Graduate Resources

Department of History

Graduate Student Involvement in Faculty Searches

September 2007

Details of faculty searches are announced to the GHA president/secretary by the Department Chair or ADA. The message should contain the specific search and semester concerned, and names and dates.  This message instructs interested students to reply to the GHA President/secretary.  GHA president/secretary sends this message directly to the grad list (via the GA), calling for volunteers to serve on the search committee.

These self-selected students constitute a committee, names of whom are then forwarded to Department Chair/ADA.  At this point, the Chair/ADA gives the list to the search chair.  The search chair and relevant faculty in the field then have the option of asking additional students to serve, and to recommend a chair/coordinator of the student committee, if the committee has not done so already.  (Faculty in the field can recommend that a particular student not take on the extra work of serving on a committee, if such extra work would conflict with other obligations.)

Search chairs then arrange meetings/etc. with this grad student committee as the search proceeds.  Precisely when and how the students become involved is left up to the search chair, although at a minimum the grad students are to read the publications of the individuals invited to campus, attend the candidate lectures, and meet with the candidate.

After the graduate student committee meets meet with the candidate, they will draw up a memo or comments (or simply meet with the faculty search committee) to provide feedback.  If desired, students can select one person to draft the memo/comments, but it would be circulated for all to sign off on.  The Chair/Coordinator of the student committee will be responsible for submitting the report in a timely manner.

The grad student chair also collects responses from all students who attended talks or read the candidates’ publications by sending an e-mail to all graduate students, asking for responses to the candidates.  

In short:
Publicize all searches and schedules to the graduate students.

Allow students to volunteer (through the Grad Student Listserv) for service on a particular search committee.
Allow faculty input into the makeup of that committee.
Faculty search chair and grad student committee establish the nature of the grad student committee’s participation in searches.
Appoint a chair of the committee.

Student committee reports to faculty search committee.