A. Categorize the Vacancy: In
order for the Chief Human Resources Officer to accurately classify the vacancy, the department head in the department in which the vacancy exists
must furnish an accurate job description or Employee Work Profile and a current
organizational chart to the Human Resources (HR) Office. In the case of Classified positions, the qualifications must be consistent with state specifications for
that role.
B. Institutional Funding
Certification: The Chief Administration and Finance Officer
must certify funding for all Classified, Wage and
Administrative and Professional Faculty positions as a pre-condition to
recruitment. The Provost must certify funding for all institutional Faculty recruitment.
C. Vacancy Announcements:
Vacant positions will be open to the general public and/or listed in RECRUIT, the Commonwealth of Virginia's statewide automated
personnel registry for state position vacancies. Where applicable, announcements
via
internal postings, newspaper, and periodicals and use of the Internet will be
utilized to coincide with the listing in RECRUIT. Classified position vacancies will be
listed in RECRUIT for five (5) consecutive days, Monday through Friday. At a
minimum, all solicitations will include the position's title, primary duties,
required
knowledge, skills and abilities, pay band or salary range, full-time or part-time status,
benefits eligibility, application deadline, and instructions for filing a state
application. The statement, "An Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer"
must
appear in all job announcements, as well.
D. Application Process: All
applicants for Classified or wage positions at Longwood University
are required to submit a Commonwealth of Virginia job application in order to be considered for employment. Any applications received after the closing date
for the vacancy will be deemed untimely and will not be considered. All
applications must be filed with the HR Office. Resumes for Administrative and Professional Faculty positions will be accepted.
Instructional Faculty
vacancies require a letter of application and a curriculum vitae.
E. Screening of Applications:
The HR Office will ensure that only
complete applications receive consideration. The
HR Office will also conduct all
preliminary screening activities such as determining whether applicants have met minimum
qualifications for positions covered by this policy. The HR Office will also make
recommendations to the hiring manager or hiring committee regarding
candidates to be selected for interview. Such recommendations will be based on
strictly job-related criteria, consistent with existing state specifications for
the
position and current Employee Work Profile. The Instructional Faculty process is managed
through the Office of the Provost, Academic Affairs.
F. Interviews: The University
will hire no applicant without at least one interview with the
hiring authority. The HR Office will schedule interviews. Questions selected for use in an interview must be directly job-related and
should allow candidates to optimally demonstrate the required knowledge, skills, and abilities requisite with the position.
G. Affirmative Action Interface:
The Affirmative Action Officer will solicit
information from all applicants regarding protected class standing. Such
information will be strictly voluntary, and will not be shared with hiring
authorities or used by the University to adversely influence selection decisions.
1. Good
Faith Effort: The institution is obligated to make a "good faith"
effort to see that recruitment and selection procedures are not discriminatory, and if
under-representation of minorities or women exist, to ascertain the causes and take corrective action to eliminate them. Where a vacancy occurs in a
classification or job category identified in the institution's Affirmative Action Plan as under-represented, and the search process fails to generate a sufficient
representation of minority applicants, the search will be re-opened prior to interviews being scheduled. Affirmative Action is not a quota system, however, and "good faith" simply insists that the institution consider only well
rounded pools of well qualified applicants.
H. Selection
Decisions: The best qualified applicant is the applicant who has most demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and attributes necessary to be successful in
the position. The University's Affirmative Action Plan does not require any hiring
authority to select anyone but the best qualified applicant. Deliberations
associated with the selection process must avoid any consideration based on
race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disabling condition.
I. Reference
Checks: No applicant for employment will be offered a position at the
University prior to a satisfactory check of references. The amount of investigation required will be proportional to the degree of relative risk presented by the
position being filled. At a minimum, all representations on the state
application must be verified and prior employers should be afforded an invitation to discuss whether or not they would be inclined to rehire the applicant. The HR Office will conduct all reference checks.
1. Academic Credentials: Where academic credentials are stated qualifications for a position or where an applicant has made
material representations of academic credentials, the HR Office will seek to validate those credentials prior to an offer being made.
J. Employment
Offers: To prevent any potential for misunderstanding regarding specific terms and conditions of employment, the HR Office will
make offers of employment. Questions often arise at this stage of the process
which require technical information relating to benefits, salary administration,
and HR policy. The HR Office is in the best
position to provide an informed response. The offer must contain, at a minimum, the starting salary or hourly rate of pay, the type of
employment, information
regarding probationary status, the availability of benefits, and an explanation
that
the offer is contingent on the employee meeting employment eligibility
requirements set forth in the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Control Act of 1986. The salary is contingent on Department of
Human Resource Management
approval. The applicant must unequivocally accept the offer.
K. Appointment Letters:
The HR Office will issue all newly hired
employees a Notice of Appointment. Such notices will contain a disclaimer of any
fixed-duration, contractual intent, and specify that Longwood policy and/or the
Virginia Personnel Act govern the employment
relationship.
L. Notification of Non-Selection:
All applicants not selected for the position will be expeditiously provided personal non-selection letters by the HR Office,
indicating that another candidate who better met the needs of the institution selected for appointment.
M. File Closure: The hiring
manager or search committee chairperson must return all applications, copies of applications, score sheets, questionnaires, and related
notes to the
HR Office in order to ensure the recruitment file is complete and can be
closed. The HR Office must maintain documents related to any
recruitment for a period of three (3) years from the date the position is filled.
V. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
