In all recruiting—but especially that for members of underrepresented groups and women—placing advertisements is merely a beginning step and nearly a passive one. Advertising is necessary but is not sufficient to ensure that there will be applicants of the desired caliber and diversity in the final candidate pool. It is incumbent upon the Search Committee and its Chair to do more to identify and attract the most highly-qualified applicants, including members of underrepresented groups and women.

1. All advertising must be coordinated through the Provost’s Office.

2. Full searches require advertisement in national publications or online sources. The text will be put in standard format by the Provost’s Office, working from the approved position description.

3. Many fields have a journal, newsletter or website to which potential applicants routinely turn when seeking a position. Information on advertisements in such places—deadlines, charges, submission procedures, and special text requests—must be submitted on a timely basis.

4. All search committees must develop a plan to create as diverse an applicant pool as possible guided by the resources in (5) listed below. The HR director will provide assistance. The Provost must approve the outreach plan for diverse applicants.

5. The Search Committee Chair or HR Director where appropriate should contact selected university graduate departments to seek information about potential applicants from underrepresented groups. For example, the publication Diverse lists universities producing significant numbers of minority PhDs. Such schools should be contacted directly. Many fields have groups or committees that focus on the needs of minority members or women. These should also be contacted. The Provost’s Office will publish an ad for the position in Diverse Issues in Higher Education, which publishes a list each summer of minority graduates by degree level, field, and school. The fields of study are fairly broad categories, but it gives some ideas of which schools to contact that graduate a number of diverse students. Telephone calls are preferred to emailed announcements because they have been demonstrated to be far more effective than written alternatives in generating applicants. Social media should also be considered.

6. Personal contact by email or telephone with leaders in the field to solicit nominations of potential applicants is a crucial adjunct to the above efforts. Direct contact with those who train graduate students and those who are well-established in the field, especially those who are members of underrepresented groups or women, often leads to the most promising applicants. The Search Committee Chair should solicit suggestions from all College faculty members for leads for potential applicants or those who may be able to put us in contact with potential applicants. Contacts soliciting nominations may be initiated by any member of the Search Committee or by any other individual at the College who is in a position to help. Such calls should:
   • describe the position and its relation to the overall program;
   • ask about possible applicants, especially members of underrepresented groups and women;
   • ask about others who might know about such potential applicants.

7. Potential applicants identified by this process should be contacted by a member of the Search Committee—preferably by phone—indicating who suggested their names, describing the position, and inviting them to apply. Copies of letters to these potential applicants and notes of telephone conversations should be given to the Chair of the Search Committee for inclusion in any resulting applicant file.

8. All positive responses to initial invitations to apply should be followed by an email from the Chair of the Search Committee, including a copy of the position description.