Recruiting Academic Staff
This page sets out a comprehensive overview of the recruitment process for Associate Professorship recruitments (AP-TF/AP-NTF) administered by the Departmental Recruitment Team.
NB: The recruitment of Statutory Professors/Chairs is coordinated by the central Professorships team, and any specific queries should be directed to @email.
The recruitment for AP-TF and AP-NTF posts is managed jointly between the MPLS Division, Department and College, and approval to recruit to these positions must be obtained through the Recruitment Protocol. Find out more.
Prior to beginning the recruitment process, it is recommended that you review the MPLS webpage on the Recruitment and Appointment of Associate Professors. This page contains the latest versions of the AP-TF and AP-NTF job descriptions, which will be updated by the Mathematical Institute Recruitment Team.
Once approval to recruit to the post has been obtained, the Recruitment Team will contact the panel chair with
- a template job description
- a copy of the University’s Joint Appointments Procedures
The Chair of the selection committee plays a crucial role in ensuring that diversity and fairness are considered at every stage of the recruitment process. To support this, the University has recently developed some Associate Professor Recruitment Guidance, which focuses on good practice in recruitment with the aim of working towards an increasingly diverse staffing profile. This Guidance will be circulated to panel chairs alongside the Joint Appointments Procedures.
Associate Professor Recruitment Guidance.docx
Recruitment Training
It is compulsory for all University chairs of selection committees to have completed Recruitment and Selection Training within the last four years. In addition, all members of the selection committee should aim to complete the following training modules:
- Implicit bias in the workplace
- Tackling race bias at work (at least one panel member should be trained)
Find out more about recommended training for a fair and inclusive recruitment process.
Selection Committee Membership
The selection committee membership for appointment panels should be comprised of seven members. This includes;
- Chair of Selection Committee
- Two representatives from the Mathematical Institute (for AP-TF positions, one of these must be a Tutorial Fellow)
- One Divisional representative (appointed by the MPLS Division – panel member recommended by the Department)
- Two College representatives – these are appointed by the College that the post is affiliated with
- One external panel member from outside of the University
Council has agreed, in considering its Public Sector Equality Duty the aim to have at least one-third women on selection committees. Panels should also seek to increase the diversity of their panels in other domains, noting that diversity includes aspects beyond race and gender.
Previous recruitment rounds have shown that naming the Selection Committee within the further particulars can help considerably with encouraging the diversity of applications, particularly where the balance of the Committee is in favour of women or ethnic minorities.
Once the panel has been established, the Recruitment Team will work with the panel chair to establish a recruitment timeline. Generally speaking, the recruitment timeline for academic appointments once Recruitment Protocol has been obtained is between 16-24 months.
Advertising period
All adverts for academic appointments will be circulated to a standard list of websites and mailing lists. The advert will also be circulated to our Departmental weekly Bulletin and social media.
Searching for candidates
In addition to the above, and in line with increasing the diversity of our staffing profile, the Selection Committee must also actively search for applicants during the advertising period. Carrying out a thorough search and inviting people to apply will encourage a high quality and diverse pool of candidates and is recommended in all cases.
One member of the Selection Committee should be nominated to lead and coordinate the search, though all members of the committee are encouraged to put forward suggestions for names or websites/mailing lists to circulate to. The nominated member is generally the Chair, though another panel member can be nominated as lead in certain cases where the research field for the vacancy is outside of the Chair’s immediate expertise.
It is important to plan your search well in advance of advertising. Advice can be sought from the departmental Recruitment Team, and there is also a wealth of useful resources available online with regard to how to conduct an effective search such as this guide from Harvard University.
Best Practice for Conducting Faculty Searches - Harvard University.pdf
Recommended outreach activities for the search committee include, but are not limited to:
- Names of candidates to directly approach;
- Mailing lists, websites, blogs
- Conferences – either upcoming or previous attendee lists
- Award lists/list of Fellowships that can be searched for nominees
Referencing
For all academic positions, the department asks that candidates send in letters of reference to @email by no later than 12.00 noon on the closing date. These letters will then be circulated to the panel alongside the application materials the candidate has been submitted via the e-Recruitment system. Candidates are instructed in the job description that it is their responsibility to request these references and ensure they are received; the department will not follow these up at application stage.
Due to the volume of recruitment that the department administers, the Recruitment Team are not able to request references for candidates ahead of the shortlisting meeting. However, once the panel has shortlisted, HR will follow up and request any outstanding references for the shortlisted candidates (provided the candidate has given permission to do so in their application).
On the closing date…
Once the post has closed at 12.00 noon on your closing date, the Recruitment Team will compile the applications and circulate a shortlisting pack to the recruitment panel.