- A strategy meeting is held prior to initiating the search, attended by the administrative search team: Division Chief, Search Committee Chair, LENS Advocate (Outreach Representative), Faculty Affairs Recruitment Specialist, and Division Administrator.
- Roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders of the search are clearly communicated at the outset of the search, and a search manual is distributed for reference.
- Potential conflicts of interest are addressed to ensure fair search (eg: Division Chiefs are not part of search committee)
- Search committee members are required to complete online training to support thoughtful, consistent, and unbiased evaluation practices.
- The search ad is discussed and finalized to reflect programmatic need, required experience & qualifications, ensuring it is broad, and welcoming
- Screening criteria are developed in advance, to ensure consistency and clarity in the review and evaluation of the candidate process. Each candidate is evaluated based on the same criteria
- Standardized interview questions are developed and asked during interviews
- The LENS Advocate is a full voting member of the search committee.
- A survey of search committee members is conducted, and following each completed search, to gather feedback and support continuous improvement.
- Broader recruitment channels: Apply additional candidate outreach methods
- Additional personal outreach by search committee members
- Neutral and welcoming language in job descriptions
- Identify national best practices
- Develop uniform advertising strategy
- Apply additional candidate outreach methods, especially when pool diversity is insufficient
- Develop best-practice templates: candidate interview, evaluation and ranking
- Develop secondary application material to highlight candidate strengths
- Develop training material for committee members doing in-person interviews
- Facilitate interview training for search committee members
- Understand and track unique needs of every candidate
- Customize candidate on-site experiences, based on preferences
- Improve communication and process transparency
- Conduct post-hoc surveys and interviews regarding search experience
- Improve candidate experience based on feedback
