Joint #19 Article 7

November 11, 2000
Joint #19
Article 7

APPOINTMENT OF FACULTY MEMBERS

7.01 The primary objective in recruiting is to develop the best possible teaching and research programmes for the University.

7.02 Appointments of Faculty Members shall be tenure-track, tenured, teaching term or regular term, as specified in Articles 11 and 23. The appointment of all Faculty Members except for any Faculty Members appointed to the Office of the Dean of Science as of September 1, 1999 shall be made to one or more Academic Units and shall be made subject to the provisions of this Article unless otherwise specified in this Collective Agreement.

INITIATING APPOINTMENTS

7.04#1x When an Academic Unit wishes to make an appointment, it shall be initiated as follows:

(a) The Administrative Head shall formulate to his or her immediate administrative superior a request for approval to fill a position following Collegial Consultation with the ASMs in the Academic Unit concerning the nature of the appointment. In the case of an appointment to a College Programme Unit, the Administrative Head’s decision to seek an appointment shall follow Collegial Consultation with the Programme Chair and other members of the Programme Unit concerned. In Counselling at the College, the Principal shall define the nature of the appointment following consultation with the Counselling Faculty Members at the College and in the Counselling Centre.

(b) If the Vice-President (Academic) accepts the request of the Dean, Director, Principal, or Associate Executive Director of the Fisheries and Marine Institute, the Administrative Head shall meet and consult with the Search Committee, and shall determine the wording and placement of the advertisement. The consultation process shall include a formal vote by the Search Committee.

FORMATION OF SEARCH COMMITTEES

7.05 Normally, Search Committees shall be formed within each Academic Unit with respect to each appointment. However, the Faculty Members within an Academic Unit or College Programme Unit may decide by formal vote that a single committee shall be established to take responsibility for some or all appointments over the course of that Academic Year. Such a formal vote shall be carried out, following discussion, at a meeting of Faculty Members who were notified of the meeting and the topic of discussion in advance. All Faculty Members in the Academic Unit or College Programme Unit shall be notified of the result of the vote.

7.05#2u At the College, if an appointment is to be made to a discipline represented in a College Programme Unit(s), the Search Committee shall be established with ASMs from the College Programme Unit(s) concerned; otherwise, the Search Committee shall be established from among ASMs in the appropriate Division, and include one or more of the members, if any, of the relevant discipline.

7.07 Search Committees shall consist of five (5) Faculty Members, three (3) of whom shall be elected by the Faculty Members from within the Academic Unit(s) or College Programme Unit(s) and two (2) of whom shall be appointed by the Administrative Head, giving due regard to the provisions of Clauses 29.04 and 29.04#1u. The following exceptions shall apply:

(a) In the case of Academic Units or College Programme Units with fewer than seven (7) and more than two (2) Faculty Members, the Search Committee shall consist of all Faculty Members in the Academic Unit or College Programme Unit.

(b) For Academic Units or College Programme Units with two (2) Faculty Members, they shall both be members of the Committee and the Administrative Head shall appoint one (1) additional Faculty Member from a cognate area at the same campus or from the Academic Unit concerned at the other campus.

(c) For Academic Units or College Programme Units with only one (1) Faculty Member, the Administrative Head shall appoint two (2) additional Faculty Members, one (1) of whom shall be named by the Faculty Member. At least two (2) members of the Committee shall be from the campus at which the position is to be filled.

(d) Notwithstanding Clause 1.03(b), for Academic Units or College Programme Units with no Faculty Members, the Administrative Head shall appoint three (3) Faculty Members to form a Committee. At the College, the Principal shall appoint the members of the Committee from cognate areas at the College, or from the Academic Unit concerned at the St. John’s campus, with the proviso that at least two (2) members of the Committee shall be Faculty Members at the College.

(e)u In the Faculty of Medicine, when an appointment is to be made where the successful candidate will be, or will possibly be, an ASM, the Search Committee shall be formed in accordance with the provisions of this Article except that the Administrative Head may include in the number of his or her appointees specified in Clause 7.07, one (1) member of the Faculty of Medicine who is excluded from this Collective Agreement by virtue of being engaged in the clinical practice of medicine, when the Administrative Head believes that such an individual can supply particular expertise that is required to assess candidates.

7.07 #1u When Search Committees are formed for joint appointments between or among Academic Units or College Programme Units, the Search Committees shall have representation from each appropriate Academic Unit.

7.08 When no available member of the Academic Unit or College Programme Unit can supply particular expertise which is required to assess candidates for a given position, or where a member of the Committee is needed to comply with Clause 29.04, the Administrative Head may include in the number of his or her appointees specified in Clause 7.07 a Faculty Member from a cognate area.

7.09 The Committee shall elect its own Chairperson.

7.10 The Administrative Head shall not be a member of the Search Committee, but may meet with the Committee at its invitation, or upon his or her request. The Committee shall have the option of holding meetings in the absence of the Administrative Head. The Administrative Head shall have the option of attending any interview of a candidate with the Committee, and shall be notified of the date and place of such interviews at the time the candidate is notified.

7.11 Normally, transaction of business shall require the presence of all members of the Search Committee. In no case shall business be transacted in the absence of more than one (1) member or in the absence of the Chairperson. In a case where a Committee has fewer than five (5) members, all members must be present for the transaction of business. Notwithstanding the above, participation by Telecommunications Technology in which all participants talk to one another in real time is acceptable when all members have all appropriate documentation and it is otherwise not feasible for the Committee to meet in person within the time frame necessary to make a decision.

7.12 In the event of a resignation from the Committee or where a member of the Committee becomes unavailable to serve on the Committee before the Committee has begun to interview candidates, an attempt shall be made to fill the resulting vacancy by election or appointment according to the manner in which the member to be replaced was designated.

7.13 If the number of eligible Faculty Members who agree to stand for election is fewer than the number specified in Clause 7.07, nonetheless the Committee shall be composed of those appointed and elected within the terms of Clause 7.07. If a Committee is formed under this provision with less than a full complement of members, and if one (1) or more eligible candidates have later made it known that they are available, the vacancies shall be filled before the Committee has begun to interview candidates. These position(s) shall be filled by election, following a further call for nominations, or by appointment, according to the manner in which the position(s) would originally have been filled.

7.14 The Search Committee shall not be required to perform duties outside the scope of this Article.

SEARCH PROCEDURES

7.15 Appointments for a period of one (1) year or more approved for search shall be advertised by the University in one (1) or more nationally-distributed print media selected so as to provide broad exposure to the position for potential applicants. Appointments for a period of less than one (1) year approved for search shall:

(a) be advertised in a nationally-distributed print medium

or

(b) be advertised in the St. John’s Telegram and, for positions at the College, in the Western Star , and notification shall be sent by the Administrative Head by E-mail, telecopier (fax) or regular mail to the appropriate department(s) at each Canadian university, and the University may advertise in any additional manner it deems appropriate.

A copy of the advertisement shall be sent to the Association and the Joint Equity Committee and shall be publicly posted near the offices of the Department of Human Resources and at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College.

7.15#1u A term appointment may be extended without advertising provided that the reappointment is recommended by a currently active or new Search Committee.

7.16 The Administrative Head shall receive all applications and nominations, and make all of them available to the members of the Search Committee. The candidates’ complete application files shall be maintained by the Administrative Head and shall be available to members of the Academic Unit(s) or College Programme Unit(s) concerned for viewing, only for the purpose of appointment. No candidate for a position shall have access to the files of the other candidates for the same position.

7.17 The Search Committee shall:

(a) review the application files of those applicants who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents and, if there are no applicants of sufficient quality to be shortlisted, review the remaining application files;

(b) compile a shortlist of candidates;

(c) make the shortlist known to the Faculty Members of the Academic Unit(s) and/or College Programme Unit(s) concerned and known to the Joint Equity Committee;

(d) interview the number of candidate(s) approved by the Dean, Director, Associate Executive Director of the Fisheries and Marine Institute, or Principal. When theposition is tenure-track or tenured, the Dean, Director, Associate Executive Director of the Fisheries and Marine Institute, or Principal will approve no fewer than two (2) candidates to be invited for interviews.

(d#1u) interview on campus candidate(s) for appointments greater than one (1) year in duration. However, if an on-campus interview is not feasible, or if the appointment is for one (1) year or less, a Search Committee may interview a candidate using Telecommunications Technology.

(e) arrange open meetings with all candidates who are interviewed on campus and, if practical, arrange open meetings using Telecommunications Technology with all candidates who are interviewed at a distance;

(e#1x) in the case of tenure-track or tenured positions on the St. John’s campus, arrange for interviews with the Dean of Graduate Studies and the Vice-President (Academic);

(e#2x) in the case of positions at the College, arrange for interviews with the Principal and Vice-Principal;

(e#3x) when the Search Committee considers it advisable and the classroom teacher agrees, arrange for candidates to teach a class in the presence of the Search Committee;

(f) invite and consider advice from members of the Academic Unit(s) or College Programme Unit(s);

(g) provide a report to the Administrative Head; the report shall include a list of candidates recommended for appointment in order of preference, a recommendation concerning academic rank and, when the recommendation is for the rank of Associate Professor whether the appointment be tenured for each recommended candidate; subsequent reports may be submitted as necessary.

7.18 At the interview, the Administrative Head (at the College, the Principal) shall present to the candidate the following:

(a) a copy of this Collective Agreement;

(b) a written statement notifying him or her of the need to determine eligible moving expenses and eligible years towards sabbatical leave in accordance with this Collective Agreement;

(c) a copy of relevant University policy and procedures concerning moving expenses.

When the interview occurs via Telecommunications Technology, the candidate shall be sent such documents no later than the time an offer of appointment is made.

APPOINTMENT CRITERIA

7.19 Assessment of candidates shall be based primarily on their ability to perform the academic duties of the advertised position as evidenced by the candidates’ degrees and their records of, and potential for, teaching, research and other scholarly, creative or professional work. Notwithstanding the above, the Search Committee shall consider the document circulated by the Joint Equity Committee as per Clause 29.02#6x.

RECOMMENDATION OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE HEAD

7.20 Should the Administrative Head not be prepared to accept the first recommendation of the Search Committee, it shall be referred back with a statement of reasons for further consideration. This statement of reasons shall be in writing.

7.20#1x The Administrative Head shall forward his or her recommendation to his or her immediate administrative superior together with the report of the Search Committee and shall concurrently inform the Search Committee of the identity and academic rank of the candidate(s) recommended for appointment. The Administrative Head shall recommend only individuals who have been recommended for appointment in the report of the Search Committee.

7.21 Should the Administrative Head’s immediate administrative superior not be prepared to accept the first recommendation, it shall be referred back with a written statement of reasons to the Administrative Head for further review in consultation with the Search Committee. The result of this review shall be either a reiteration of the previous recommendation of the Administrative Head or a new recommendation by the Administrative Head. This new recommendation shall include only candidates recommended by the Search Committee.

7.21#1u A successful candidate for a tenure-track, tenured or regular term appointment who holds an earned doctorate or generally accepted terminal professional qualification shall be appointed at the rank of Assistant Professor or a higher rank.

NOTIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT

7.23 Should the successful applicant accept the appointment, the Administrative Head shall notify the members of the Academic Unit.

7.24 A Faculty Member appointed to a position within the University shall receive a letter of appointment which shall specify the campus; Academic Unit; rank; type of appointment; effective date; duration and salary. At the College, the letter of appointment shall also specify the discipline and Division. Such letters shall normally be sent to the Faculty Member before he or she begins employment; however, in cases where he or she has been hired at short notice, the letter of appointment shall be sent within fifteen (15) days of the date when employment began. If any changes are subsequently made to the conditions of employment set out in the letter of appointment, these shall be agreed to in writing by both the University and the Faculty Member. The letter shall include a statement of the eligibility of the appointee for moving expenses.

CANCELLATION OF A SEARCH

7.25u When a search for more than one position is ongoing, and the need arises to cancel the search for a position, the Administrative Head, following Collegial Consultation with the members of the Academic Unit(s) or College Programme Unit(s) concerned, shall determine which search or searches shall continue.
W. E. Schrank

J. E. Strawbridge