The Office of Human Resources makes the following information about search and hiring procedures available to staff and faculty members.

Please direct questions to:

Denise McKinney, Human Resources Assistant at: dmckinney@tusculum.edu

 SEARCH INITATION PROCESS

1. 1. The President or departmental Vice President has the authority to establish a new position or fill a recently vacated one and will serve as the Chair of the Search Committee. The President or Vice President may choose to designate a faculty or staff member to serve as Chair but will retain ultimate responsibility for the search and all associated activities of the search.
2. To institute the search, Form 13.00 Position Search, will be completed by the Chair of the Search Committee and submitted to Human Resources (HR).  Page 2 contains detailed advertising recommendations and your choices should be marked.  A job advertisement listing the position description, qualifications, requirements of the position, and deadline for application as well as an up-to-date job description should be attached to Form 13.00.  In addition, the advertisement and job description should be sent electronically to HR.
3. Once the approval signatures (Chief Human Resources Officer, department Vice President, Vice President of Finance/CFO, and President) have been obtained on Form 13.00, HR will post the position on the Tusculum University (TU) website and prepare advertisement (cost, posting advertisement, purchase order and billing) for additional media advertisement.
4. HR will then send the chair of the search committee the Search and Hiring Procedure and Search Committee Confidentiality Agreement documents by email. He/she will distribute these to members of the search committee and all members will read and sign. The chair will return signed documents to HR.
5. If the vacancy will be filled from outside the department, the position will need to be posted a minimum of five (5) days calendar days. Employees who meet the minimum requirements, and have completed the introductory period in their current positions may apply.
6. All jobs posted on Tusculum’s website will contain a deadline for application and job postings will be taken down on that date. Should there be a shortage of applicants, the deadline may be extended upon request to HR.   Any applications received after the deadline date will not be accepted.
7. If the position will be filled from within the department (promotion or transfer), the position does not need to be posted on Tusculum’s website. The President or department Vice President will submit Form 14.00 Employee/Employment Change Request to HR.

SEARCH COMMITTEES

1. A Search Committee is required on all staff director level positions and above, and for all faculty searches. Unless otherwise appointed by the President, the department Vice President will serve as Chair or designate an individual who will be responsible for contacting individuals to serve on the search committee. A search committee will have a minimum of three (3) members and when possible should include both faculty and staff. Faculty search committees should read and understand search committee responsibilities detailed in the Faculty Handbook, Policy 4.02.
2. The chair is the spokesperson for the committee. Committee members are expected to handle application material in a confidential manner so that it does not prematurely disclose an applicant’s possible candidacy to current employees.
3. The Search Committee Chair will secure a signed Confidentiality Agreement from each committee member. The signed documents are to be turned in to HR at the conclusion of the search.
4. The Search Committee Chair will distribute the Search and Hiring Procedure to each committee member and obtain their signature on the last page of the document. The signed page will be turned in to HR at the conclusion of the search.

APPLICATION/RESUME PROCESS

1. All applications, Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) disclosures and resumes are ONLY accepted through email to TUResume (including internal applicants) and will be forwarded to chair of the search committee by HR.  *Internal applicants do not need to submit an application or disclosure unless it is not on file. Failure to apply via email to TUResume will result in no review of application with no consideration for employment.

SELECTION AND INTERVIEW PROCESS

1. Applications for the vacant position will be received in HR (email address TUResume) and will be forwarded to the search committee Chair.
2. The Chair will create and maintain a log of applicants.  Microsoft Excel may be used to create the log and the information to collect includes but is not limited to the following: date received, name, email address, degree, degree conferred by, years of experience, comments, consider for job (yes or no).
3. The applicant’s materials will be provided for review to search committee members by the Chair.
4. The search committee will determine the eligible applicants and select those to contact.
5. A completed application and FCRA disclosure must be on file in HR before speaking with the internal/external applicant. Both the job application and FCRA form are present on Tusculum’s website.  The committee Chair must check with HR to verify that the applicant has the applicable documentation on file.
6. HR checks for application and FCRA disclosure on file.  If not on file, HR sends applicant(s) the forms. Upon receiving the application and FCRA disclosure, HR will notify the search committee chair and will forward the application to the committee chair.
7. APPLICANTS HAVE NOW BECOME CANDIDATES
8. When needed, HR can and will provide training to all members of the search committee on interviewing, documentation and hiring procedures.
9. Form 27.00 Guidelines for Pre-Employment Inquiries
10. Form 28.00 Commonly Asked Interview Questions
11. The search committee members may conduct an initial interview by telephone, Skype or Zoom of the short list of candidates before identifying candidates to be invited to campus for final interview. You may use questions from Form 28.00, or you may create your own as long as you abide by the guidelines on Form  27.00.  The job description will provide material for questions that will help provide insight into the candidate’s ability to be successful in the job.
12. The search committee members will then select the top candidates or candidate to invite for an in-person campus interview.
13. As part of the selection process, the chair of search committee may conduct a minimum of three (3) reference checks for each candidate before or after the campus visit using Form 17.00 Reference Check (Applicant authorization to check references has been given on the employment application).  The name and title of the person who provided the responses as well as all responses should be captured on Form 17.00.
14. The search committee chair prepares on-campus interviews, arranges meetings and campus tours.

ON CAMPUS INTERVIEW

1. If applicable, interview and teaching demonstration is documented by all interviewers on Form 30.00 Candidate Evaluation Form.
2. The search committee will review and evaluate candidate(s) and select final candidate.
3. The search committee chair will make recommendation on hire by submitting Form 16.00 Employment Requisition to HR. The hiring package must be attached along with any other documentation supporting hiring of candidate.  The hiring package will consist of the search committee’s statement of reason for candidate selection for hire, resume, application, interview questionnaires with comments, and reference checks if applicable.
4. The Hiring package will be routed as follows.
   1. Once the department Vice President have approved the hire by signing Form 16.00, hiring package is forwarded to HR.
   2. Hiring package will be reviewed by Chief Human Resources Officer and then forwarded to VP/CFO for signature showing budget approval.
   3. Hiring package forwarded to President who authorizes the hire.
      An offer of employment cannot be made until the President has authorized the hire.
   4. Hiring package is returned to HR who notifies VP to make verbal offer of employment if desired. HR will produce a formal offer letter and send to VP and President for signature.
   5. Search committee chair sends any and all remaining documentation of candidates not selected for hire to HR (log of candidates, telephone interview questionnaires, Skype or Zoom interview documents, on campus interview questionnaires, etc.). The search committee chair will also provide the log of candidates electronically as the email addresses contained in the log will be used to notify applicants the job has been filled.

HIRE

1. HR sends the offer letter along with the background authorization to selected candidate. If requested by the department Vice President, he/she will receive the offer letter packet to make the formal offer.
2. When HR receives the signed offer letter and FCRA Authorization, HR orders the background check.
3. A background check is performed by HR on every offer of employment, which may include internal transfers. The offer that is extended to the final candidate is contingent upon the successful completion of a background check as well as pre-employment examinations such as but not limited to drug screening. If a result of the background investigation or pre-employment examinations is negative and the individual has begun employment, the individual will be terminated immediately.
4. When candidate accepts, HR emails all applicants and candidates that the position has been filled using the applicant log provided electronically by the search committee Chair.
5. The VP or supervisor initiates the Form 16.01 New Employee Set-up and routes this form to the appropriate departments. This form should be forwarded to HR for insertion into the employee’s personnel file.
6. Upon first day worked, new employee comes to HR to complete hiring paperwork.
7. New Employee Orientation and On-Boarding checklist should be completed within the first four (4) months of employment.

NOTE:  All forms mentioned above can be found on the Human Resources website, in the tab titled “Employee Handbook and Human Resources Forms” on the left of the web page.  The HR web site can be accessed from the TU webpage, by selecting Faculty & Staff and clicking on Human Resources.

I received a copy of Tusculum’s Search and Hiring Procedure on the date listed below.  I understand I am expected to read it and should I have questions about the procedure, contact the Human Resources Department.  I recognize I will receive this form any time I serve on a search committee and a copy will be maintained in that search file and in my personnel file.

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Signature                                                                                            Date Signed

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Printed  Name                                                                                    Name of Search

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Received by Human Resources Representative                                Date Received