Hiring Procedures
The responsibility for hiring new faculty is in the hands of the faculty. The procedure depends upon the ability of the members of the faculty to define and discuss the needs of the curriculum and the College in an open and thoughtful manner and avoids the imposition of considerations outside those needs.
Step I
When a vacancy occurs on the faculty, the faculty members most closely concerned will meet with the Curriculum Committee to discuss the nature of the position and the needs of the College. The group will develop a job description and an advertisement based on this discussion. Note: This policy does not address either the issue of what constitutes a vacancy or how a vacancy, once identified, is to be allocated by discipline or by area.
Step II
The Committee on Faculty, supplemented by those faculty most closely concerned, constitute the search committee. The search committee will meet to discuss the mechanics of the search, the job description, and the criteria for selection, which will be based on the levels of competence demanded of successful Marlboro faculty members. As nearly as practicable, scheduling should be arranged in advance to insure that all members of the search committee can participate fully in the process. Note: The discussion among the members of the faculty and the members of the Committee on Faculty must be full and open. While unanimity regarding the exact characteristics of a successful candidate is unlikely, each member of the search committee should make clear his or her preferences within the limits of the job description developed under Step I.
Step III
The search committee will review applications using criteria discussed fully and openly in Step II. Under normal circumstances, at least four candidates will be selected for interviews.
Step IV
So far as practical, candidates selected for interviews will be treated uniformly throughout the interview process. Note: The search committee should devise a procedure which enables the candidates to demonstrate their fitness for the position. Each candidate might be asked to bring projected course descriptions and syllabi, to give a public lecture, or to teach a class.
Step V
Following the interviews, the committee will rank the candidates based on the criteria selected in Step II and on the interviews. The committee will recommend to the President that the position be offered to the candidates in order of this ranking. No candidate will be included on this list who is not fully qualified to be a Marlboro College faculty member.
If there are two or more candidates with roughly equal qualifications, the search committee should, before making its recommendations, consider the need for diversity of thought, training, disposition, age, gender, and ethnicity on the faculty.