Rolling Searches

Rolling Searches in the University Medical Line

Background

Faculty searches are normally authorized for a twelve-month period, which may be extended while negotiations with the candidate of choice continue. The School understands the challenges that some clinical departments may have in attracting a robust applicant pool for University Medical Line positions, which encompass scholarly, clinical care and teaching activities.  Therefore, under certain limited circumstances, a department may request a rolling search in the UML that extends over multiple years (up to 3) and normally anticipates multiple recruitments. We recommend reviewing our Rolling Search Guideline document at all stages of a rolling search.

Such circumstances might include:

• Anticipated annual hiring to address broad programmatic objectives (rather than specific, urgent clinical needs)
• Recruitment to fill multiple academic positions across several clinical subspecialties 
• Recruitment in an emerging subfield where the number of applicants is currently small but expected to grow
• Recruitment in an area of academic medicine where the availability of applicants has traditionally been challenging but might benefit from sustained recruitment strategies over time

Requesting a Rolling Search

• The Department Chair should discuss the rationale for a rolling search with the Vice Dean, whose approval must be gained before submission of the standard Search Initiation Request Form.
• Search Committee:
  • Due to the multi-year commitment, the department chair should appoint a standing search committee whose members should understand the labor-intensive, proactive nature of a successful search and be willing to commit the time and effort that is needed. 
  • All School policies regarding known candidates and potential conflicts of interest with committee members will remain in effect throughout the entire search period.
• Advertisements should be constructed to reflect broad programmatic needs that are aligned with a department’s long-term strategic planning.
• Although the rolling search approval covers 3 years, each year the department should confirm that they wish to continue the rolling search. This includes resubmitting the search advertisement/solicitation letter for review along with a confirmation that they will readvertise.
  • Please take care to identify any emerging known candidates at this time, with particular attention paid to managing any new conflicts of interest with search committee members.
• Consider timing the launch/readvertisement of a search to coincide with networking opportunities at major national or regional conferences or when large numbers of potential applicants may be soon coming out of fellowship or training programs.
• Departments requesting rolling searches will also be encouraged to explain the ways in which the search committee will sustain outreach efforts over time in order to encourage a steady flow of interest from a diverse applicant pool. 
  • When conducting the annual assessment of the state of the rolling search, consider examining the demographic report to gauge the outcome of the search committee’s outreach efforts to date and revisit those efforts as appropriate.

Conducting a Rolling Search

• The search committee should convene on a regular basis to assess applications.  Due to the extended search timeframe, extra care should be taken to keep applicants apprised of their status, including timely notification to those who are no longer under consideration for the position.
• Every Rolling search will have the same FSAT application link for its duration.
• To the extent possible, and to provide optimal calibration of an applicant’s qualifications, multiple candidates should be interviewed within the same approximate timeframe and the same clinical subspeciality.
• The first candidate of choice identified through a rolling search must have been selected as a result of a competitive process that included interviews with other short-listed candidates.
• Provided that advertising and outreach efforts continue to result in a steady flow of applicants, for subsequent recruitments, the applicant pool size submitted in connection with search reports will be considered cumulative over a specified period of time.  This can also apply to the Definitive Pool, depending upon how the department elects to define cohorts.
• Due to the extended period, search committees must be extra vigilant regarding conflicts of interest between candidates and search committee members.
• While it is understood that the candidate interview process may vary between cohorts/subspecialty groups, all candidates within a cohort/subspecialty must go through the same evaluation process

Search Reports for Rolling Search Winner(s)

Search reports for candidates winning a rolling search must be handled with attention to how they differ from regular searches.

• Care should be taken to report the entire timeline over the duration of the search to date, including the reposting of advertisements, additional solicitations at conferences, and any changes to the search committee.
• Candidates identified through a rolling search must have been selected as a result of a competitive process including a robust examination of a Long List and Short List / Definitive Pool.  As with any search, there must be evidence of a rigorous evaluation process.
• Due to the volume and complexity of rolling searches, it is permissible to have multiple sets of definitive pool discussions and entries within the same search report. For example, this could be the case with open rank, multi-specialty rolling searches wherein the department applies varied criteria to candidates across ranks and areas.   The evaluation process can often drive the definitive pool’s makeup.
  • It is permissible to define the Long List and Short List / Definitive Pool based on all candidates who meet a specific programmatic need ( e.g., clinical subspeciality) within the criteria from the beginning of the rolling search up to candidate selection.
  • It is also permissible to define the Long List and Short List / Definitive Pool based all candidates who’ve applied over a set period within the 3 years ( e.g., cohort or round), with a specific end and start date.
• Demographic Report
  • Every search report must include an up-to-date FSAT Demographic Report
  • The applicant pool will be cumulative over the course of the entire search, regardless of how the Long List and Short List / Definitive Pool is defined.  Depending on how these lists are defined and discussed in the narrative, their population totals may not match the Demographic Report in FSAT. This is due to the cumulative nature of FSAT’s Demographic data collection.
  • It is not possible to compare the demographics of the smaller ‘subspecialty’ pools in the search narrative to availability pool data. The demographics of the entire applicant pool will be discussed in the search narrative. The applicant pool numbers will adjust/grow in search reports for later hires as the rolling search progresses.