Faculty Hiring

USU Policy 4003: Faculty Appointments guide faculty hiring in the College of Arts & Sciences. This webpage outlines the faculty hiring process and policies along with relevant resources for departments, search committees, and relevant administrators.

Strategic Hiring Plans

In consultation with their faculty members and the Dean’s Office, department heads submit strategic hiring plans early in the fall semester. These plans align proposed faculty positions with the ArtSci Strategic Plan, the USU Strategic Plan, and the USU Strategic Reinvestment Plan, addressing enrollment and programmatic demands, workforce development opportunities, and the potential for collaborative work and interdisciplinary connections.

The Dean reviews these proposals in collaboration with the Associate Deans. In keeping with Policy 4003.2.3.2, the Dean makes a recommendations to the Provost on strategic positions. Following Provost approval, successful proposals can commence the search process.

While faculty hiring needs may emerge on a case-by-case basis outside of this process during the academic year, every effort must be made to participate in the strategic hiring process each year.

Hiring Flowchart

Department heads should refer to this hiring flowchart during the hiring process. This flow chart clearly indicates how Business Services (Olivia Flores and Monica Schruhl) are integral to this process. It also delineates responsibilities according to each step of the process to the department head, business services, dean’s office, and the provost’s office. Please refer to it often.

View Flow Chart

Search and Screening Committees

Search and screening committees serve essential roles in the hiring process. Search committees are key functions of shared governance.

Composition of the Search and Screening Committee

USU Policy 4003.2.3.3 Search and Screening Committees states:

All members of the search committee must be faculty of equal or greater rank than the appointment sought. 

As outlined in Policy 4000.2.4.3.4, faculty with term appointments (lecturer, professional practice, and clinical ranks) are not eligible to vote on matters related to “appointment of tenured and/or tenure-eligible faculty.”

For statewide positions, there must be a member of the search committee from the campus where the new position resides.

As the ArtSci Strategic Plan emphasizes, the College of Arts & Sciences seeks to hire collaborative and adaptive faculty members who can help foster cross-disciplinary innovation. In keeping with this spirit, the College requires one faculty member on the search committee (in addition to the five or part of the five search committee members) to be from outside of the appointment’s department.

While student input is a key part of the search process and they should be invited to several activities and events during the on-campus interview as outlined in Policy 4003.2.3.6, students should not serve as members of a search committee.

Human Resources Required Trainings

Register for Required HR Training

Training Schedule for Fall 2026

• September 24, 11:00am-12pm
• October 5, 10:00am-11:00am
• October 22, 3:30pm-4:30pm
• November 2, 1:00pm-2:00pm
• November 12, 9:00am-10:00am

Your department head or academic department coordinator may also be coordinating HR training directly with human resources. 

Human Resources has also created hiring tool kits that can be accessed at any time for questions on hiring best practices.

Responsibilities of Search and Screening Committees

Policy 4003.2.3 outlines the responsibilities of search and screening committees for faculty appointments. Search and screening committees:

• Prepare a job description (using templates from Business Services Olivia Flores) in consultation with the department head, faculty, and dean
• Screen applicants according to the job description
• Identify a suitable pool of candidates to be further considered by the faculty and pertinent administrators
• With the rest of the faculty, attend on campus interviews
• Make recommendations to the Department Head about hiring suitability

On Campus Interviews

When possible, departments should bring three finalists to the position’s campus for on campus interviews. Interviews should focus on assessing the candidate’s abilities according to the job description and as articulated in the position’s role statement areas of excellence and effectiveness. The interview experience should contain the same events across all candidates and be similar in experience, with the understanding some faculty, staff, and students may not be able to attend all events.

Required Activities

• At least one teaching activity for any position that includes teaching as part of the role statement (whether effectiveness or excellence). In keeping with Policy 4003.2.3.6, the department head will establish a mechanism to involve students in the evaluation of faculty candidates.
  
  • ArtSci provides rubrics for student evaluation of teaching as well as peer faculty evaluations of teaching. These are not required and can be modified, but an evaluation instrument is necessary and must be collected and retained per USU Policy 3302.
• At least one research/creative activity for any position that includes research/creative endeavors as part of the role statement (whether effectiveness or excellence).
• Meeting with the Department Head
• Meeting with the Associate Dean for Faculty Success Julia Gossard (30 minutes)

Suggested Menu of Additional Activities

Department heads, in consultation with the search committee, faculty, and students, should devise an itinerary that allows the candidate to interact with a variety of faculty, staff, and students while also getting to experience the USU Campus and surrounding community.

Feedback/Assessment Instruments and Record Keeping

At every step in the hiring process, departments should prepare and employ distinct feedback instruments aligned to the position’s job description and the position’s proposed role statement. 

Feedback must be solicited from faculty, students (undergraduate and graduate), staff, and relevant administrators (Associate Dean for Faculty Success). When possible, this feedback should be solicited using standardized feedback mechanisms.

Suggested Feedback Forms & Rubrics

These feedback and assessment instruments should be carefully collected and stored by the department head and search committee chair in accordance with USU Policy 3302. This feedback should be taken into careful consideration when making initial screening decisions as well as when assessing candidates for on-campus interviews and when identifying the finalist after on-campus interviews. 

A summary reflecting these materials should be shared with the Associate Dean for Faculty Success and Dean when recommendations are made for hiring suitability. The Dean may request the full feedback and assessment tools on a case-by-case basis.

New Faculty Start Up Requests

For any faculty member that has research in their role statement, whether area of excellence or effectiveness, the College strongly recommends pursuing a New Faculty Start Up Package with the Office of Research, the College, and the department.

For start-up packages that will likely exceed $100,000 total, a prospective New Faculty Start Up statement is required before the candidate arrives on campus for their interview. 

The USU Office of Research provides information on New Faculty Start Up Requests. When possible, the College will provide a portion of the start-up request funding.

Department Heads can work with the following Associate Deans on New Faculty Start Up requests:

Questions about Faculty Hiring? 

Contact Associate Dean for Faculty Success Julia Gossard.