VI. Things to Know Before Initiating a Search

A. Overview

1. Departmental Searches

Appointments to the University Tenure Line (UTL), Non-tenure Line (NTL) or Medical Center Line (MCL) in the School of Medicine are initiated by departmental or joint departmental action or through one of the School's five institutes (see Section VI.A.2.Institutes of Medicine Searches). A department chair must present the case for a new faculty appointment to the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and obtain formal authorization from the Dean before a search can be launched.

Departmental faculty and the School administration must regard every search authorization as a potential long-term commitment. The Dean's authorization is based upon the availability of resources (including a position commitment) and an assessment of the department's present and predicted future needs in research, teaching and clinical activities, as well as priority judgments both within the department and between departments. Contributions to interdisciplinary institutes may also play a role in assigning authorizations to departments. A PeopleSoft position number must be assigned to every faculty search.

As a first step in initiating a search in the Medical Center Line (MCL), the department, in consultation with School administration, develops a detailed financial feasibility plan and compensation program to cover the initial term (or three years) of appointment. The level of detailed financial analysis required will be determined by whether the appointment represents a new line of practice, a replacement or planned program growth. For further information, contact the Office of Budget and/or the Office of Faculty Compensation.

In most cases, recommendations for an appointment are to be preceded by a rigorous and comprehensive national search. The scope of the search, the judgment exercised in evaluating the pool of candidates and the documentation of the entire process will receive close scrutiny at each level of review. Perfunctory or limited searches and pre-selection or incomplete assessment of candidates are easily recognized during the review and may lead to delay or disapproval of recommendations. (Please see Section VII.C.1. Identification of Known Candidates.)

On occasion, and with the approval of the Provost, a waiver of search may be granted when an exceptionally distinguished person is unexpectedly available, or an excellent candidate arises who would diversify the faculty. For further information regarding the search waiver process, please see Section VII.C. 2: Waivers of Search.

2. Institutes of Medicine Searches

The School of Medicine has created five Institutes of Medicine that are designed to improve human health by facilitating, augmenting and catalyzing the basic, translational and clinical research of the School's and the University's faculty in selected, complex, multi-disciplinary areas that transcend the domain of any single department. The five Institutes of Medicine are:

Cardiovascular Institute (CVI)
Stanford Cancer Center (SCC)
Immunology, Transplantation and Infection Institute (ITI)
Neuroscience Institute at Stanford (NIS)
Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (ISCBRM)

Members of an institute occupy "institute commitments" and, in general, are housed in institute space. However, like all Stanford professorial faculty, they have their primary (and, if applicable, secondary or courtesy) appointments in academic departments, either within the School of Medicine or in another Stanford school.

Since all Members are appointed in academic departments, the search, recruitment and appointment processes for Members are of necessity joint between institutes and departments. It follows that, in order to be successful, there must be a maximum amount of collaboration and coordination between institutes and departments at every stage of the process. The institute is responsible for preparing the appointment file for review by the appointing department and the other reviewing bodies at the School and University, and collaborates with the appointing department in this process.

As a first step for searches in the Medical Center Line (MCL), the institute, in consultation with departmental (as applicable) and School administration, develops a detailed financial feasibility plan and compensation program to cover the initial term (or four years) of appointment. For further information, contact the Office of Budget and/or the Office of Faculty Compensation.

Searches for Members may be conducted in one of two ways:

a. With the approval of the Office of Academic Affairs, an institute, having identified a programmatic area in which an incremental faculty appointment is needed, may initiate a search in collaboration with a specific department in the School or elsewhere in the University. In this case, the department and institute establish the search committee and jointly manage the search process. For more detailed information on search committees, see Section VII.D.

As noted above, the institute is responsible for preparing the appointment file for review by the appointing department and the other reviewing bodies at the School and University. Such a search may also be conducted with more than one department. In this case, once the best candidate is identified, the departments and the institute, with the best interests and preferences of the candidate in mind, negotiate which should be the primary department.

b. With the approval of the Office of Academic Affairs, an institute may initiate a search for a Member. In such cases, the Institute Director creates a search committee that includes representatives of the departments that might provide the academic home for the selected candidate as well as other key faculty leaders from related disciplines. The search committee identifies the programmatic area of need, writes the necessary advertisements, and screens candidates for interviews. This should be done with input from the department which might serve as the academic home of the Member, as well as with the Office of Diversity and Leadership. For more detailed information on search committees, see Section VII.D. As candidates are brought to campus for interviews, faculty from potential home departments should be included in the interview and selection process. During the initial or subsequent visit, the candidate should meet with a sufficient number of faculty members of his/her preferred home department to allow an informed departmental decision on the candidate. As noted above, the institute is responsible for preparing the search report and the appointment file for review by the appointing department and the other reviewing bodies at the School and University.

3. Search Process Flow Chart

4. Search Process Time Line

Prior to the submission of a formal search authorization request, the department, in consultation with School administration, identifies the programmatic need and develops a detailed financial feasibility and compensation plan. For appointments for a term of years, the plan should cover the initial term. The department should identify known candidates prior to submission of the search authorization request. Once these steps have been taken, this timeline should be used as a guide in the search process; modifications to the timeline may be appropriate under certain circumstances, with the approval of the Office of Academic Affairs.

All searches are authorized for 12 months duration. Departments may request an extension to conclude negotiations with a candidate to whom an offer has been extended. If a search fails to result in a hire, the department may request that the search be reauthorized.

Clock	Tasks
First steps	Submit search request. Await Dean's approval.
In the 1st to 4th month	Department identifies the search committee members, following standard department practice and trying to avoid including members of School-level A&P and Associate Deans committees; mentors and collaborators of the candidate. Convene a search committee meeting with the Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Leadership (if this meeting has not taken place previously). Submit advertisement(s) to journals. Enter position into NorCalHERC (Northern California Higher Education Recruitment Consortium) Forward solicitation letter to individuals and institutions on the recipient list. Conduct search committee networking. Collect applications – allow minimum of four to six weeks for receipt of applications.

In the 5th month	Screen applications and narrow the field of candidates. Update NorCalHERC when deadline passes for the acceptance of applications. OAA contacts the department to confer on progress of the search to date.
In the 6th to 9th month	Invite candidates for interviews. Solicit external and internal letters. Rank candidates.

In the 10th month	Submit the search report, and draft offer letter packets simultaneously to OAA. At the same time, submit draft offer letter, candidate's CV, and Source of Salary Support (SoSS) to Faculty Compensation. Await approval.
In the 11th to 12th month	Incorporate edits to offer from Faculty Compensation, OAA. Extend the offer to the candidate (conditional on approval through the university process). Provide a copy of the final offer letter (signed by candidate) to OAA and Faculty Compensation. Conclude negotiations with the candidate. Commence assembling the appointment long form.

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