Campus Leader Roles in the Cluster Hiring Process

The following roles of campus leaders in the Cluster Hiring Initiative are meant to assure that the campus hires, nurtures and retains topnotch faculty via the cluster initiative, and to create an environment that fosters the ongoing development of interdisciplinary research, teaching and outreach activities of campus clusters. Cluster faculty are expected to fulfill the normal responsibilities of a faculty member for teaching, research and public service, unless the letter of cluster proposal and letter of appointment specify otherwise.

Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff

  • Serve as campus coordinator of the Cluster Hiring Initiative;
  • Chair the Cluster Hire/Interdisciplinary Advisory Committee;
  • Develop and clarify campus policies to advance the cluster initiative;
  • Develop and foster ongoing collaboration and communication among clusters and interdisciplinary programs;
  • Determine requests for replacement cluster faculty and reauthorization of failed searches;
  • Monitor the cluster recruitment and hiring process;
  • Monitor and assess progress toward the achievement of Cluster Hiring Initiative objectives, and periodically report on the status of the Cluster Hiring Initiative;
  • Work with University Communications to ensure that cluster-related accomplishments are publicized; and
  • Develop and maintain the Cluster Hiring Initiative Web site

Lead Dean

Procedural and Search and Screen Responsibilities

  • Appoint a Cluster Coordinator to serve as the lead faculty for cluster-related issues with the Lead Dean’s and Provost’s offices;
  • Provide oversight of the clusters, including new and replacement faculty hiring, determination of tenure homes and development of hiring memoranda of understanding for new cluster faculty;
  • Notify the Provost’s Office when there is a faculty vacancy in the cluster and make official requests, in consultation with Cluster Coordinator and Department Chair(s), for cluster faculty replacement positions and reauthorizations to reopen failed searches;
  • Appoint a cluster search committee and its chair (with Provost consultation) for each cluster, and encourage the search committee to aggressively recruit a diverse applicant pool;
  • Maintain adequate communications with the Search and Screen Committee, the Office of the Provost and the Graduate School during the search process;
  • Approve Cluster Position Vacancy Listings, and recruitment plans and advertisements;
  • Keep all interested Deans and Department Chairs informed and involved throughout the process;
  • Consult with Search Committee on the number of permissible interviews;
  • Ensure that the potentially relevant departments and colleges are involved in the interview process;
  • Send copy of PVL and finalists’ curriculum vitae to the appropriate Graduate School Associate Dean;
  • Work with cluster search chair and Provost’s Office on Dual Career Couple and Strategic Hire issues, if needed;
  • Approve cluster hire based on search committee and departmental executive committee recommendations. Ensure that the approval procedures in all involved colleges are followed;
  • Oversee the development of the offer and the preparation of letter of offer, including appropriate salary offer within the departmental ranges, space and startup costs, and adequately identifying cross-college appointment issues in terms of teaching and research loads and other responsibilities;
  • Consult with other deans offices when cluster faculty are placed in tenure home departments in other schools/colleges to ensure that the faculty receive clear expectations regarding work with collaborating departments, schools/colleges;
  • Send copy of letter of offer to Graduate School Associate Dean and Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty and Staff Programs;
  • Notify Graduate School and Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty and Staff Programs when offer is accepted/declined;
  • Assure that a copy of letter of offer and acceptance, plus curriculum vitae, are sent to the Academic Personnel Office; and
  • Send the notification of hire and applicant data card to the respective Dean's Office for forwarding to the Academic Personnel Office; and inform the Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty and Staff Programs of all new hires.
  • Work with department chairs, cluster coordinators and executive committees and participate actively in retention of cluster faculty.
Leadership/Facilitation Responsibilities
  • Foster the transition process between cluster faculty hiring and cluster development;
  • Foster and enhance fiscal and administrative support for clusters and interdisciplinary efforts;
  • Ensure communication occurs between the cluster and affiliated faculty, and with the deans’ offices and involved departments;
  • Monitor the progress of cluster hires, paying particular attention to probationary faculty progress and the availability of adequate mentoring, and ensure adequate input from all parties during the annual merit exercise and during tenure dossier preparation to ensure that the faculty receive credit for their total teaching, research, outreach and service work in support of departments and clusters; and
  • Ensure that departments receive credit for supporting cluster and interdisciplinary faculty (i.e., tracking research grants to co-project investigators, linking capital equipment exercise to more than one department, and graduate degrees granted).

Cluster Coordinator

  • Serve as the overall Cluster Coordinator and foster cluster development by creating and maintaining mechanisms for regular interaction between cluster and affiliated faculty, ensuring that faculty involved in the original proposal stay involved in cluster development; and serving as the cluster advocate to the Provost’s Office, Lead Deans and departments;
  • Serve as the primary cluster contact with the Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty and Staff Programs (i.e., pass on institutional communications, opportunities and policies to cluster faculty, and provide input on cluster-related issues to the Provost’s Office;
  • Coordinate cluster faculty hiring and determination of tenure homes, development of hiring memoranda of understanding for new cluster faculty, and creation of and oversight of faculty mentoring; and
  • Check with cluster faculty and department chairs to ensure that annual merit evaluations in home departments of cluster faculty with joint appointments are based on their total teaching, research and outreach work, not just from one of the department’s perspectives; and
  • Work with department chairs and executive committees and participate actively in retention of cluster faculty;
  • Work with untenured cluster faculty to ensure that they incorporate input from throughout the campus for all their activities during the preparation of their tenure dossiers.

Other Involved (Cooperating) Deans

  • Consult with Lead Dean on the composition of the cluster search committee;
  • Participate in issuing charge to the cluster search committee;
  • Ensure that new hires in the school/college have appropriate tenure homes and clear expectations regarding work with collaborating departments, schools/colleges;
  • Work with other deans on issues of space, equipment, staff support and offer letter;
  • Interview applicants for tenure/tenure track positions in your school/college; and
  • Work with other involved deans on the establishment of appropriate guidance (mentoring) committees and monitor the effectiveness of these committees.

Department Chairs of Tenure Home Departments (and joint appointments)

  • Department chairs of tenure home departments should be involved with the Cluster Coordinator in the oversight of clusters (i.e., cluster development, faculty hiring, development of hiring memoranda of understanding for new cluster faculty, creation of and oversight of faculty mentoring and management of annual merit exercise);
  • Interview potential candidates and vote on potential hires;
  • Help prepare offer letter for finalists for approval by Lead Dean and Dean of school/college where tenure home department is located;
  • Collaborate early with appropriate deans and departments chairs to establish guidance and mentoring committees for new hires;
  • Monitor cluster faculty mentoring progress;
  • Assist faculty with the preparation of tenure dossier packages, if necessary, for Divisional Committees;
  • Ensure that annual merit evaluations of cluster faculty are based on their total teaching, research and outreach work, not just those activities occurring in the home department;
  • Department Chairs of tenure home departments should work with executive committees and participate actively in retention of cluster faculty;
  • Work with Cluster Coordinator and Lead Dean to request cluster faculty replacements or to reauthorize a failed search;
  • Inform all departmental staff about which faculty members of the department are on joint appointments and/or are hired through the cluster initiative; and
  • Foster and enhance fiscal and administrative support for clusters and interdisciplinary efforts.

Cluster Search and Screen Committee Chair

Note: The Search and Screen Committee functions as a “department-like body�? with the added responsibility of involving possible tenure-home departments early in the process. The great variety of departmental cultures on campus should be respected. While the decision to allocate a cluster position to a department is a search committee’s responsibility, the tenure-home department decides whether a candidate is acceptable to the department.

  • Determine search committee procedures and process;
  • Prepare the PVL, and recruitment and advertising plans;
  • Decide on criteria for the selection of finalists;
  • Recruit a maximally diverse pool of candidates;
  • Review applications;
  • Request approval for interviews from Lead Dean;
  • Set up appropriate interviews with not only the Lead Dean, but also with other Deans of the schools/colleges with potential tenure home departments;
  • Consult with chairs of potential tenure home departments for candidates;
  • Secure the Executive Committee approval of tenure home departments, as well as search committee approval for cluster candidates;
  • Submit request for reimbursement of interviewing expenses to the financial office of the Lead Dean;
  • Recommend tenure home(s) for recommended hires;
  • Negotiate startup package details with the Graduate School Associate Dean, Department Chair(s), and appropriate Dean(s);
  • Forward hiring recommendations to the Lead Dean (and, if appropriate, to other involved Deans) and to potential tenure home departmental chairs,;
  • Consider Dual Career Couple and Strategic Hire issues and discuss any issues with Lead Dean and the Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty and Staff Programs; and
  • Notify finalists and unsuccessful applicants of search status.

The Graduate School

  • Primary responsibility for startup package construction rests with the Graduate School, tenure home department(s), the Lead Dean and involved (cooperating) Deans. Cluster faculty startup packages are constructed in the same manner as for regular hires.
  • Assign an Associate Dean to each cluster search and communicate those assignments to the Search and Screen Chair;
  • Review finalist vitae with search committee chair, Lead Dean and Dean(s) of department(s) providing tenure home(s);
  • Develop and negotiate startup packages and help with space issues (in consultation with the search chair, tenure home department and Lead Dean);
  • Provide information on recruitment packages to the Associate Dean for Administration in the Graduate School for incorporation in the Cluster Hiring Initiative database; and
  • Provide search committee chair(s), Lead Dean(s) and other involved Deans written notification of recruitment package details.