Hiring a new Hillsdale professor requires a long, grueling search process of several months and a hiring committee with faculty from each division, chaired by the department head. This year, eight departments are searching for new faculty members.
As the college expands both student enrollment and the core curriculum, new faculty members are needed to meet the new demand. The politics and theater departments have already hired new professors for next year, and five other departments are either expanding their staff or replacing retirees.
“There’s a lot more that goes on than people usually realize, because there’s a lot of moving parts and a lot of people,” said Mark Maier, assistant to the provost. “One of the things we really try to gauge in the whole interview process is whether or not a person’s going to fit institutionally, in this community, and in their department. More often than not, things work out.”
Departments look for candidates with solid teaching skills, a good background in the subjects they will be teaching, with special emphasis on subjects the current department might be weak in, and good compatibility with the mission of the school and the rest of faculty.
Provost David Whalen summed up potential applicants with three points: “Good scholars, good teachers, and compatible with the mission of the college.”
Dwight Lindley, assistant professor of English, is involved in the English department’s search for a new professor.
“We’re looking for someone who is both very intelligent and well-grounded in a certain academic field which we need more depth in,” Lindley said. “We’re looking for someone who would be happy here.”
The hiring process starts when a department recognizes a need for a new faculty member. Barring a hiring freeze, their request for a search is approved by the president’s office and job listings are posted in professional journals related to the department’s subject and on the college’s website.
These searches are not always successful.
“Every year there are searches for new faculty,” Whalen said, “They’re not always fruitful. Sometimes the applicants are few and far between.”
In years of plenty, however, the department draws up a list of potential hires — usually three or four — and brings them to campus. Before any applicants get to campus, however, the department must pour through long applications from each applicant, including an application letter, CV, letters of recommendation, writing samples, and a response to the mission of the college.
After arriving on campus, an inter-departmental search committee, appointed by the provost’s office and headed by the hiring department’s chair, begins evaluating the candidates. Each academic division is represented. Dean of Faculty Mark Nussbaum and the divisional dean also participate. Every candidate also interviews with Maier, Whalen, and President Larry Arnn.
For the current search in the English department, Associate Professor of History Richard Gamble represents the social sciences, Assistant Professor of Physics Paul Hosmer represents the natural sciences, and Assistant Professor of German Fred Yaniga represents the humanities. These professors will help the other departments have a say in the hiring process.
“Members of the faculty are not just members of their department,” Whalen said. “You don’t want just knowledgeable specialists.”
Interviews with members of the department, meetings with students and faculty, test classes to assess teaching ability in classes such as Great Books in the Western Tradition, and a research presentation to the faculty are all a part of the screening process.
At the end of the process, the search committee meets to choose their new colleague. After the decision is made, discussions turn away from intellectual specializations and pedagogical capability, and focus on more practical concerns.
The provost’s office handles salary negotiations, and the president’s office decides if a new hire is a tenure-track faculty member or not. The new Rebirth of Liberty and Learning capital campaign aims to endow several faculty chairs to help offset the cost of hiring new professors.
Other practical considerations also come into play, like the new hires’ fit with their surroundings.
“Someone who would be happy in a small town in the Midwest is not an unimportant consideration,” Lindley said.
