Procedure for Making Target Hires

Occasionally an opportunity arises to hire a person of special importance to the institution. When that happens, the opportunistic nature of the situation generally precludes a search. The following are examples of situations when a hire without a search might be justified:

• The prospective hire will contribute to diversity in a unit of the College where there is significant under-representation;
• The perspective hire is a nationally or internationally prominent scholar who will make an especially significant contribution to an important program in the College; or
• Another important hire depends on the target hire (as, for example, in a spousal situation)

The procedure which should be followed in target hires is as follows; in general, the process should be the same as for a normal hire except that the pool contains only one candidate:

Preliminary Discussion

• The request to make a target hire must come from the Department in which the faculty member will be appointed. The chair initially talks to the Dean to determine whether an opportunity hire might be possible. The chair should provide as much information as is available on the professional background and qualifications of the prospective faculty member and the rationale for the hire.

Selection Process
References and the on-campus selection activities should be done as for a normal search.

• The Chair(s) checks with professional references and previous employers to ensure that the prospective hire is a suitable candidate for a faculty position.
• For a target hire to be considered there must be evidence of strong faculty support. The prospective hire should meet with the faculty and other appropriate members of the department and give a public colloquium to give faculty every opportunity to assess a candidate’s scholarship and capacity to succeed at UNL.
• If the appointment is to be made jointly between two units, strong faculty support in both units must be demonstrated.

Making the Offer

• The Chair presents all of the available information to the Dean with a formal request to make the hire. The Dean and the Chair decide on salary and start up costs which will be offered.
• The Dean’s Office will request a search waiver from the Office of Affirmative Action and Diversity Programs
• If a search waiver is successfully obtained, a letter of offer is generated and the hire proceeds in the usual way.