P-001.1 Selection of Teaching Faculty

Position Request

The Department Chair completes the Position Requests form and submits to the Office of the Deans.

Approval to Fill Vacancy

The Deans and the Provost review position requests. The Provost then presents recommendations for academic positions to hire to the VP for Finance and Administration for budgetary approval and then to the President for final approval to fill the vacancy. The Dean notifies the Department Chair if the position request is approved or denied. If approved, the Department or Program Chair will draft a Notice of Vacancy and send it to the Office of Human Resources (HR) for review.

Position is posted for hire

HR will post the position for hire. Positions will remain open until filled with an application priority deadline listed 21 days out from date posted or with the date specified in the Notice of Vacancy. The Department, Dean, or Search Committee may make recommendations for alternative posting locations. HR will review requests and budget to determine if additional posting locations are acceptable.

Retrenchment Candidate Review

In the event a candidate from the retrenchment list applies, the IFO contract on claiming procedures will be followed from this point forward. If there is no qualified retrenchment candidate, the process will move to the search committee.

Search Committee Formulation

Department Chair determines Search Committee Chair. Search Committee Chair recommends personnel for search committee to the Dean for approval prior to committee convening. Committees are ordinarily made of 4-6 members, with a minimum one (1) member being outside of the department hiring and minimum of one (1) member being outside of IFO. Once search committee personnel have been approved by the Dean, the Committee Chair convenes the committee.

Search Committee Duties

Search Committee will complete required trainings with HR and Affirmative Action Officer (AAO). Search Committee will sign confidentiality forms. Once completed, HR will release candidates to the search committee for review.

The Search Committee members will individually screen applications using a Screening Grid provided by HR to review the approved minimum and preferred qualifications from the Notice of Vacancy.

Search Committee members will determine if each of the candidates Exceeds, Meets, Does Not Meet, or Does Not Address minimum and preferred qualifications.

The Search Committee will take a consensus of the evaluation in which a majority rules determination will be made on each candidate’s viability to move forward in the process to an interview.

The Search Chair will submit a consolidated Screening Grid with the proposal of candidates to interview to HR and Dean for approval.

HR will review the candidates in the pool and make a recommendation to the AAO to move forward with the search or further review candidate pool.
AAO does reserve the right to consult on the search process and provide guidance and recommendation on candidate selection.

The search committee will submit proposed interview questions to HR for approval.

After review and approval, the Search Committee will conduct interviews with candidates. Modality of the interview will be determined by the number of viable applicants and Search Committee preference.

No more than four (4) candidates will be brought for an on-campus interview.

It is the responsibility of the Search Committee Chair to arrange the interview(s). Search Committee Chair will send HR a proposed interview itinerary for pre-approval.

HR will send each finalist candidate a benefits overview, prior work experience form, and interview reimbursement guidelines. HR will also initiate reference checks for all finalists prior to campus visit.

Each search committee member will complete an Interview Feedback Form for each candidate during each round of interviews.

When interviews are complete, the search committee will complete a consolidated Search Committee Candidate Summary.

The Search Committee Chair will submit the Search Committee Candidate Summary and all Interview Feedback forms to HR.

Offer of Appointment

The Dean will determine which candidate will receive an offer of employment after reviewing all documents from the search committee and interview process. HR will provide the Dean with the Minnesota State Pre-Hire Justification Form to complete.

The Pre-Hire Justification Form is sent to the AAO for final approval prior to salary information being released to the Dean for offer.

Upon approval, HR will complete a salary review and provide appropriate salary guidelines to the Dean to make an offer.

The Dean will extend a verbal offer to the selected candidate. The Dean will notify HR when the verbal offer has been accepted. HR will craft the offer letter and send it to the candidate through the Human Capital Management system for signature.

HR will complete the Monitoring the Hiring Process form.

The Dean will notify the department chair of the successful hire.

Policy History

Date of Adoption: October 23, 1979
Date of Last Review: January 22, 2026

Date and Subject of Amendments

1/22/26 – significant rewrite of the procedure for hiring instructional faculty