SEARCHES, SCREENING, AND APPOINTMENTS FOR UNCLASSIFIED PERSONNEL

Effective: August 15, 2024

Purpose: To outline the requirements for searches to fill vacant positions for faculty and administrative/professional staff positions.

Scope: This policy applies campus wide when recruiting individuals to fill unclassified positions.

Responsible Office: Although primary responsibility for enforcing policies and procedures will rest with the deans when filling vacancies for unclassified employees, other University personnel (e.g., faculty, academic unit administrative supervisors, other administrators) will be expected to assume their roles and/or responsibilities as set forth in this policy. Any modifications or variations will be undertaken only with the permission of the President or designee (e.g., vice president) in consultation with the Affirmative Action Officer and/or designee.

Policy Statement: The appropriate vice president will be informed of any open faculty or administrative professional positions within an academic unit and will follow the applicable procedures in recruitment to fill the position.

For most positions, an appointed search committee should seek out and recruit, review, and recommend qualified candidates. If possible, a search committee should include as much as possible, a diverse representation of persons. If one of these categories is unavailable from the unit, the balance may be attained by adding a member from outside the unit or the Affirmative Action Officer and/or designee may be selected to serve in the search process.

On searches for which the unit administrator(s) take(s) responsibility for the active part of the search (i.e., advertising, professional contacts) a screening committee may be appointed.

Only well-qualified candidates who are seriously interested in the position should be brought to campus.

Results of interviews and recommendations relative to the decision to offer, or not to offer, the position must be available to the appropriate vice president upon request. After favorable review by the vice president, the offer of a position may be made.

If one of the applicants accepts an offer and is hired, all other applicants should be notified that the position has been filled and that they are no longer being considered for the position.

All records of each search, including records regarding all applicants, shall be marked Confidential and retained by the academic unit for three (3) years and shall be available upon request by the appropriate vice president or Affirmative Action Officer and/or designee.

UNDERUTILIZED POSITIONS

Special Approvals for Recruitment to Fill Underutilized Positions

A study will be made by the Affirmative Action Office to establish the probable availability ratio of women and minorities in the applicant pool. This information will be furnished each fall to vice presidents, deans and academic unit administrative supervisors. If the advertised position is one in which either minorities or women are underutilized, the unit head must submit to the vice president's office proposed procedures for recruitment, screening, selection and potential availability of minorities and women. The vice president's office will review the proposed procedures and availability data. The vice president's office will determine whether the procedures are approved or whether deficiencies exist that must be corrected.

Special Approvals for Candidate Interviews of Underutilized Positions

If the position is one in which minorities and/or women are underutilized, and there are no minorities and/or women included in the pool from which interviews will be scheduled, the appropriate vice president and the Affirmative Action Officer and/or designee will review with the appropriate administrators the adequacy of recruitment efforts for such positions and maintain a written record of this review. If, in the opinion of the vice president, recruitment efforts have been inadequate, then further recruitment efforts shall be undertaken.

These goals and timetables will be set annually in a meeting of Affirmative Action Officer and/or designee, vice presidents, deans, and directors. Conversion to permanent status may not occur for persons other than females or minorities without an appropriate search unless that department has met the utilization goals.

Special Approvals for Hiring Candidates for Underutilized Positions

In instances in which a minority or woman is within the pool of applicants and is not the choice for an underutilized position, the unit must provide to the vice president written justification as to why a minority or woman is not to be selected for interview; if interviewed, as to why they are not selected for hire. The unit will not make any offer pending approval of the justification by the vice president.

Special Mentoring for Underutilized Minorities

So long as there remains an under-representation of minorities in the Emporia State University faculty, the search for suitable candidates will include a review of high-caliber minority master's degree students. Should such students be located, efforts to encourage pursuit of doctoral study will be made.

SPECIAL SEARCH WAVIER FOR UNIQUE PROJECTS

A search may be waived (only by the appropriate vice president and/or the President) in instances in which a singular person has the qualities required for a special project. The Notice of Appointment offered under this waiver will be temporary, non-renewable, and for a period of 1 year or less.

EMPLOYMENT OF NON-CITIZENS

Unclassified non-citizen employees are individually responsible for applying for and maintaining the appropriate documentation permitting them to work in the United States.

SPOKEN ENGLISH LANGUAGE COMPETENCY

Faculty

All prospective faculty members, except visiting professors on exchange for one year or less, must have their spoken English competency assessed prior to employment through interviews with no fewer than three (3) institutional personnel, one (1) of whom shall be a student. Faculty shall include all full-time or part-time personnel having classroom or laboratory instructional responsibilities and/or direct tutorial or advisement contact, other than for courses or sessions conducted primarily in a foreign language. An oral interview shall be conducted either face-to-face or by mediated means. To be eligible for an appointment without spoken English language remediation, prospective faculty found to be potentially deficient in speaking ability shall be required to achieve a minimum score of fifty (50) on the Test of Spoken English (TSE), or a score of 250 on the Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK), or equivalent, or a minimum score of twenty-two (22), set by Board staff in consultation with the Council of Chief Academic Officers and with the approval of the Board Academic Affairs Standing Committee, on the Speaking section of the Test of English as a Foreign Language internet Based Test (TOEFL iBT). A report detailing the process for interviewing prospective faculty, including the composition of the interview team and scores from the TSE or SPEAK for each candidate, will be submitted to the President/CEO of the Board every other year.

Graduate Teaching Assistants

All prospective graduate teaching assistants shall have their English competency assessed prior to being considered for any employment having classroom or laboratory instructional responsibility and/or direct tutorial responsibilities. The following shall be used to implement this policy:

• All prospective graduate teaching assistants, whose first language is not English, must be interviewed and have their competency in spoken English assessed by no fewer than three (3) institutional personnel, one (1) of whom shall be a student. An oral interview shall be conducted either face-to-face or by mediated means.
• To be eligible for an appointment without spoken English language remediation conditions, all prospective graduate teaching assistants, whose first language is not English, shall be required to achieve a minimum score of fifty (50) on the Test of Spoken English (TSE), or a score of 250 on the Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK), or equivalent, or a minimum score of twenty-two (22), set by Board staff in consultation with the Council of Chief Academic Officers and with the approval of the Board Academic Affairs Standing Committee, on the Speaking section of the Test of English as a Foreign Language internet Based Test (TOEFL iBT).
• All prospective graduate teaching assistants who do not meet the above requirements shall not be assigned teaching responsibilities nor other tasks requiring direct instructional contact with students.
• An exception will be made for courses taught in sign language.
• A report detailing the process for interviewing graduate teaching assistants, whose first language is not English, including the composition of the interview team and scores from the TSE or SPEAK for each candidate, will be submitted to the President/CEO of the Board every other year.

The University shall develop implementing policies and procedures for the administration of this policy and shall report to the Board of Regents as to the effectiveness of such policy and may adopt standards that exceed or are additional to those required by the Board.

Definitions: All words and phrases shall be interpreted utilizing their plain meanings unless otherwise defined in another University or Board of Regents policy or by statute or regulation.

Underutilized Position – A position having fewer minorities or women in a particular job group than would reasonably be expected by their availability in the potential applicant pool.

Procedures: All procedures linked and related to the policies above shall have the full force and effect of policy if said procedures have first been properly approved by the University’s administrator in charge of Human Resources Procedures.

[Human Resources procedures - coming soon]

Related Policy Information: [coming soon]