Multi-Year Appointment Search Procedures (Lecturer-Track)

Last updated: March 12, 2024

For appointments of one year or less, please refer to the Single Semester/Year Appointment and Reappointment Procedures page.

Criteria

Appointment to the rank of lecturersenior lecturer, or senior lecturer II is appropriate only for candidates whose responsibilities include regular teaching. Faculty members holding these ranks will normally have earned the PhD or its equivalent or another appropriate terminal degree. Please refer to the appointment criteria for senior lecturer and senior lecturer II, as set forth by the Steering Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Terms of Appointment

Lecturers may be appointed to a term varying from one semester to three years, and senior lecturers may be appointed to a term varying from one semester to five years, in each case depending on professional accomplishment, development as a teacher, programmatic needs, and available resources.

The University does not typically make initial appointments at the level of senior lecturer II.

Process

For searches for multi-year instructional lecturer-track faculty, please refer to and expand or collapse the relevant sections below as needed.

1. Search Request Procedures

For initial appointments longer than one year in duration, the department chair requests authorization for the position from the Teaching Resource Advisory Committee (TRAC) in the FAS Dean’s Office and provides a preliminary description of the position requested and the reasons it is needed. The search request is sent to the relevant senior associate or assistant dean, with a copy to fas.dean@yale.edu, with a subject line of “TRAC Search Request: [insert department/program name]”.

In considering the request, TRAC may solicit the advice of the FAS Steering Committee, one of the Area Committees, the Creative Arts Advisory Committee (CAAC), and/or others as appropriate.

The FAS Dean’s Office sends a response email to the department chair, with a copy to the chair’s assistant (or equivalent), operations manager, and fas.dean@yale.edu.

2. Search Materials Approval Procedures

The following four search materials (after the initial formal search approval from TRAC) are needed in order for a search to be advertised:

1. Inclusive Search Plan

The department chair prepares a written description of the strategy for ensuring that the search process is inclusive and follows guidelines for best practices for faculty searches, such as the use of gender inclusive language for the search advertisement, dissemination of the ad to the broadest pool of potential search candidates, and ensuring all search committee members are aware of the effects of unconscious bias.

2. Search Committee

The department chair proposes a search committee: committee chair, committee members, and diversity representative. The Diversity Representative ensures all committee members are informed of diversity best practices for searches, and also provides a written statement for submission with the Interview Approval Form and the Faculty Search Questionnaire.

The department/program chair, in collaboration with the FAS Dean of Diversity and Faculty Development, schedules a diversity meeting for all members of the search committee as early as possible in the search process. This meeting must take place in order for the Faculty Search Questionnaire to be approved. To schedule this meeting, please email fas.dean@yale.edu.

One member of the search committee must serve as the Diversity Representative, who is responsible for ensuring best practices with diversity in the search were used. In order to be eligible to serve as Diversity Representative, faculty members must complete one training session with the Dean of Diversity and Faculty Development on implicit bias. Please contact fas.dean@yale.edu to arrange for this training.

In addition, all search committee members should familiarize themselves with the resources on best practices for searches available on the FAS site as well as those on the Provost’s Office site.

3. Job Advertisement

All ladder and multi-year instructional faculty searches require placement of at least one advertisement, either online or in print, in a professional journal or professionally sponsored job-listing webpage for at least 30 days. In the case of a position formally approved for a specific Appointment of Special Eminence or Appointment of Special Opportunity, the position must still be advertised if the candidate is not a citizen or permanent resident of the United States (in accordance with the Office of International Students & Scholars’ requirements for Recruitment Advertising Involving International Applicants). Targeted appointments where the candidate is a US citizen or permanent resident do not require a public advertisement.

The department chair prepares a job advertisement conforming to the position approved by TRAC, using the following guidelines. If the search committee has already been selected, the department chair can consult with the search committee chair.

Departments/programs may use the Position Advertisement Template. Please note that this is an example of an advertisement that conforms to the guidelines below. Departments/Programs may feel free to rewrite as desired, bearing these guidelines in mind.

Below is a list of items that must be included in the posting:

  1. Rank and title of the appointment, and anticipated appointment start date (this may be stated simply (e.g., “July 2018”) or disjunctively (e.g., “July 2018, January 2018 or July 2019”)

  2. Description of the position, which should include:

    • the targeted area(s) or field(s) in which the selected candidate is expected to demonstrate expertise;

    • a phrase that identifies the position as a teaching position, such as “faculty,” “teaching,” or “professorial ranks.”

  3. Yale’s EEO statement: “Yale University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer. Yale values diversity among its students, staff, and faculty and strongly welcomes applications from women, persons with disabilities, protected veterans, and underrepresented minorities.”

  4. Educational requirements for the position. Please note that using the wording, “must have a PhD,” will require that selected candidates specifically have a PhD. The alternative statement, “PhD or equivalent degree at time of hire,” allows flexibility for international degrees and ABDs.

  5. Application materials: Required items are a curriculum vitae (CV), cover letter, and a minimum of three reference letters from outside Yale. Beyond these items, the department may request additional materials to assist with the decision process, such as writing samples, a research statement, a teaching statement, sample syllabi, etc. All application materials specified in the advertisement must be documented for a particular candidate before they can be offered the position.

  6. Contact name and information for the position: For the advertisement, this is usually the search committee chair, or someone who can answer specific questions regarding the position for potential candidates.

  7. The date when the review of applications will begin. Two recommended statements are: “Review of applications will begin…” or “To ensure full consideration, please submit all materials by…”

  8. URL for the application submission portal (e.g., Interfolio). During the job advertisement approval process, this may be a dummy URL (e.g., http://www.interfolio.com/XXXX).

Search Materials Submission and Approval Procedures - Interfolio

The chair’s assistant (or equivalent) creates the electronic posting of the position in Interfolio, an online service provided and supported by the University. Interfolio allows materials to be collected from applicants and distributed to search committee members for review. It creates an archive of these materials, along with the job advertisement, for FAS Dean’s Office records. However, the Interfolio posting does not take the place of advertising the position in a professional journal or professionally sponsored job-listing webpage.

When creating the position in Interfolio, please adhere the following Search Position Naming Conventions Guidelines.

The chair’s assistant (or equivalent) fills in the following search materials in the corresponding Internal Notes fields in the Interfolio Search Position:

  • Inclusive Search Plan – in the Hiring Plan section
  • Search Committee – both in the Search Committee list, as well as the names and roles (e.g. Search Chair, Diversity Representative, Member) in the General Notes section
  • Job Advertisement – in the Position Description section

The chair’s assistant forwards the Interfolio Position for multiple approvals from the dean of diversity and faculty development, the relevant senior associate or assistant dean, the Office of Institutional Equity and Access, and the FAS Dean’s Office. Notifications will be sent for each approval step in Interfolio, which is trackable in the Activity Log in the Interfolio Position.

*Note: Please see the OFAS Website for a guide on how to create an Interfolio position. When referencing their step 6, please refer to the Internal Notes requirements above.

Search Materials Submission and Approval Procedures – outside of Interfolio

For the FAS departments who process searches outside of Interfolio (Gibbs Assistant Professor searches in mathematics), the department chair (supported by the chair’s assistant) sends the search materials above, along with a copy of the TRAC search approval email, as one PDF in one email to the following parties:

These parties will send approval emails back to the department/program chair and chair’s assistant, with a copy to fas.dean@yale.edu.

Note: please adhere the following Search Position Naming Conventions Guidelines.

3. Job Advertisement Procedures

Job Advertisement Requirements and Guidelines

Faculty searches, except in the rare case of a position formally approved for a specific a target of eminence or opportunity, require placement of at least one advertisement, either online or in print, in a professional journal or professionally sponsored job-listing webpage. The advertisement must be posted for a minimum of 30 consecutive days.

Beyond the required placement of the advertisement, a widespread announcement of the position in professional journals, online job lists, newsletters and professional meetings is encouraged to achieve a deep and diverse applicant pool. In addition, departments may contact other departments and schools by letter, email, or telephone calls to call attention to the position.

To limit costs while reaching a broad and diverse audience, departments and programs are encouraged to advertise their positions in online publications. Departments or programs with special cases for advertising in print publications may request permission from the FAS Dean’s Office. The FAS Dean’s Office will typically cover advertising costs up to $2,000. (NOTE: Job posting sites such as Academic Jobs Online and Interfolio are not considered to be professional journals.)  

As a member of the Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC), departments within Yale University can post job openings on the HERC Website free of charge. The HERC website should not be used as the sole source or substitute for traditional methods (i.e. professional/trade websites or print publications) when advertising job openings; rather it should be used in combination with those efforts. Interfolio posititions are automatically posted on the HERC website; the department does not need to initiate this. If a department that does not use Interfolio (i.e., MATH for Gibbs Assistant Professor searches) wishes to post an opening on the HERC website, the chair’s assistant (or equivalent) forwards to Jonathan Bailey at jonathan.bailey@yale.edu a copy of the final version of the job advertisement with live application link once approved.

Online Advertisement Procedures

  • The chair’s assistant (or equivalent) posts the job advertisement, including the final URL for the application submission portal (e.g., Interfolio link).

  • The advertisement must be posted for a minimum of 30 consecutive days. The chair’s assistant collects and saves evidence that the ad has been posted for 30 days.
     

    • The chair’s assistant (or equivalent) saves an invoice for the online ad that shows the journal name, posting date, and, if possible, the duration of the online posting.

    • On the first day the advertisement is live, the chair’s assistant (or equivalent) saves a screenshot of the webpage showing the advertisement content, the name of the online journal or professional website, and that day’s date.

    • On the 30th day the advertisement is live, the chair’s assistant (or equivalent) saves a screenshot of the webpage showing the advertisement content, the name of the online journal or professional website, and that day’s date.

4. Interfolio Position Maintenance Procedures

Throughout the search process, the chair’s assistant is responsible for updating the position status of the search in Interfolio:

  • Until the job advertisement is approved, the status is Pending Approval.
  • Once the advertisement is approved, the chair’s assistant changes the status to Accepting Applications.
  • When the short-listed candidates for campus interviews have been determined, the chair’s assistant changes the status to Short List / Final Candidate(s).
  • When a final candidate is selected and either accepts a hire and submits back a countersigned offer letter from Yale or declines an offer, the chair’s assistant changes the status to Search Closed with Hire or Search Closed without Hire, respectively, and closes to archive the position using these instructions on the OFAS Website.

The chair’s assistant is also responsible for managing the applicant statuses and disposition codes in Interfolio:

  • Applicant statuses
    • Assign the applicant status by checking on the check box to the left of the applicant’s name, and from the pop up bar on the top right, select Status, and select the appropriate status from the drop down menu.
    • Use Not Selected for any candidate who will no longer be considered after initial review.
    • (Optional): use the Longlist applicant status once the search committee has narrowed the applicant pool down to approximately 20 persons for further review.
    • Use Full / Campus Interview for all candidates the department would like to bring to campus. These candidates must be approved in the Faculty Search Reporting Process (FSRP) before being invited for interviews.
    • Use Offer Extended for all candidates who have received an offer.
    • Use Hired after a countersigned offer letter is received from the final candidate(s) after the conclusion of the search process. Use Offer Declined for any candidate who does not accept an offer.
  • Disposition codes

    • Prior to submitting the campus interview candidates in FSRP, all applicants not on that list must have a disposition code.

    • All candidates will need a disposition code at the conclusion of a search.

    • See the documentation on the OFAS website for the list of disposition codes.

For tips and instructions related to Interfolio, please reference the tutorials on the Office of Faculty Administrative Services page.

Note: when updating any statuses or disposition codes in Interfolio, these updates will appear in FSRP after approximately one hour.

5. Interview Procedures

Once the search committee has concluded its preliminary screening, a proposed list of candidates for on‐campus interviews must be approved in FSRP. Typically, up to four candidates may be invited to campus for each search. Invitations for campus visits for candidates for multi-year, non-ladder appointments are not supported without explicit prior approval from the FAS Dean’s Office.

NOTE: Please remember that all recommendation letters and referee letters should be held in the strictest confidence. Only those faculty members who are allowed to vote on a candidate’s case have permission to view the letters (see the Faculty Handbook Section IV.F.1 for voting policy). The only document that may be shared with those not directly involved with a faculty search, appointment, or promotion is the candidate’s CV.

Longlist Candidates

  • Longlist candidates who will undergo initial interviews via Zoom or at a conference do not generally require approval. The relevant (senior) associate or assistant dean will inform the chair if this list must be submitted for approval.

Campus Interview List Approval - FSRP

  • Search committee provides proposed list of candidates for campus interviews to department chair and chair’s assistant. Department endorses this shortlist via its customary practice (chair approval or faculty vote, etc.).
  • Chair’s Assistant sets position status to Short List / Final Candidate(s) and sets the relevant applicant statuses (for all candidates) and disposition codes (for candidates not advancing to campus interview stage).
  • Chair’s assistant, in consultation with the diversity representative, search committee chair, and/or department chair, as appropriate, fills out the FSRP record for the search and submits for decanal and provostial approval.
  • FSRP record is reviewed and approved by the FAS Dean’s Office, dean of diversity and faculty development, relevant divisional dean, and the Provost’s Office.
  • Once the record is fully approved and the department chair and chair’s assistant notified, candidates may be invited for campus interviews.

For tips and instructions related to Interfolio and FSRP, please reference the tutorials on the OFAS website.

Interviews

Ladder faculty not on the search committee and instructional faculty at the same or higher rank as the target of the search should have the opportunity to talk with final candidates and to convey feedback to the search committee.

6. Departmental Selection Procedures

The search committee considers each candidate’s full curriculum vitae, three letters of recommendation from outside Yale, and additional materials it deems relevant to evaluating the candidate. (If a candidate’s teaching experience has been exclusively at Yale, internal letters may substitute for external ones. ) These additional materials should include, if available, teaching evaluations from each candidate’s prior academic institution(s).

Note: only candidates with the applicant status of Full / Campus Interview on the approved FSRP record can be considered for the position.

Voting in the initial appointment process occurs in two stages:

  • Stage one: search committee vote. Once the review of candidates is complete, the search committee votes to determine its final candidate recommendation, if any, to the department chair. All members of the search committee vote in this stage.
  • Stage two: department-wide vote. As in all such cases, the department conducts a secret ballot vote on the proposed appointment, using the Department Faculty Vote Form. All ladder faculty are permitted to vote. Consistent with department practices, instructional faculty at the same or higher rank as the target of the search may be permitted to vote. For an appointment to be approved, the candidate must receive affirmative votes from a majority of those present and eligible to vote. Absentee ballots may not be accepted, counted, or recorded. The department chair notifies the FAS Dean’s Office of the outcome of the vote.

7. TRAC Review and Appointment Procedures

Departments may, after consultation with the relevant dean and TRAC has granted approval, choose to contact candidates to let them know they are being considered for appointment; such contact should be made with the understanding that the process is not complete until the appointment is approved and an offer is made.

The department submits the following materials as a single PDF document to TRAC for final review. The PDF should be sent to the relevant senior associate or assistant dean, with a copy to fas.dean@yale.edu, with the subject line: TRAC Appointment Dossier, [Candidate’s Name]:

  1. Departmental Committee Report
  2. Department Faculty Vote Form
  3. Candidate’s CV
  4. Candidate’s cover letter, if available
  5. 3 Letters of Recommendation

If TRAC (or as appropriate, the FAS Dean’s Office) approves the recommended appointment, the department chair consults with the FAS Dean’s Office regarding length of term, salary, and other conditions of the offer of appointment. For a recommended appointment in arts practice for a duration of three years or longer or for a high-resource visiting appointment, TRAC will review the recommendation from the perspective of teaching resources, and the Creative Arts Advisory Committee (CAAC) will make the final decision on the appointment. The FAS Dean’s Office drafts a letter of appointment for the candidate for review by the chair.

Following approval of the letter, which must be co-signed by the chair and a relevant dean, the FAS Dean’s Office sends it to the candidate, with copies to the chair, Office of Faculty Administrative Services (OFAS), and others as appropriate. Any subsequent modifications to the offer must be pre-approved by the FAS Dean’s Office. If the candidate accepts the offer, they must acknowledge and agree to its terms by signing the offer letter and returning it to the FAS Dean’s Office at fas.dean@yale.edu. An electronic scan of the offer letter is sufficient.

8. Onboarding Procedures

These steps may not begin until an offer signed by the candidate has been received.

  • The chair’s assistant (or equivalent) asks the candidate to fill out and return the Data Collection Form (including their social security number).

  • The chair’s assistant (or equivalent) submits the supporting documents to faculty.admin@yale.edu according to the FAS Chart of Required Documents; the automatic reply email contains a Case Number.

  • The chair’s assistant (or equivalent) hires the candidate in Workday, referring to the Workday training guide Hiring and Contracting Academics and including the Case Number in the comments field.

  • The chair’s assistant (or equivalent) completes the onboarding process for the new faculty member.

Contact

Neyza Sanchez

Senior Administrative Assistant

FAS Dean's Office