Recruitment Toolkit

Approval from the Provost is needed in order to begin recruitment. To prepare for recruitment:

• The Department/School discusses with the Dean and the Budget Director to justify a search
• The Provost approves of the Hiring Plan for the entire College
• The Vice Provost (Office of Faculty Affairs) sends the Chair an approval, including rank, area of expertise, funding source, position number, salary, FTE, start date, and start-up commitment, etc. The approved salary and start-up figures are caps. No changes may be made in these figures without written approval from the Budget Director. 

Once you receive the approval, the Department Chairs and other representatives (Office Manager, Search Committee Members and/or Interviewers) must:

• Read USF Policy #0-617, Recruitment and Hiring of University Employees, and ensure that all training has been completed. 
• Appoint the Search Committee
• Determine advertising plan for the position
• Determine position-specific evaluation criteria 

Department Chairs will appoint committee members. Department governance determines membership and composition requirements. The primary functions of the search committee include identifying, recruiting, screening and recommending applicants for consideration by the hiring authority.  This includes:

• The development of selection criteria, creating a rating system to evaluate the applicants,
• Reviewing the credentials and selecting finalists to be interviewed by a diverse body of individuals and groups, and
• Sending an assessment of the strengths of all applicants to the hiring authority after the interview process has been completed.

Within the recruitment and selection process, the faculty search committee is also responsible for recruiting unique talent for their faculty. They guide in encouraging a pool of applicants with unique experience and selecting the person or people best suited to the culture and requirements of the institution.

There should be a senior faculty member in every search committee — generally an associate professor or professor — with a formal designation as an equity representative, along with other trusted representatives of your institution. Often, a hiring committee has between five and seven members and votes on the final applicant selection. 

All meetings of screening/search committees must be open to the public as required by the Government in the Sunshine Law. Meeting schedules are to be posted on the Search Committee Meeting Notice calendar. Here are three important requirements for meetings: 

• All meetings of the committee must be open to allow the public to attend and observe
• Reasonable notice of meetings must be given
• Minutes of meetings must be kept

With minor exceptions, all Faculty positions must be posted for a minimum of seven (7) days. The initial maximum duration is 6 months and the life of the job opening is 1 year.  In addition, unless the aforementioned exceptions apply, all Faculty positions must be advertised nationally. This requirement can be accomplished by posting externally on Careers@USF. Other places to consider advertising include: 

• National advertising
• professional journals
• professional caucuses
• discipline-specific list-serves
• direct mailing

Minimum qualifications 

All job openings must contain minimum qualifications. The minimum qualifications in your posting should reflect the published class specifications. To ensure consistency within the organization, CHR has established class specifications, see Faculty Job Titles for details. 

Preferred Qualifications 

Adding “preferred” qualifications allows you to describe the skillset of the “ideal” applicant for the position. When establishing a preferred qualification, the reviewer must be able to identify it on a resume or application. The reviewer is unable to screen an application or resume for characteristics such as: 

• being a team player
• being able to multi-task
• being a people person 

On the other hand, when screening an application/resume, the reviewer can easily search and screen for one year of experience in a particular subject/discipline/software, experience, etc. 

Job Aid: How to Create a Job Opening in GEMS|PDF Version | Video Version (7 Minutes)

Review all application materials, including résumés, CV’s, cover letters and any additional required documents to assess whether applicants meet the posted minimum and preferred qualifications for the position. Notate reasons for individuals who did not meet qualifications. 

All applicants must receive a disposition, which is a short pre-defined explanation/reason status within the hiring process. Accurate dispositions describe why an applicant was or was not selected for the role; they will be maintained by the Hiring Department Representative within GEMS. Please review Manage Applicants Guidelines for specific dispositions. 

Unsolicited resumes submitted directly to an individual will not be accepted. When this occurs, the applicant should be directed to complete an on-line application through Careers@USF before the published closing date. Applicants who fail to submit a timely, online application through Careers@USF cannot be considered. This includes applicants who began the online process but failed to submit it, i.e., draft submissions cannot be considered. 

Job Aid:  Managing Applications in GEMS |PDF Version | Video Version (17 minutes) 
Job Aid:  Reviewing Applications in GEMS | PDF Version | Video Version (4 minutes) 
Job Aid:  Disposition Codes in GEMS | PDF Version | 

Once an application pool has been reviewed for minimum and preferred qualifications, interviewing can begin. Recruiters and the department actively communicate about the applicant pool and discuss the timeline for interviews and hiring completion. Applicant status must be updated in Careers before the interviews begin. Internal and external candidates receive the same interview treatment. 

Candidate interviews must be posted on the USF Calendar to comply with the public meeting requirement. 

First Round

• Scheduled on Teams
• For Instructor positions, this may be the only interview
• Candidates are only discussed during official scheduled search committee meetings

Second Round

• Finalist(s) from first round interviews are invited to USF campus
• Meeting with Deans for non-tenure and tenure track faculty varies 
• Department staff arrange travel/accommodations in accordance with the travel guidelines

Select the finalist for the position:

•  Search committee voting
  • The search committee vote on finalists must be done in public. Secret ballots are not allowed
  • All members must vote, (unless a member has disclosed a conflict of interest) but a roll call vote is not required
• Department faculty vote on finalists to follow governance document for candidate selection and if approved to grant tenure, credit toward tenure or tenure track. This meeting is not required to be posted on the USF Calendar
• Verbal Offer made by Department Chair or Director

Submit the following information for a request to hire: 

• The Hiring Report Form (provided by Faculty Affairs in digital form)  
• Approved salary, rank, visa assistance, and start-up Narrative
• The job advertisement(s)
• CVs of all finalists
• Start-up funds request form (if applicable)
• Immediate supervisor reference check (If applicable) 
• For tenure upon hire offers, a vote to hire with tenure and rank by the departments tenured faculty must be conducted. Include the vote documentation with approval from the department chair and dean with submission.

An official offer to the candidate may NOT be made until the Provost has provided written approval. However, an applicant can be made aware that they are the top choice and that Provost approval is pending. 

All negotiations should be verbally finalized prior to the offer letter receiving signatures from the Dean & Provost. This will prevent multiple supersede letters from being written.

Chair may write a side letter that details the specifics the Chair and the candidate may have negotiated (e.g., office space, lab space, teaching appointments and schedules, any other departmental commitments Chair has the authority to make). 
Departments do not have the authority to make E&G commitments without written approval of the Budget Director.
Provide a copy of the side letter to the Dean’s Office.

Job Aid: How to Prepare a Job Offer & Disposition Candidates|PDF Version | Video Version (11 Minutes)
Job Aid: Hire-Right | Quick Start Guide PDF

• References
  • Three (3) Reference Checks (from the current immediate supervisor & two other professional recommendations) must be completed and signed.
  • These reference forms will be included with the Offer Letter presented to the Provost for signature. 
• Foreign Influence and Foreign Principal Screening
• Background Check