Longwood University     Chief Administration and Finance Officer:  Human Resources        201 High Street, Lancaster 335, Farmville, VA  23909         Phone: 434.395.2074     Fax: 434.395.2666

 Policy 5228
RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

I.     PURPOSE

The purpose of the policy is to hire the best-qualified applicant for any position vacancy, promoting a fully efficient and consistent approach to meet the institution's needs, its commitment to diversity, and its obligations to Affirmative Action.

II.     POLICY

The University, through its employees assigned responsibility for hiring actions, will use lawful and best practices for recruitment and selection activities.

III.     PROCEDURE

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

For further procedural guidance, please refer to the Longwood University Recruitment and Selection Process Hiring Guide. This guide is available for download from the HR web page.

Approved by the Board of Visitors, September 7, 2002.

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