Columbia University has maintained a longstanding commitment to the principle and practice of equal opportunity wherein all personnel actions are taken without discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, age, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, citizenship status, marital status, disability, or status as a Vietnam era or disabled veteran. Through adherence to this commitment, Columbia endeavors to promote diversity and to put opportunity within the reach of all. The University has developed affirmative action plans to further these objectives and to comply with federal legislation and regulations. This statement describes the policies and procedures by which those plans are implemented for academic officers outside of the Faculties of Medicine and of Dental and Oral Surgery. Since the procedures and forms used in the Health Sciences differ materially in some respects, they are described in a separate statement.
A thorough and affirmative search must be conducted when filling full-time positions as officers of instruction, research and the libraries. Such a search includes not only widespread publicity of the position, but also efforts to encourage qualified women and minorities to apply. In unusual circumstances the requirements for an affirmative search may be waived, but only with the prior authorization of the Associate Provost for Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, who administers the University's clearance procedures for academic officers outside of the Health Sciences on behalf of the Provost and Dean of Faculties. In addition, the selection of full-time officers of instruction, research and the libraries outside of the Health Sciences, with the exceptions described below in Section II, are subject to monitoring by the Associate Provost for compliance with the University's Affirmative Action Plan.
Columbia's affirmative action procedures for its academic staff seek to achieve accountability within a system of decentralized responsibility. They have been designed in this manner in recognition of the fact that academic recruitment and development inherently involve the application of judgmental criteria and that Faculties and other academic units are best equipped to render these decisions. The principle of selection by colleagues is not only an important aspect of academic freedom, but also a practical necessity since the achievements and promise of prospective faculty, researchers and professional librarians are most sensitively evaluated by their peers. Furthermore, decentralized responsibility gives the schools and departments the necessary flexibility, within the framework of the University's commitment to affirmative action, to pursue policies of academic development that look beyond the qualifications of individual candidates, anticipate new trends in knowledge, mobilize talent selectively in accordance with changing priorities, and thereby fulfill the University's social responsibility to develop new knowledge and transmit it to the next generation.
While a system of decentralized responsibility recognizes that the procedures by which officers of instruction, research and the libraries are appointed and promoted may vary from one school or department to the next, the principle of accountability implies that those procedures be consistent within a given unit and that they be stated with clarity and precision. Thus, each department, school, institute, center and the Libraries is asked to file in the Office of the Associate Provost a Statement of Standard Search and Evaluation Procedures. Directions for formulating or modifying those statements are found in Appendix A.
Each unit's statement should describe the Standard External Search Procedures by which it selects candidates for the instructional, research, or librarian ranks to which it makes appointments. These constitute the general practices of the unit and are appropriate for filling most positions in most ranks, even when one or more current officers in the University are candidates for the position. The statement is expected to include, at a minimum:
The Statement should also reflect any distinctions made in filling vacancies by rank, by tenure status, and among different types of officers.
Departments whose current postdocs (postdoctoral research fellows and postdoctoral research scientists/scholars) regularly form a pool from which officers of instruction or research are chosen should describe two additional sets of procedures in their statements. The Standard External Search Procedures for the Initial Selection of Postdocs specify the process by which their postdocs are initially identified and selected, while the Standard Internal Search Procedures describe the process by which they select candidates from among their current postdocs for appointment to higher research or instructional ranks. Departments that follow these two sets of procedures do not need to conduct a full external search before promoting their postdocs.
When a department regularly chooses nominees for full-time instructional or research appointments from its part-time faculty or officers of research, it should also describe their Standard External Search Procedures for the Initial Selection of Part-time Officers and their Standard Internal Search Procedures. Departments that follow these two sets of procedures do not need to conduct a full external search before nominating part-time officers for full-time instructional and research appointments.
A unit will normally use the procedures described in its Statement of Standard Search and Evaluation Procedures to recruit its officers of instruction, research and the libraries. Yet, situations may arise in which a full search, or indeed any search at all, is not appropriate:
In addition, unforeseen circumstances that prevent a unit from conducting a full search may warrant a temporary appointment that normally does not exceed one year:
Variances from standard procedures may be acceptable in these and similar situations. However, the circumstances that occasioned them and the procedures actually followed must be reported as a part of the clearance process, described below in Section IV. The Associate Provost retains the right to withhold permission to make such appointments when a waiver of the standard search requirement does not appear to be justified. In doubtful situations, a dean, chair, or other responsible officer should consult with the Associate Provost before selecting the candidate and submitting the clearance forms requesting permission to make the appointment without conducting a regular search.
A unit must obtain approval from the Associate Provost before making a formal offer of appointment in the following circumstances:
Provostial clearance is not required for the following officers:
The procedures for obtaining affirmative action clearance have been integrated into the search itself to provide guidance to the search committee and to expedite the granting of clearance.
To request permission for clearance the nominating department, school, institute or center completes two forms -- the Affirmative Action Summary Report (Form II) and Applicant Report (Form III) -- and appends the appropriate attachments. Samples of these forms and of the Search Plan Review Form are appended to this document. They are also available on the World Wide Web at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/vpaa/eoaa. Instructions for their completion are provided in Appendix B. Vice presidents, deans and other responsible officers who authorize searches may modify these forms to obtain additional items of information, but only in consultation with the Associate Provost.
At a minimum, the following supporting documents should accompany each clearance request:
With requests for variance, the unit should also submit a letter that explains why a full search was not conducted and how the nominee was identified.
While all individuals who have applied for an opening are listed on the Applicant Report, the amount of information submitted on the Affirmative Action Summary Report for the women and minorities will vary depending upon the composition of the full-time officers of instruction, research or the libraries in the appointing unit and the gender and ethnicity or race of the nominee. Each year the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action sends the officers responsible for authorizing searches statistics on the potential hiring pools of the units reporting to them. These statistics show the representation of women and each minority group covered by the Affirmative Action Plan. (See Appendix C for the definitions of minority groups.) The officers will provide the units reporting to them with an analysis that compares that data with the percentage of these groups among their full-time officers of instruction, research and the libraries. If the percentage of women or of members of a minority group equals or exceeds their percentage in the hiring pool, it is not necessary to explain why they were not selected, even when the nominee is male or non-minority. Otherwise, an explanation for the non-selection of each unsuccessful woman or member of a minority group is included on the Affirmative Action Summary Report, except in the following circumstances:
1) If the nominee is a woman, it is not necessary to report on any other female applicants; and
2) If the nominee is a member of a minority group, it is not necessary to describe why other members of that group were not selected. Explanations are, however, required for the non-selection of applicants who are members of other minority groups if their representation in the unit is less than in the potential hiring pool.
Units should submit the Summary Report, Applicant Report and attachments to the Associate Provost through the appropriate vice president, dean or other officer responsible for authorizing the search.
A unit will ordinarily advertise openings in the journals listed in its Statement of Standard Search and Evaluation Procedures. Whenever it does not advertise or uses journals or other media not specified in its Statement, it should report the search as a variance and attach an explanation of why it did not follow its standard procedures. Similarly, if a unit sends announcements of vacancies to other universities as part of its standard procedures, any departure from that practice should be considered a variance and explained.
The University is mindful of technological advances that allow immediate access to employment opportunities all over the country and, indeed, throughout the world. It is only prudent that Columbia's search procedures provide for this mechanism to announce vacancies as faculty, research officers and professional librarians. In most cases, however, this method will supplement rather than supplant the more traditional vehicles of professional journals and newsletters. Search committees that wish to use only electronically transmitted announcements must seek approval in advance from the vice president, dean or other responsible officer and the Associate Provost, by including the request and explanation in the Search Plan Review Form.
A search must remain open for at least one month after the advertisements for the vacancy appear in print or are posted electronically. Except in unusual circumstances, which require the Associate Provost's prior approval, units are expected to readvertise an opening if the search is not completed within twelve months of the original advertisement.
Each ad and announcement should include the following information on the position the unit is trying to fill:
It is acceptable to use a single ad for more than one vacancy. However, the advertisement must clearly distinguish among the positions if the ranks, responsibilities or requirements for each are different.
The Provost and Dean of Faculties has delegated responsibility for implementing the University's affirmative action procedures to the Associate Provost for Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action. The primary function of the Associate Provost with respect to officers of instruction, research and the libraries outside of the Health Sciences is to review the search reports submitted by the various academic units and determine whether clearance should be granted or withheld. When documentation is unclear or incomplete, the Associate Provost may request in writing, or through conference, additional information from a dean, chair, or director. In considering clearance requests, the focus of the Associate Provost's review is to ensure that appropriate procedures were followed and that there were substantive reasons for setting aside the candidacies of those judged less qualified, particularly underrepresented minorities and women.
The Associate Provost may refuse permission to appoint if a search is found to be inappropriately abbreviated or otherwise to deviate from the principles in the University's Affirmative Action Plan. Alternatively, the Associate Provost may allow a unit to make a temporary appointment on the condition that it conduct a full search in accordance with its standard procedures before filling the position on a more permanent basis.
The review of the Associate Provost is normally completed and clearance granted within five working days of receiving the supporting documentation. A longer period may be required when there are ambiguities in the submitted materials or the Associate Provost finds that a proper search has not been conducted. The Associate Provost will grant clearance by signing the Affirmative Action Summary Report and returning it to the dean, vice president or other officer who authorized the search. No nominee may be sent an offer letter until the Associate Provost has approved the search on behalf of the Provost and Dean of Faculties.
Each department, school, institute and center and the University Libraries must have on file in the Office of the Associate Provost an approved Statement of Standard Search and Evaluation Procedures. A statement may contain up to four parts, depending on the type of searches the unit conducts.
Each statement must contain the Standard External Search Procedures for each rank to which the unit normally makes full-time, compensated appointments. These must ensure a wide solicitation of candidates and a thorough examination of their comparative qualifications.
This portion of the statement should describe the standard procedures for selecting the following categories of officers:
I. Officers of Instruction
A. Tenured faculty
B. Nontenured faculty, including those with modified titles
C. Visiting faculty (where appropriate)
II. Officers of Research
A. Professional officers of research (senior research scientist/scholar, research scientist/scholar, associate research scientist/scholar, including those with visiting titles)
B. Staff officers of research (senior staff associate and staff associate)
III. Officers of the Libraries
If the selection procedures for the various ranks within a category listed above differ, they must be described separately. If one set of procedures applies to more than one category, this may be noted in lieu of restating them.
A department whose postdoctoral research scientists/scholars and postdoctoral research fellows routinely form a pool from which candidates are selected for appointment to instructional and higher research ranks must describe its Standard External Search Procedures for the Initial Selection of Postdocs. Those units whose postdocs remain at the University for a limited term solely for the purpose of receiving postdoctoral training need not describe their selection process.
A department which regularly nominates part-time officers of instruction or research for full-time appointment must describe its Standard External Search Procedures for the Initial Selection of Part-Time Officers.
A unit that selects its postdocs or part-time officers of instruction or research through the standard procedures described above must describe its Standard Internal Procedures for choosing those that they wish to appoint to instructional or higher research ranks. These procedures may take the place of a full external search.
The various sections of the Statement of Standard Search and Evaluation Procedures should include the following information:
If the timing of the search is keyed to external cycles of activities, such as meetings of professional societies, these cycles should be noted.
Form I: Search Plan Review Form
1. This form must be completed and submitted for every regular search. It must be signed by the chair of the search committee and department or division chair. It also must be signed by the dean, vice president, or other officer responsible for its submission to the Associate Provost for Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action.
While you may fill multiple positions through a single search, you must submit separate forms for each position so that it can be identified by a unique Position Search Number, even if the forms contain the same information. The separation of search files is necessary for compliance and record-keeping purposes.
2. The vice president, dean, or other officer authorizing the search will assign it a Position Search Number, a ten-character field that conforms to the following pattern:
For example, the first search in the English Department in the academic year 1998-99 would be represented by AS32799001: AS = Arts and Sciences; 327 = English FAS department number; 99 = academic year in which the search commenced; 001 = first search of the year.
3. Include the actual title the eventual nominee will hold. If the position can be filled at more than one rank, specify the range and indicate that the decision will depend on the nominee's qualifications. Include any modifications of title, such as visiting, clinical, or professional practice. If the person will also have administrative responsibilities, such as director of an institute or center, include that title as well.
4. Specify the beginning date of the appointment, and the end date, if applicable. Also include the date screening of applicants will commence.
5. The Research Analyst (4-2485) in the Provost's Office will provide the Composition of the Potential Applicant Pool as Defined by National Availability Data (Section 1) on request to the vice presidents, deans and other officers responsible for hiring. For units that recruit more than one type of academic officer (e.g., faculty and researchers), the Research Analyst will provide separate availability data for each.
6. The Departmental/School Profile (Section 2) shows the number and percentage of full-time officers of instruction, research and the libraries by sex and ethnicity or race in the unit, as of the start of the current academic year. The officers responsible for authorizing searches are responsible for providing these data to the units reporting to them. Those officers should also send the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action a copy of the data they supply to their units.
7. To Indicate Which Are the Targeted Groups for the Department/School (Section 3), compares the percentages by sex and ethnicity or race of the current full-time officers (Section 2) with the percentages in the national availability data (Section 1). Whenever the percentages in Section 1 are less than those in Section 2, the group is considered Atargeted.@ Also, when there are no women or members of a minority group among the current full-time officers, they are designated as Atargeted,@ even if none are expected, based upon their representation in the national availability pool.
8. Under Recruitment Sources (Section 4), identify the breadth of the recruitment. A search should always be national or international unless the Associate Provost has authorized an exception prior to its start. You may, however, add sources that are regional or local as well. Identify each source you intend to use. Include the names of journals, professional associations, educational institutions, electronic bulletin boards, listserves, etc. that will receive the announcement. The sources used should be consistent with those identified in your Statement of Standard Search and Evaluation Procedures. Ads, electronic postings and announcements must appear at least one month before you start to screen applicants.
9. The University has both a legal obligation and a philosophical commitment to increasing the number of women and minorities in all areas where they are underrepresented. Section 5 describes the special efforts the search committee plans to undertake to identify qualified women and encourage them to apply. Section 6 provides similar information with regard to underrepresented minorities.
10. Identify the members of the proposed search committee and provide information on their gender, ethnicity or race, title and department in Section 7. For their ethnicity or race, use the code listed at the bottom of the form and defined in Appendix C. In Section 8, include the office phone number, fax number and e-mail address for the proposed chair in the designated space. Also identify the administrator who will be the contact person for the search and provide that individual's phone number, fax number and e-mail address in the space indicated.
11. The Search Plan Review Form must be signed by the search committee chair and the chair of the department or division. The vice president, dean, or other officer authorizing the search must also sign and date the form to indicate approval for the search plan.
Form II: Affirmative Action Summary Report
1. The Affirmative Action Summary Report is used to report on the outcome of the search and to provide data needed to meet the University's reporting responsibilities to the government. If you select multiple candidates from a single search, you must submit a separate Affirmative Action Summary Report for each selectee.
2. Enter the following items of information:
3. If the nominee does not have the Ph.D., or equivalent terminal professional degree, indicate when it is expected.
4. Section 1, Composition of Applicant Pool, calls for both aggregate and individual group data. In the first set of boxes, enter the total number of applicants and the number who were women and minorities. In the second, provide a breakdown of the applicants by gender and ethnicity or race, using the information reported by the Associate Provost from the EEO cards for applicants who self-identified and your best estimates for applicants who did not self-identify.
5. List all candidates who were considered most qualified for the position in Section 2, Information on Finalist Pool, including those who withdrew their applications. These should consist of the individuals on the search committee's short list, or if such a list was not constructed, of those applicants who would have been offered the position if no one better qualified were available. Indicate the gender and ethnicity or race of each finalist and report the dates on which any were interviewed.
6. Using the information entered in Section 3 of the Search Plan Review Form, indicate whether women and the different categories of minorities are Atargeted groups@ by checking off the appropriate boxes.
7. Section 4 is used to explain why unsuccessful women and minority applicants who belong to a Atargeted group@ were deemed to be less qualified than the nominee with the following exceptions. If the nominee belongs to a targeted group, you do not need to discuss the reasons for not selecting other members of that group in this section of the Report. You must, however, report on members of other targeted groups who applied but were not selected. Applicants belonging to a targeted group on which you must report should be included even if they withdrew or were found to be unavailable. In those cases, you should indicate the reasons why the candidate withdrew or declined to be considered.
8. Indicate in Section 5 if you followed the procedures described in the Search Plan Review Form. If you departed from them, attach a letter that describes the changes and the reasons for them.
9. Indicate in Section 6 if you are requesting a waiver from your standard search and evaluation procedures. If so, attach a letter explaining the reasons for the variance and how you identified the nominee.
10. The Affirmative Action Summary Report must be completed and submitted to the office of the vice president, dean or officer who authorized the search, with the Applicant Report, a copy of the nominee's curriculum vitae, and a draft letter of offer. The form must be signed by the chair of the department or division, and the appropriate dean, vice president, or other authorizing officer. Upon approving the request to make the appointment, the authorizing officer will submit these materials to the Associate Provost.
No offer letter may be sent until the Associate Provost has given final approval on behalf of the Provost and Dean of Faculties by signing this form and returning it to the dean, vice president or other officer who authorized the search. It is the responsibility of that officer to inform the unit that clearance has been granted.
Form III. Applicant Report (Instructions Revised October, 1999)
Before the date specified in the Search Plan Review Form for the commencement of screening applications, the Search Committee Chair (or other authorized individual) may access the website of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative and view the data on the gender and ethnicity or race of applicants who volunteered their response.
For applicants who did not identify their gender and ethnicity or race, the Search Committee should add that information. Estimates of gender and ethnicity or race may, for example, be discerned from the applicant's name, from professional associations, from place of birth or other information volunteered in the resume or noted during an interview. Visual observation may be used when there is personal contact with the applicant. Every applicant must be assigned to a gender and ethnic or racial category. When applicants do not volunteer that information and it cannot be inferred from other sources, you should count them as male and non-minority.
To complete the Applicant Report, enter the name of the school, department or center conducting the search; add the position number assigned by the vice president, dean or director who authorized the search; and list all applicants, with the information on their gender and race or ethnicity. The list may be generated from a computerized database and appended to the form rather than being retyped on it.
Electronic EEO Applicant Data (Revised October 1999)
To conduct federally mandated analyses, the University must have a mechanism for identifying the gender and race or ethnicity of applicants. Federal law states that self-identification is the preferred method of collecting that information. The Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action has created a website for applicants to voluntarily provide this information. Upon receipt of an application or C. V., the hiring authority should acknowledge its receipt (electronically or by mail) and provide applicants with the Office website.
The following language is suggested in asking applicants to access the Office website and volunteer the EEO applicant data:
As an affirmative action employer, Columbia University is required by federal law to collect and analyze information regarding our recruitment and outreach activities, and the racial, ethnic and gender composition of our applicant pools. To this end, we ask for your voluntary participation in self-identifying your sex, race and ethnicity. The Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action has established a website for collecting this information. Please access it through the internet at:
http://www.provost.columbia.edu/pub/
