PBSci Personnel/Payroll
5th Floor Physical Sciences Building
Mail Stop: PB Sci. Pers/Pay Res. Acctg.
Fax: 831-459-5599

Selection Committee Role and Responsibilities

Establishing formal selection committee

• Establish a reasonably sized committee and one that includes ethnic and gender diversity (having too large of a committee will make scheduling interviews more difficult and potentially lengthen timeframe)
• Reserve several blocks of time on selection committees' calendars as early as possible for:
  1. screening applications;
  2. interviews;
  3. selection discussion; and,
  4. hiring decision discussion after the reference check information is available
• Consider having a core selection committee of 3-4 individuals responsible for evaluating the applications, conducting formal interview and reference checks, and making the hiring decision.

Establishing informal groups to meet with candidates

• May establish sub-groups for candidates to meet informally if necessary (e.g., the staff they will supervise, faculty/researchers, teaching assistants, etc.) The sub-groups can provide feedback to core selection committee, if desired.
  
  
• Consider how best to involve staff a candidate may supervise, i.e., giving them an opportunity to meet the candidates and provide feedback is a good idea but having them actually participate in the hiring decision could potentially complicate the process. You may not necessarily want staff to be privy to all of the information and discussions about candidates who may become their supervisor that might possibly jeopardize future working relationships.
  
  
• Suggest having a core selection committee member sit in on any separate informal meetings for purposes of continuity and for their observations for selection committee re: how well candidates adapted to various audiences.
  
  
• Suggest being cautious during "informal" sessions, with respect to trying to get too much personal information from candidates. What one person may perceive as just being friendly and showing an interest in someone (are you married, do you have kids, how do they feel about relocating, what type of housing will you be looking for, etc.), could be perceived by a candidate as non job-related information that could influence a hiring decision. If there are questions the informal group wants to ask every candidate, we should review those questions, along with the core selection committee's interview questions.
  
  
• Remind individuals from informal sessions when providing input to the core selection committee, especially if in writing, that it be provided in a professional manner and speak only to job-related qualifications (in the event a hiring decision was challenged and notes had to be produced).
  
  
• Provide all individuals who meet with candidates a copy of their resumes and the selection criteria/qualifications for the position.
  
  

Roles and responsibilities of the formal selection committee

• Advisory to Chair/Hiring Supervisor
• Provide unranked or ranked list of top candidates
• Provide assessment of candidates' strengths/weaknesses
• Recommend top choice
• Agree on method of decision making (consensus, majority vote, chair)
• Who will be the contact with the candidates and for all inquiries (from others as well); committee needs to speak as one voice
• All selection committee members need to be comfortable to freely voice their perspectives and to speak up if someone is making assumptions or influencing others inappropriately

Confidentiality

• Maintain strict confidentiality (leaks can create tremendous, and irreversible, damage ranging from hurt feelings, poor morale, to grievances/complaints)
• All discussions must stay within committee; no information should be shared outside the committee of who said what about any of the candidates, the process, or the decision
• If others besides the designated contact are going to share information, agree on what information will be provided (i.e., responding only to questions regarding the status/progress of process)

Screening/Interviewing/Reference Checking

• Ensure all members of committee understand responsibilities of position and agree on critical selection criteria, priorities, etc. (provide committee with copies of job description, flyer, information re: where advertised, organization chart, sample interview and reference check questions)
  
  
• Determine the following:
  1. will entire committee, subset or Chair screen applications
  2. are there to be any "pre-interview" reference checks
  3. who will finalize interview and reference check questions
  4. how long each interview should be
  5. provide available times for interviews to be scheduled
  6. who else, if anyone, candidates should meet with
  7. develop "itinerary" for candidatesÕ visit
  8. what to ask candidates to bring with them to the interview (list of references; writing or project samples; sample of "typical" week, explanation/outline for presentations)
  9. will everyone take their own notes; provide matrix for note taking? (at conclusion of process, Chair to collect notes from everyone for retention in Business Office)
  10. what to provide candidates beforehand (job description, org chart, etc.)
  11. if candidates are out of town, how will initial interviews be conducted (phone?)
  12. who will conduct "post-interview" reference checks
  13. who will complete selection documentation
  14. how, when, and by whom will hiring decision be communicated (to selected candidate, to other candidates not selected, to department)
  
  
• The same questions need to be asked of all candidates (also suggest they be asked by the same members of the selection committee); follow-up questions do not need to be the same for each candidate if needed for prompting, clarification, etc.
  
  
• Drafts of questions need to be reviewed by Personnel/Payroll Representative well in advance of the interviews and reference checks to aid you in developing questions for making the best hiring decision for your position
  
  
• In addition to the application materials, firsthand knowledge (firsthand interactions, prior interviews and prior reference check information) may be used in screening applications.
  
  
• Be careful asking/evaluating answers to subjective questions and making assumptions vs soliciting factual information (tasks liked does not necessarily mean they do them well nor do tasks liked least mean they do them poorly; what one person may assess as their strength could actually be weaker than someone else's assessment of their weakness; someone having a home computer does not translate into computer literacy nor does the fact someone doesn't have a home computer mean their skills may be lacking in this area)
  
  
• Entire committee needs to participate in all interviews (discuss beforehand what to do if someone misses an interview; take extensive notes for briefing; do they withdraw from further participation; do they share their feedback on candidates they did interview but refrain from participating in actual recommendation/decision-making)