Getting Started

Mandate of the Search and Selection Committee for Academic Faculty

• The mandate of the Search and Selection Committee (“the Committee”) will be to make a recommendation to the Department Head/School Director and Department/School Standing Committee for Appointments, Reappointments, Tenure and Promotion on a candidate for appointment in an Academic Faculty position.

Chair

• Department Head/School Director or delegate

Responsibilities of the Chair

• Address any potential or perceived conflicts of interest and conflicts of commitment in accordance with UBC’s Conflict of Interest Policies by advising committee members to declare conflicts, investigate the nature of the relationship between parties, and recuse members where the conflict cannot be managed. Conflicts may include but are not limited to:
  • Personal relationships
  • Supervisory relationships
  • Interpersonal conflicts
  • Close collaboration
• Continuously manage the bias and interpersonal interests of the committee to maintain a fair and transparent process
• Be an equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) advocate. Ensure the Committee understands the principles of equity in recruitment.
• Ensure the Committee completes the Hiring Equity training and reviews UBC’s Policy HR10: Employment Equity prior to the start of the first meeting.
• Designate an Equity Officer within the search committee to raise awareness of potential biases and initiate conversations to safeguard against them.
• Create and publicize skills and experiences necessary to be on the search committee, and identify goals for the committee
• Ensure all members are available to attend all interviews and meetings
• Seek advice from appropriate sources when needed, for example, Faculty Affairs (HR), Finance, the Vice-Dean of Academic Affairs, or the Faculty of Medicine Respectful Environments, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (REDI) Office
• The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (RSBC 1996), dictates that applicants’ personal information be maintained in confidence and shared only on a need-to-know basis, or shared with their prior written consent. It is imperative that applicant information and the deliberations of the committees remain confidential, even after the recruitment process has ended.
• Advise the Committee on record-keeping and retention requirements in the recruitment process. Ensure everyone is mindful that notes become part of the recruitment file and should be factual. The Chair will collect all documentation in a secure manner for secure filing in the Department/School at the end of the search process as per UBC Records Management Office’s retention requirements.

Committee Composition

• When considering who to invite to the Committee, balance the expertise needed to evaluate candidates based on the research program and field of study, and the need to invite members with different identities and lived-experiences to create a diverse and informed search committee. Examples include but are not limited to:
  • Ranks and streams (research and educational leadership)
  • Affiliated research centres and institutes as applicable
  • Staff
  • Students
  • Distributed sites
  • Health Authorities
  • Outside Department/School if applicable
  • Outside Faculty if applicable
• Where there may be internal candidates applying, ensure that there are individuals on the committee who are external to the team and have not worked with the candidate before to reduce the perception of bias and eliminate conflict of interests
• Include representation from equity-deserving groups, 2SLGBTQIA+ and IBPOC to minimize the influence of bias and assumptions during the search and selection process
• Be mindful of the size of the committee, ensuring that all members who are invited to participate are able to attend all meetings. Consider what is appropriate to the size of the unit and manageable for a facilitated discussion
• Search committee members should revolve to maintain an equitable and manageable service workload among colleagues, and to broaden the scope of perspectives to increase the diversity of candidates being recommended

Responsibilities of the Search and Selection Committee

• Maintain respectful discussions amongst colleagues whereby each member feels they can share their objective and candid thoughts in confidence
• Facilitate a thoughtful, equitable and transparent recruitment process, and adhere to the pre-established selection criteria when assessing candidates
• Ensures that all discussion and documentation related to the search and selection process remain strictly confidential in perpetuity and may only be used for the purpose it was collected. The Chair will indicate what specific information can be released and when
• Complete Hiring Equity training and understand UBC’s Employment Equity resources (Equity and Inclusion Office: Employment Equity)
• Declare any conflict of interest to the Chair as they arise
• Be mindful of unconscious bias during the search and selection process and be familiar with what constitutes grounds for discrimination
• Be aware that membership on the committee means that you are an “ambassador” of the Department/School, the Faculty and UBC. Keep in mind that candidates are also assessing their suitability for the UBC position
• Be willing to re-start the search and selection process if you do not find a suitable candidate

Ensure all Committee members complete UBC’s Hiring Equity training module in advance of the commencement of the search process.

The Hiring Equity course is available through UBC’s Workplace Learning website from the following link: https://wpl.ubc.ca/browse/equity-and-inclusion/courses/wpl-eio-he. UBC learners can enroll for the course using their UBC CWL. The Department/School can sponsor guest CWLs for non-UBC learners.

The search committee also has the opportunity to meet with a representative from the Faculty of Medicine’s Respectful Environments, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) office to arrange a training session to discuss topics such as “unconscious bias” and gate-keeping in the hiring process, conflict of interest, confidentiality and active recruitment. We highly recommend you contact the REDI office via this Service Request Form to have a REDI staff member at your first selection committee meeting.