn.newton@case.edu for review and approval of the finalist pool. This must occur before final interviews take place. 

Step 6:

After you receive approval to interview, proceed with final interviews.

Step 7:

Once the search committee has determined which candidate they would like to hire, update the “Finalists” tab on Form 3B to indicate which candidate has been selected, and submit to karyn.newton@case.edu along with a completed Form 3C and a copy of the candidate’s curriculum vitae (CV).

STOP. No offer of employment should be made until you receive Affirmative Action approval from the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Engagement.

Step 8:

If all previous steps have been completed properly, the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Engagement will issue an Affirmative Action letter, granting approval to make an offer of employment to the selected candidate. The letter will be sent via e-mail as a PDF attachment. Failure to properly complete any of the previous steps may result in a search being restarted to ensure compliance.

Step 9:

Once the candidate has accepted or declined the offer, please have the department chair/dean sign the letter, then send to karyn.newton@case.edu. If the selected candidate declines the offer and the department wishes to make an offer to another candidate, please repeat Steps 7 and 8 until a hire is made or until the search committee decides to close the search with no hire made.