5.5. 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 (https://facultyappointmentsportal.hms.harvard.edu) and includes the rationale for the search, the search committee members and proposed advertisement 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 posts the advertisement. OFA supplements this effort by posting advertisement(s) on the OFA website.
• 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.
• 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 specify the potential rank(s) of the appointment, which may include Instructor, Assistant Professor, and/or Associate Professor. 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
• Equal opportunity language should be included in all advertisements. Please reference templates found on our Forms and Templates page for current language to use.

• 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, maximizing the breadth of the pool of candidates. Such efforts include discussion of:
• Methods to be used for soliciting candidates (record of activities to be included in the final search report), e.g., advertisements, recruitment sessions, letters, phone calls to solicit candidates from experts in the field. Note that an advertisement in a print or a web-based journal likely to reach the broadest, most appropriate pool of candidates must be posted for thirty days and documented for inclusion among the search materials in the Faculty Search Portal.
• 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 should be taken to identify women/minority candidates, which may include specific inquiry regarding female and minority candidates; letters soliciting candidates specifically sent to women and minority leaders in the field; contact with national professional/specialty organizations; lists from the Association of American Medical Colleges; and/or personal calls to appropriate individuals made by members of the Search Committee.
• 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 the long list of candidates
  • 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)

• Candidates on the interview list are invited to interview for the position
• The interview process is to be determined by the Committee. Examples of possible interview procedures include:
  • Candidates are initially interviewed by Zoom before being invited to interview in person
  • All candidates spend 1-2 days meeting members of the Search Committee individually and, often, the Committee as a whole
  • All candidates meet with the Committee as a whole
• Maintaining consistency of the interview procedure across candidates and including a list of questions for all candidates to address are strongly recommended as strategies to minimize unconscious bias
• 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 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, the Chair/Co-Chairs must immediately notify the OFA, which will provide guidance as to the appropriate procedures for the continuation of 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 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- opened 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 4 before resuming the recruitment