Search and Screen Procedures for Administrators

Scope

This policy applies to searches for the university president, vice presidents, the provost and chancellors of each campus, the associate vice president for online education, and the dean of the university graduate school.

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Policy Statement

1. The search for a president is conducted by the Board of Trustees under procedures developed by the Board. The Trustees should consult with the co-chairs of the University Faculty Council (UFC) early in the process about the best way to involve representatives of the faculty in the search and screen process.
2. The searches for vice presidents and the Deans of the University Graduate Schools are conducted by the President, in consultation with the UFC Executive Committee.
   1. The Vice President for Regional Campuses and Online Education, the Executive Vice President for University Clinical Affairs, the Vice President for Research, and the Deans of the University Graduate Schools shall be chosen by the President upon the recommendation of a search and screen committee, a majority of whose members shall be faculty.
   2. All other university vice presidents shall be chosen by the President through a process that includes consultation with the UFC Executive Committee about the extent to which faculty will participate in the search. Faculty normally should be represented, but need not constitute a majority on these searches.
   3. When the search is for a vice president to fill a new or reorganized office, the President shall consult with the UFC Executive Committee about whether the office directly affects the academic mission of the university and therefore requires a majority-faculty committee.
3. The searches for a provost or chancellor of a campus shall be conducted by the President in consultation with the faculty governance organization for that campus. A majority of members of the search committee shall be faculty from that campus.
4. The search for the Associate Vice President for Online Education may be conducted by the President or the Vice President for Regional Campuses and Online Education, in consultation with the UFC Executive Committee. The search process must include faculty representation, although faculty need not constitute a majority.
5. The President has the ultimate authority to determine the size and composition of a search and screen committee and to select its members. However, for committees required to have a majority of faculty, the President must select the faculty representatives from among those names submitted by the relevant faculty governance body. To provide the President with choices, the list of names submitted shall contain more names than required to populate the faculty portion of the committee.
6. The composition of each committee should reflect diverse campuses, units, disciplines, viewpoints, ranks and appointment categories, and should include faculty with expertise in the areas and subjects that will fall within the responsibilities of the particular administrative officer.
7. The search for a dean of a core school or other multi-campus unit should be conducted by the Provost or Chancellor to whom the dean primarily reports, under the procedures adopted by that campus.
8. Searches may be conducted with the assistance of a professional search firm, but care must be taken to assure that the search firm’s role shall not substitute for the judgment of the committee and its members.
9. Committees should keep their searches confidential until a short list of candidates has been identified, provided such confidentiality does not interfere with the opportunity for faculty to consider and provide feedback on the final candidates.
10. A search and screen committee may adopt its own procedures, but must in all searches:
    1. Consult with the Office of Institutional Equity or its equivalent to ensure that its recruiting procedures are in compliance with the university’s diversity policies and goals.
    2. Adequately advertise the vacancy to the faculty as a whole so that faculty members have a reasonable opportunity to apply.
    3. Place significant value on whether candidates have relevant academic experience or otherwise display an understanding of traditional university culture, and show a commitment to the principles of academic freedom and shared governance.
    4. Include one or more public events or other opportunities for faculty from all campuses, affected units, and other relevant constituencies, to engage with the finalists and provide feedback to the committee.
11. All searches should be conducted expeditiously, but give ample time for the search and minimize the need to appoint an acting administrator.

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Reason for Policy

The selection of senior administrative officers is one of the most important decisions made by the university that affects its academic mission. A 1976 resolution by the Board of Trustees endorsed the use of a search and screen process that includes faculty and other affected constituencies. Section 2.2 of the Constitution of the Indiana University Faculty gives faculty the authority to establish the procedures by which senior academic officers are appointed. Section 2.3 gives faculty co-authority over the selection of administrators whose offices affect the academic mission.

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Procedures

1. When a vacancy occurs for a senior administrative position with university-wide authority, the President shall consult the UFC Executive Committee. When a vacancy occurs for a Provost or Chancellor, the President shall inform the UFC Executive Committee but consult primarily with the Executive Committee of that campus’s faculty governance body.
2. The President shall confer with the appropriate Executive Committee, review with it the circumstances and needs of the position, and consult with it about the creation of a search and screen committee, its size, and a timetable for the selection of its members.
3. The Executive Committee promptly shall compile a list of names of faculty it would like to serve on the search and screen committee and submit that list to the President. The list should contain more names from which the President may choose than needed to fill all the faculty seats. The faculty selected from among the Bloomington, IUPUI, and regional campuses shall be in rough proportion to the degree these campuses fall under the jurisdiction of the administrative position being filled.
4. The President shall also solicit names from other appropriate constituencies.
5. The President shall form the committee from the names submitted by the Executive Committee and other constituencies, and from other persons identified by the President as being useful to the search and screen process.
6. The President shall name the chair of the Committee.
7. The President shall convene the search and screen committee, give it its charge, including deadlines, and discuss whether a search firm will be used. The committee shall then determine its own procedures, provided they are consistent with this policy.
8. The search and screen committee shall make its recommendations to the President. Except in extraordinary circumstances, more than one name must be submitted. In the event that the President is unable or unwilling to appoint any of the recommended candidates, the President shall communicate this to the committee and consult with the relevant Executive Committee on how best to proceed. 

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Definitions

Faculty: Includes tenure-track faculty and librarians and non-tenure track faculty.

President: Includes the President’s designee.

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History

(Presidential Searches:  University Faculty Council, March 9, 1976; Board of Trustees, December 18, 1976; all other searches:  University Faculty Council, October 27, 1987, November 12, 2019)

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