Faculty Search Process for 2018-2019 (December 19, 2017)

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Dear Colleagues,

I write on behalf of the Faculty Resource Committee (FRC) with information about the 2018-19 search process. Below you will find background information, and details about the search timeline and search request process.

Background

We expect to be able to authorize roughly 35 new searches across the FAS for 2018-19, of which roughly two-thirds will be at the junior level. Most of those searches will be fully supported by departmental (D) slots.

In addition, there will be a number of pool (P) slots available across the FAS for 2018-19 searches. These pool slots (typically allocated in half-slot increments) have been specifically allocated for appointments that add excellence and diversity to our faculty. Proposals to use these slots should emphasize how the search will support overall academic excellence, including new academic fields of inquiry, spousal initiatives, areas of intense teaching need, interdisciplinary academic activity, and targets of opportunity.

The process of making proposals for cluster hires has been discussed in a previous memo. Please reach out to Kathryn Lofton (kathryn.lofton@yale.edu) if you have questions about this initiative.

If you have questions about your departmental slot resources, or about the process for requesting a pool-supported search, your area committee chair or dean (Amy Hungerford (humanities), Alan Gerber (social sciences), Paul Turner (biological sciences), Pieter van Dokkum (physical sciences), Mitchell Smooke (SEAS)), FAS senior associate dean (John Mangan (humanities)) or FAS associate dean (Bob Burger (social sciences; sciences)) would be happy to meet with you.

Searches on departmental slots that went unfilled in 2017-18 can be expected to continue in 2018-19. Such searches will be counted in the 2017-18 (rather than in the 2018-19) “tally.” If you have an unfilled search that you would like to continue in the same field at the same rank, you need not resubmit a request. If you would like to change the field or rank for which you are searching, please contact the FAS Dean’s Office by mid-April to discuss the proposed change.

We realize that this year’s searches and other comings-and-goings may not have resolved by March and that in some cases you will be making requests contingent on those outcomes. While we plan to approve most 2018-19 searches by mid-June, we will leave some search approvals and slots in reserve to accommodate late requests that are the result of these sorts of unanticipated events and of late-breaking opportunities throughout the year.

2018-19 faculty search requests timeline

January 24th Cluster hire proposals due to Kathryn Lofton (kathryn.lofton@yale.edu) with a cc to Bethany Zemba (bethany.zemba@yale.edu)

February 26th | Departments’ search request lists for searches on departmental slots should be submitted to the FAS Dean’s office. Requests for pool-supported searches should also be submitted at this time. Please submit your request by filling out the form available at http://fas.yale.edu/fas-search-request-form. (Late requests may also be submitted, but we may not be able to respond to such requests on the timetable below.)

March 5th | Search request lists will be distributed to area divisional deans and directors.

March and April | Area advisory committees will review requests for searches on departmental and pool slots, and prepare recommendations for review by the Faculty Resource Committee (FRC).

April, May, and June | The FRC will meet regularly during the months of April and May to discuss and approve search requests for 2018-19. We hope to be able to provide responses to the majority of spring requests by the middle of June.

June, July, August | Late-breaking search requests will be considered by a summer subcommittee of the FRC.

Request process

Search requests should be submitted to http://fas.yale.edu/fas-search-request-form. Your request should include the following information.

Note: that if you are proposing a joint search with another department or program, only one of you needs to submit the request. Please do not submit such a request unless both departments/ programs have agreed on the area and level for the proposed search.

(1)   What is the resource base for the request? (On the search form, you will be asked to identify the slot basis for the requested search. If you are proposing a joint search with another department or program, or a search supported fully or partially with a slot from the FAS pool, you will be able to indicate that on the form.)

(2)   Is the request for a junior, senior or open-rank position, and why?

(3)   In what area(s) are you proposing to search?

(4)   What is the rationale for this search?

  • Why is this an important area for you to search in? How would hiring a candidate in this area bring diversity and excellence to the FAS? How will it help enhance existing departmental/programmatic/university strengths, capitalize on existing opportunities, and/or fill existing gaps?
  • How does this search fit into your department/program/division’s long-term plans, both in terms of research and in terms of teaching? How important do you expect this area to be in the next decades?
  • What role would you expect the candidate to play in the teaching and mentoring of undergraduates (including majors, non-majors, and students in cross- and interdisciplinary programs), of graduate students, and (where relevant) the mentoring of post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty? How does this fit into your department or program’s long-term teaching plans?
  • How strong and diverse is the candidate pool likely to be in this area? Is this search likely to produce a diverse field of excellent candidates?

(5)   In what office/laboratory space do you propose to house the candidate? No search will be approved without a specific space plan.

(6)   What other resource needs will be associated with the hire (laboratory renovations, library resources, special teaching facilities, equipment and setup funds, graduate student support, etc.)?

(7)   If your department or program is requesting more than one new search for 2017-18, please rank these searches clearly in relation to one another. Leaving them unranked defers judgment of a department’s priorities to the FRC.

Concluding thoughts

We welcome your feedback and suggestions for future improvements to the faculty search authorization process, and we look forward to receiving your departments’ and programs’ requests.

Yours,

Tamar, on behalf of the 2017-18 Faculty Resource Committee

Faculty Resource Committee: 2017-18

  • Tamar Gendler, FRC Chair; Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy; Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science
  • Steven Berry, David Swensen Professor of Economics and Professor of Management
  • Richard (Rick) Bribiescas, Deputy Provost for Faculty Development and Diversity; Professor of Anthropology and of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (advisory member)
  • Tyrone (Ty) Cannon, Clark L. Hull Professor of Psychology and Professor of Psychiatry
  • Marvin Chun, Dean of Yale College; Richard M. Colgate Professor of Psychology and Professor of Neuroscience
  • Edward (Ned) Cooke, Charles F. Montgomery Professor in the History of Art and Professor of American Studies
  • Lynn Cooley, Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; C. N. H. Long Professor of Genetics and Professor of Cell Biology and of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
  • Alan Gerber, Dean of Social Science; Chair, Social Sciences Advisory Committee; Charles C. and Dorathea S. Dilley Professor of Political Science and Professor in the Institute for Social and Policy Studies, of Economics and of Public Health (Health Policy)
  • Amy Hungerford, Dean of Humanities; Chair, Humanities Advisory Committee; Bird White Professor of English and Professor of American Studies
  • Kathryn Lofton, Deputy Dean for Diversity and Faculty Development; Chair, Religious Studies; Professor of Religious Studies, of American Studies and of History and Divinity
  • Mitchell Smooke, Acting Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Strathcona Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science (spring 2018)
  • Anna Pyle, William Edward Gilbert Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Professor of Chemistry
  • Daniel Spielman, Henry Ford II Professor of Computer Science and Professor of Mathematics
  • Paul Turner, Acting Dean of Science; Chair, Biological Sciences Advisory Committee; Elihu Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Kyle Vanderlick, Dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science; Thomas E. Golden, Jr. Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering (fall 2017)
  • Pieter van Dokkum, Chair, Physical Sciences and Engineering Advisory Committee; Sol Goldman Family Professor of Astronomy and Professor of Physics

Non-voting advisory staff

  • Pamela Bosward, Assistant Director of Faculty Affairs (FAS)
  • Angela Gambaccini-May, Institutional Research Associate (FAS, OIR)
  • Lloyd Suttle, Deputy Provost for Academic Resources
  • Bethany Zemba, Senior Associate Dean, Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS)

 
Cc:       FAS Steering Committee, FRC Members, FAS Chairs’ Assistants