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Overview 

This document summarizes some helpful tips, approaches, and reminders to help ensure a fair search process. As a reminder, a variety of tools and resources such as templates for screening rubrics and interviews, are also available in UHR’s Search Committee Toolkit.

Initial Screening Preparation and Tips

The following list is adapted from an  published by the AACSB.

• Review research on biases and strive to minimize their influence on recruiting and screening candidates.
• Establish a specific set of evaluation criteria—a refined, shared understanding of the minimum and preferred qualifications—and create a matrix for evaluating candidates.
• Be mindful of judgments about candidates based on their educational pedigree or current institution.
• Allow adequate time for the committee to review and evaluate each candidate’s application materials.
  • Aggregate the evaluations of committee members before the group meets to review. During the meeting, discuss the data, commonalities, and outliers and build consensus on moving candidates forward.
  • Encourage open airing of ideas and opinions and pay attention to every perspective, especially when there are differences of opinion about the strengths and weaknesses of a candidate.
• Be able to defend every decision to reject or advance a candidate. For a search to be compliant the search committee must be able articulate, at each stage of the search process, why a candidate is advancing or not based upon the agreed upon evaluation of skills, experiences, and qualifications.
• Consider whether unconscious biases and assumptions are influencing the committee’s decisions regarding qualified women and members of underrepresented groups.

Preparing for the Interview

• Provide a structured interview process by asking all candidates a set of core questions. Situational and behavioral based questions provide an opportunity to allow candidates to demonstrate how they’ve used their knowledge, skills, and experience in situations that they may encounter in the role.
• Prepare a rubric to help committee members more objectively score candidate responses. Articulate the desired pieces of knowledge, skills, and abilities that candidates should convey to receive full, partial, or no score for each particular question.
• Committee members should score each candidate’s response at the time of response. Remember: we are measuring the candidate’s knowledge, skills, and abilities in relation to the question asked; not how well the candidate answered as compared to another.
• Think about how questions will be perceived. Do not ask questions that focus on identity or perceived differences. Check for biases…
  • Can this questions be asked of every candidate, without changing a single word?
  • Does this question directly connect to needs and expectations of the position?
• Narrow the focus of your questions to avoid soliciting protected information and avoid questions that are likely to solicit unnecessary personal information.
• If unsolicited personal information is shared:
  • It can’t be unheard but may not be considered.
  • Politely re-focus the conversation to job-related topic
  • Do not make notes on volunteer information.
• If time allows, aggregate the committee’s interview scores and conduct a structured discussion similar to the initial screening discussion.
• Consider whether unconscious biases and assumptions are influencing the committee’s decisions regarding qualified women and members of underrepresented groups.