Employment of Faculty and Staff

The University has a number of policies and procedures covering a variety of concerns affecting faculty and staff.  The explanation, interpretation, and enforcement of these policies is often assigned to the department head; thus, it is extremely important for you to be knowledgeable about personnel policies and procedures.

The College of Liberal Arts is strongly committed to personnel policies that apply equally and fairly to all prospective and incumbent students and staff.  Individuals are selected for admission to programs, for employment, and for advancement based upon personal abilities, qualifications, and other relevant characteristics.  No one is excluded from participation or promotion for reasons relating to race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin or ancestry, genetic information, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, or status as a veteran.  As a department head, you must be sensitive to any infringement upon the civil rights of staff or students.  If individuals seek your assistance in resolving problems relating to any form of harassment or discrimination / Title IX violations, please give these issues highest priority and your immediate attention.  Whenever such an incident or complaint is received, the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs should be notified at once and the dean’s office kept informed as you resolve the situation with the Office of Civil Rights.  It is important for all of us within the college to create an environment for work and study that is free of bias and is comfortable and inclusive for all of our faculty, students, and staff.

The selection of tenure-track, clinical, and research faculty is an important function for all academic departments. Generally, in the spring or early summer, Heads will be invited to request faculty positions in accordance with departmental, college, and university needs and priorities.  After a faculty search is approved, development of the position description is led by the Department Head in consultation with the Dean or Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs (ADFA) and relevant members of the department, which may include the search committee, field members, or the full faculty. The Dean approves the position description and the appointment of the search committee (Heads should obtain approval of the list of search committee members before the potential members are asked). Departmental search committees place the advertisement, screen and respond to applicants, and conduct interviews.  Department members meet with prospective applicants, attend presentations, and provide aggregate feedback. Candidates also meet with a representative from the Dean’s office during their campus visit. Feedback from departmental faculty serves as advisory information to the search committee and the Head. The search committee provides feedback on strengths and weaknesses to the Department Head, who conducts an independent review and makes a hiring recommendation to the Dean.  Department Heads formally extend offers on behalf of the Dean of the College, negotiate salaries in conjunction with the ADFA, and establish the terms of the appointment, also in conjunction with the ADFA. 

In the case of a vacancy in the department headship, a full national search may be undertaken, assuming availability of funds.  Internal candidates may be nominated and/or apply as part of the national search.  However, due to budget constraints, department head searches may be limited to internal applicants only at the discretion of the CLA Dean.

For permanent / full-time Lecturer requests, Department Heads should work with the ADFA. For post-doc requests, Heads should work with the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. For Limited-Term Lecturer requests, Department Heads should work with the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies.

Initiate CLA staff hiring requests here. Positions are advertised through HR’s staff listing system and applicants are referred to individual departments for screening. 

Since May 2011, Purdue policy has required background checks on all new faculty and staff hires. Click here for the background check policy:  http://www.purdue.edu/policies/human-resources/vif6.html