Holding a Faculty Search Kick-Off Meeting

A Faculty Search Kick-Off meeting should include the hiring manager (or their designee), search committee chair, and search committee members. This meeting may also include the human resources recruiter and dean (or Dean’s Office designee). This meeting should identify the responsibilities associated with serving on the search committee. The group should identify any potential challenges for filling the role, develop a timeline, and outline advertising needs. 

Additional suggestions and topics for this meeting include:

• Invite the human resources recruiter to meet with the search committee to consult on best practices.
• Discuss the timeline for advertising, receiving applications, reviewing applications, interviews, and campus visits. Make necessary adjustments while keeping the timeline appropriate and realistic. 
• Discuss the advertising plan with the search committee and identify ways the committee can also help recruit applicants, including whether there is a need to post additional advertisements in discipline-specific outlets. The Human Resources Recruiter can be a good resource for templates and other suggestions for advertising the position.
• Identify how applicants will be evaluated and begin crafting a rubric for evaluation of applicants at each stage of the process (e.g., screening, interviews, campus visits).
• Discuss how to ensure a non-discriminatory search process, including reviewing the nondiscrimination guidance for Wake Forest University. 
• Identify if the position is open for visa sponsorship. Wake Forest University (WFU) is eligible to sponsor an employee for certain non-immigrant visas to provide work authorization. Availability of this sponsorship is determined based on the position, departmental budgets, and overall university considerations and priorities. Sponsorship requests are at the discretion of WFU and will be handled on a case-by-case basis, subject to review by the Center for Immigration Services & Support (ISS), the university’s general counsel, and the university’s contracted external immigration counsel. The final adjudication for any immigration petition is determined by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). According to the Department of Justice, an employer is not required to sponsor any visa for a prospective or current employee.