5.6. Instructor, Assistant, and Associate Professors, Full-time: Search Process

• Department Head or Division Chief identifies need for a new faculty member
• For Basic and Social Science department (HMS Quad) appointments, the Dean must first approve the position in writing
• For Clinical department appointments, the department initiates the search through the Faculty Search Portal and includes the rationale for the search, the search committee members and proposed advertisement, all to be reviewed by the OFA. The Dean’s office reviews the advertisement and the composition of the search committee and may make recommendations. Once approved, the recruiting department/institution is responsible for posting the advertisement.
• Search Committee is appointed from the faculty in the department and, as appropriate, from other departments with related scientific/clinical interests. The minimum number of faculty serving on a search committee is 3 (three) members. Four to six members and the chairperson are typical, ideally including women and faculty from groups underrepresented in medicine. Faculty members must represent the majority of the committee and may be of any rank. Staff or other non-faculty members may serve as committee members but should represent a minority.
• Members of the Search Committee may NOT include:
  • Anyone likely to be a candidate
  • Anyone who will report to the new hire
• Faculty and others not eligible to serve as members of the Search Committee may testify to the Search Committee, suggest names, meet with candidates, and provide feedback on candidates to the Search Committee. These individuals do not participate in the final selection.
• All advertisements should be developed according to search best practices (see “Developing an advertisement” in Section 5.2). If the recruitment seeks to identify candidates who would qualify for a professorial appointment (e.g., full Professor), then a Professorial search must be initiated.

• Search Committee meets to learn about the search, refine job description, discuss procedures for conducting the search, define criteria for the position and discuss plans for publicizing the position, and maximizing the breadth of the pool of candidates. Such efforts include discussion of methods to be used for soliciting candidates (see “Inclusivity in searches” in Section 5.2)
• Advertisements must be posted according to search best practices (see “Developing an advertisement” in Section 5.2)
• In the case of Basic and Social Sciences, a Dean’s office representative reviews the use of Harvard’s Academic Recruiting Information System (ARIeS) for documenting search procedures
• Steps to broaden the candidate pool and women/minority candidates should be done according to search best practices.
• Search Committee:
  • Builds a list of possible candidates
  • Develops set of criteria by which candidates will be judged
  • Obtains and reviews CVs from potential candidates; those who ultimately apply are considered part of the applicant list
  • Ensures that all female and minority candidates receive the fullest and fairest consideration
  • Reviews potential candidates and identifies candidates to be interviewed (i.e., interview list)

• Interview list candidates are invited to interview for the position
• Conduct interviews according to search best practices (see “Conducting interviews and on-campus visits” in Section 5.2). The ultimate process is to be determined by the committee.
• Maintain consistency of the interview procedures across all candidates and minimize unconscious bias according to search best practices
• The Committee should vote on interviewed candidates following a complete discussion of strengths and weaknesses
• If it is a small enough pool of applicants, the candidates who are on the interview list and the short list may be the same
• Subsequent (second round) interviews with finalist candidates are often indicated
• Recommendations of the Committee are presented to the hiring leader, typically a Division Chief, Department Head or CEO/President
• For Clinical departments: A detailed record of all candidates who applied and were interviewed—including name, degree, academic rank, and institution—should be maintained in the Faculty Search Portal. A summary of the committee’s deliberation and rationale in choosing a final candidate(s) should also be entered into the Portal, for the purpose of generating a final End of Search Report at the conclusion of the search process.

The Department Head or designated leader negotiates with final candidates.

Note: If at any point in the search process the Search Committee has advertised explicitly for a candidate for the rank of Instructor, Assistant, or Associate Professor but identifies as a leading candidate an individual whose appointment would be at the full Professor rank, the Chair/Co-Chairs must immediately notify the OFA, which will provide guidance as to the appropriate procedures for the search. Ordinarily, recruitment of a professorial candidate requires restarting a search at the professorial level or evaluation for a Target of Opportunity search exception.

• Offer letters to candidates should make clear that appointment to rank is not assured and must be evaluated by the appropriate appointment committee at HMS/HSDM. Until rank is approved, the title of Member of the Faculty would be the appropriate holding appointment. Search documents are submitted at the time of this first appointment.
• Once a candidate accepts the position, the Department prepares an appointment dossier appropriate to the anticipated rank
• Searches for HMS-paid appointments to the Quad or HSDM-paid appointments must follow Harvard University protocols including updating candidates’ dispositions in ARIeS after the hiring of a final candidate
• If none of the candidates identified through the search process is hired, additional candidates from the search process could be re-evaluated, the search could be re-launched or the recruiting institution could decide to have an interim or acting administrative hospital title (if relevant) and then initiate a new search process in the future
  • For searches recruiting Harvard-paid positions: if the search is closed, a new request must be submitted to the Dean to resume the search
  • If the search is unsuccessful and then goes on hiatus for one (1) year or more, a new advertisement must be posted according to the guidelines for advertising above in Step 2 before resuming the recruitment